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With the continual rise of website applications and cloud-based microservices effective API monitoring has become crucial. APIs outline the methods and data formats that applications can utilize to request and exchange information. They allow developers to access the functionality of a software component or service without needing to comprehend its internal workings.
Due to APIs being commonly utilized to integrate different systems, access third-party services, and design more powerful and versatile software applications, they are pivotal for effective business intelligence. The monitoring of APIs aids developers in addressing issues before they worsen, thereby reducing the chance of any adverse impact on end-users or potential revenue losses.
Given the multitude of providers available, it's crucial to discover a monitoring service that not only monitors outages but also understands the intricacies of monitoring systems across numerous deployments and the specific API type you're using. Therefore, to aid your understanding and assist you in making the appropriate API monitoring tool selection, in this article, we will outline what API monitoring is and present the leading API monitoring tools.
Contents
What is API Monitoring?
API monitoring is the continuous observation and examination of the performance, availability, and functionality of APIs. This monitoring process commonly involves tracking metrics like response times, error rates, uptime, and throughput of the APIs. API monitoring tools and services help developers and organizations ensure that their APIs are operating as expected, meeting service level agreements (SLAs), and supplying a consistent experience for users and integrated systems. By monitoring APIs, organizations can proactively highlight and rectify issues, enhance performance, and maintain the overall health of their applications and systems that rely on API interactions.
API Monitoring Tools
To help you make an informed decision regarding which API monitoring tool your organization should adopt, we’ve created a list of the top 10 API monitoring tools that are currently available.
Nevatech Sentinet
Starting with Nevateach Sentinet, a flexible, lightweight, and scalable API Management and API Governance software platform that aims to address your entire API management requirements. The API monitoring tool includes an enterprise-level API repository, a secure and lightweight API gateway, an API manager, and an API developer portal, intending to offer you everything you need. The tool is available in on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments.
Uptrends API
The next API monitoring tool on our list is Uptrends API, which focuses on monitoring API performance, function, and uptime. The tool offers multi-step monitoring allowing you to test your APIs from top to bottom by setting up multiple HTTP requests. As well as this, Uptrends API conducts tests as often as every minute meaning that you will quickly know if there are any issues affecting your APIs.
Logit.io
Logit.io is a cost-effective observability platform that offers complete API monitoring. With Logit.io you can simply configure Telegraf to ship Google Cloud API metrics and Google API Gateway metrics (as well as many other APIs) to your Logit.io stacks via Logstash. By utilizing Logit.io as an API monitoring tool you can clearly visualize critical metrics with powerful dashboards using Hosted ELK, Grafana and Prometheus, enhancing your analysis.
Gravitee.io
Gravitee.io offers an API management solution that includes multiple API monitoring tools. These include API Access Management, API design, API management, API deployment, and API observability. The Gravitee.io API monitoring tool is built on Java and due to this claims to be 4x faster and more performant than other popular solutions. As well as this, you can utilize this tool to debug your API flows during the Design phase and avoid common design errors.
SauceLabs
SauceLabs is a leader in cloud-based API monitoring tools. You can utilize it to both create and execute tests for RESTful APIs, SOAP APIs, and other web services, ensuring optimal performance and preempting any issues before they reach users. The main functions of the solution include integration testing, functional API testing & monitoring, contract testing with mocking, and load testing & API benchmarking.
Runscope
Another important tool to consider is Runscope, an API performance testing, debugging, and monitoring solution. By utilizing Runscope you can use built-in integrations with the most popular notification services to ensure that your team identifies and then rectifies issues before they impact your users. As well as this, you can validate your API workflows by creating simple monitors with dynamic data for even the most complex use cases.
Assertible
Assertible aims to be a reliable and intuitive tool for API performance and uptime monitoring. You can use this API monitoring tool to design tests that outline how your API should respond by using industry-standard patterns. In addition to this, it differs from other services as no code is required to validate your APIs, instead utilize Assertible’s built-in assertions and single-click monitoring to begin tracking your APIs in minutes.
Moesif
Moesif offers an entire suite of API monitoring tools, including API product analytics, API logs & metrics, API monitoring, and usage-based billing. The tool aims to help you comprehend and monetize API usage with Moesif’s analytics and billing platform. As well as this, the tool offers multiple features, but a standout one is that you can get alerted when a customer's usage changes and they should chat with sales.
Dotcom-Monitor
Dotcom-Monitor provides you with the ability to track critical private, public, and partner APIs, with its web API monitoring tool. The solution comes with Postman integration allowing for easy monitoring of Postman collections from numerous global locations. Also, to enhance security you can simply verify the integrity of SSL certificates. As well as this, utilize it’s alerting feature to ensure your team reacts promptly when issues arise.
Webz.io
The final tool on our list is Webz.io, an API monitoring tool that offers Big Web Data to power your insights. A feature of the tool is grad-and-go API, plugging straight into your platform and feeding it a steady stream of machine-readable data, similar to RESTful API. Utilizing this Big Web Data provides powerful insights for numerous use cases including, financial analysis, cyber security threats, and web intelligence.
If you've enjoyed this article why not read Microservices vs APIs or The Top 8 Network Monitoring Tools next?