APIs have become the primary attack surface for modern applications. OWASP’s 2023 API Security Top 10 documented the systemic risks, and real-world breaches have confirmed them. The Dell breach (2024, 49M records via an unthrottled partner API), T-Mobile’s repeated API exploits, and the Optus breach (2022, 9.8M records via unauthenticated API) all show that API security failures lead to massive data exposure. The market is consolidating: Akamai acquired Noname Security ($450M, 2024), Thales acquired Imperva (which owned API security capabilities), and CNAPP vendors are adding API discovery as a feature. The remaining standalone API security vendors are racing to prove that API security is complex enough to warrant a dedicated platform.
How We Evaluated
Platforms were assessed on:
- API discovery, including the ability to find shadow, zombie, and undocumented endpoints
- Runtime protection with real-time detection and blocking of API attacks
- Posture management and assessment of API configurations, authentication, and compliance
- Testing and shift-left API security testing integration into CI/CD pipelines
- AI/LLM API security, covering protection for AI model APIs, prompt injection, and LLM gateway security
- Integration with WAF, API gateway, SIEM, and DevOps pipelines
1. Salt Security
Score: 94/100
Salt Security pioneered the API security platform category and maintains market leadership with its AI-powered API threat detection engine. The platform’s strength is its behavioral analysis. Salt builds a baseline of normal API behavior and detects anomalies without relying on signatures or pre-defined rules.
AI-powered behavioral analysis detects API attacks without signatures. Comprehensive API discovery finds shadow, zombie, and undocumented APIs across all environments. Attacker timeline reconstruction shows full attack progression across multiple API calls. Pre-production API testing identifies vulnerabilities before deployment. Posture governance assesses API design against OWASP, internal standards, and compliance requirements. Salt was named a Leader in the 2025 Gartner Innovation Insight for API Security.
Best for: Organizations wanting the most mature purpose-built API security platform with advanced behavioral threat detection
2. Akamai API Security (Noname)
Score: 92/100
Akamai’s acquisition of Noname Security ($450M, 2024) combined Noname’s API security platform with Akamai’s massive edge network and existing application security capabilities (Kona WAF, Bot Manager, App & API Protector). The integration provides API security from edge to origin.
The combined Noname API discovery and posture management work alongside Akamai’s edge network. Inline and out-of-band deployment options provide edge enforcement plus API-level analysis. API discovery spans cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments. Real-time API threat detection uses Akamai’s global threat intelligence. Active API testing integrates into CI/CD pipelines. Akamai’s edge network provides DDoS protection and rate limiting for API endpoints.
Best for: Organizations using Akamai’s edge network wanting integrated API discovery, posture management, and runtime protection
3. Traceable AI
Score: 90/100
Traceable AI, which merged with Harness (AI-native DevSecOps platform) in March 2025, provides API security with deep distributed tracing. The platform tracks API calls across microservices to understand data flow and detect threats that span multiple API hops. The merger integrates API security into a full code-to-runtime DevSecOps lifecycle.
Distributed tracing tracks API calls across microservices for full request-flow visibility. Sensitive data flow mapping shows where PII and secrets traverse API paths. An API catalog automatically documents all APIs with data classification. Runtime threat detection identifies OWASP API Top 10 attacks. Pre-production API testing includes automated vulnerability scanning. The platform is strong for complex microservices architectures with many internal APIs.
Best for: Organizations with complex microservices architectures needing distributed tracing-based API security across internal and external APIs
4. Wallarm
Score: 88/100
Wallarm provides unified API security and application protection, combining WAF, API security, and bot management in a single platform. The approach is to protect APIs at the infrastructure level, deploying as a reverse proxy, sidecar, or cloud-native module.
Unified WAF + API security + bot management comes in a single deployment. Inline protection operates with sub-millisecond latency. API discovery includes automatic OpenAPI spec generation. API abuse detection identifies business logic attacks and credential stuffing. Cloud-native deployment options include Kubernetes sidecar and service mesh integration. The platform suits organizations wanting combined WAF and API security without separate tools.
Best for: Organizations wanting combined web application and API protection in a single inline deployment
5. 42Crunch
Score: 86/100
42Crunch focuses on API security from the design phase. Its platform audits OpenAPI specifications for security issues before code is written, then validates conformance at runtime. This design-first approach appeals to organizations with mature API governance programs.
The design-first approach audits OpenAPI/Swagger specs for 300+ security issues. Conformance scanning validates that runtime API behavior matches documented specifications. An API firewall enforces contract compliance at runtime, blocking non-conforming requests. CI/CD integration enables automated API security testing in development pipelines. The platform is strong for regulated industries with strict API governance requirements. An API security audit provides a security score for every API specification.
