Why add another vendor when your security platform can protect your APIs? Cloudflare API Shield delivers enterprise-grade API security without the complexity of traditional API gateways.
Do you need API lifecycle management, or API security?
Design, build, publish, version, and monetize APIs from scratch
Discover, protect, monitor, and defend your existing APIs
Most development teams need security, not lifecycle management. Traditional API gateways bundle features you'll never use—and charge you for them.
What you actually get with each approach
| Capability |
API Shield
|
Traditional API Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| API Discovery Find all your APIs, including shadow APIs | ✓ Automatic ML-based discovery | ✗ Manual inventory only |
| Schema Learning Automatically learn API structure | ✓ Learns from traffic in 24-72hrs | ✗ Requires manual schema upload |
| Schema Validation Block malformed requests | ✓ OpenAPI v3.0 support | ✓ Manual configuration |
| Edge Enforcement Block threats before they reach origin | ✓ 330+ global edge locations | ✗ Blocks at origin/gateway |
| DDoS Protection Protect against volumetric attacks | ✓ Integrated, unlimited mitigation | ✗ Separate solution required |
| Bot Management Distinguish good bots from bad | ✓ Integrated with API protection | ✗ Separate solution required |
| Sequence Analytics Detect API abuse patterns | ✓ ML-based pattern detection | ✗ Not available |
| BOLA Detection Broken Object Level Authorization | ✓ Native detection | ✗ Not available |
| Rate Limit Recommendations Intelligent rate limiting | ✓ ML-generated per endpoint | ✗ Manual configuration |
| JWT Validation Validate tokens at edge | ✓ Edge validation | ✓ Gateway validation |
| mTLS Authentication Mutual TLS for services | ✓ Native support | ✓ Configuration required |
| API Routing Route to backend services | ✓ Unified front for APIs | ✓ Core functionality |
Block threats before they consume your infrastructure
Machine learning automatically discovers all API endpoints—including shadow APIs your team may not know about. No manual inventory required.
Enforce OpenAPI schemas at the edge. Block malformed or malicious requests before they reach your origin servers.
ML-generated rate limit recommendations per endpoint. Protect against credential stuffing, scraping, and API abuse.
Detect and block API abuse patterns that exploit business logic. Enforce expected request sequences for authenticated clients.
Validate JSON Web Tokens at the edge before requests reach your origin. Works with any identity provider.
Mutual TLS ensures only authorized clients can access sensitive APIs. Perfect for service-to-service communication.
Real savings, not just licensing costs
Why add another vendor when you can consolidate?
Manage security and performance from one dashboard
Correlated insights across all security layers
Simplified procurement, support, and billing
Same rules language across all products
Addressing concerns about switching approaches
API Shield provides JWT Validation at the edge. For token issuance, use your existing identity provider (Auth0, Okta, Azure AD). Cloudflare validates tokens before requests reach your origin—this is actually more secure because tokens are validated before consuming origin resources.
Traditional gateways are API lifecycle management platforms. If you need API security, that's a different problem. Cloudflare is a Leader in Gartner's WAAP Magic Quadrant (Web Application and API Protection). API Shield is purpose-built for security.
Use Cloudflare Tunnels to expose internal services through Cloudflare, then apply full API Shield protection to tunneled traffic. When your network team is ready, Zero Trust integration provides unified internal and external security.
Page Shield provides client-side protection that traditional API gateways don't offer. Monitor third-party scripts, detect Magecart-style attacks, and manage CSP—all critical for PCI compliance when handling payment flows.
Being honest about where each solution fits best
If you're building an API-as-a-product business with monetization, developer portals, and full lifecycle management, a traditional API gateway may be the right choice. But if you're a development team building applications that happen to have APIs, you likely need security—not lifecycle management. Most teams are paying for features they'll never use.
Let's discuss whether API Shield is the right fit for your specific requirements.