Best for: Organizations with mature API development practices wanting design-first security that enforces API contract compliance
6. Cequence Security
Score: 84/100
Cequence focuses on API threat protection with emphasis on bot mitigation, credential stuffing, and business logic abuse. The Unified API Protection offering covers discovery, risk assessment, and runtime threat prevention.
Strong bot mitigation for API endpoints handles credential stuffing, scraping, and inventory manipulation. API discovery uses ML-based traffic analysis without requiring agents or code changes. Business logic attack detection identifies fraud and abuse patterns specific to each API. Runtime threat prevention blocks attacks inline without disrupting legitimate traffic. Good coverage of B2C API risks includes account takeover and payment fraud. The platform is effective for e-commerce, financial services, and other transaction-heavy API environments.
Best for: B2C organizations facing bot attacks, credential stuffing, and business logic abuse on customer-facing APIs
7. Wib
Score: 82/100
Wib, acquired by F5 in February 2024, provides API security posture management integrated into F5’s Distributed Cloud platform. The acquisition combined Wib’s shift-left API security with F5’s runtime application and API protection for full lifecycle coverage.
Full API lifecycle visibility from code to production is now branded as F5 Distributed Cloud API Security. API inventory correlates source code, API gateways, and runtime traffic. Shift-left testing integrates into CI/CD pipelines. Combined with F5’s runtime WAF and API protection, it delivers code-to-runtime security. Developer-friendly remediation guidance includes code-level fix suggestions. This was F5’s fifth Israeli acquisition, backed by global application delivery infrastructure.
Best for: F5 customers wanting integrated shift-left and runtime API security within the Distributed Cloud platform
8. Imperva API Security (Thales)
Score: 80/100
Imperva API Security, now under Thales, provides API discovery and protection integrated with Imperva’s WAF and DDoS protection. The platform leverages Imperva’s established application security infrastructure for inline API protection.
Integration with Imperva Cloud WAF enables unified application and API protection. A positive security model learns expected API behavior and blocks deviations. API discovery uses ML analysis of network traffic. Data classification identifies sensitive data exposed through APIs. DDoS protection extends to API endpoints. This is an established application security vendor with broad enterprise presence.
Best for: Imperva/Thales WAF customers wanting integrated API security within their existing application protection stack
9. AWS API Gateway + WAFv2
Score: 78/100
For AWS-native organizations, the combination of API Gateway, WAFv2, and AWS Shield provides API security integrated into the cloud platform. While not a standalone API security product, the native integration and serverless architecture make it effective for AWS-centric API protection.
Native AWS integration covers API Gateway, WAFv2, Shield, and CloudWatch in one ecosystem. Serverless API protection provides automatic scaling. WAFv2 managed rules provide OWASP API Top 10 protection. API key management, throttling, and usage plans are built into API Gateway. CloudTrail provides audit logging for API management operations. This is cost-effective for organizations already invested in AWS.
Best for: AWS-native organizations wanting integrated API management and security without deploying third-party platforms
10. Ping Identity API Security (formerly PingIntelligence)
Score: 76/100
Ping Identity’s API security focuses on identity-centric API protection, securing APIs through advanced authentication, authorization, and behavioral analysis of API consumers. The platform excels at API access governance for organizations with complex partner and B2B API ecosystems.
Identity-centric API security includes advanced OAuth/OIDC enforcement. AI-based detection catches anomalous API consumer behavior. API access governance covers partner and B2B API ecosystems. Integration with Ping Identity’s IAM platform provides unified identity and API security. The platform works well for organizations with complex API partner ecosystems requiring fine-grained access control. Token management and API key lifecycle governance are included.
Best for: Organizations with complex B2B and partner API ecosystems needing identity-centric API access governance
Market Trends
Several trends are shaping the API security market in 2026.
AI/LLM API security is emerging as a priority. Protecting AI model APIs from prompt injection, data extraction, and abuse is a new and rapidly growing requirement.
Consolidation is accelerating. The Akamai/Noname deal, CNAPP vendors adding API discovery, and WAF vendors extending to API security are reducing the standalone market.
Shift-left API testing is growing. Organizations increasingly test API security in CI/CD pipelines rather than discovering vulnerabilities in production.
Business logic attacks now dominate. Traditional injection attacks are declining while business logic abuse, credential stuffing, and API scraping are the primary threats.
API governance is maturing. Organizations are moving from ad-hoc API security to formal API governance programs with design standards, lifecycle management, and compliance requirements.