🐾Should you use API Gateway or ALB for your API?🐾

🤓 In almost every project, eventually you will ask: “Should I use API Gateway or Application Load Balancer to expose my API?”. And it’s a great question — so I decided to make a detailed breakdown of when you want to use each of them.

TL;DR

Use API Gateway when:

• You use Lambda and want tight integration.

• You need built-in rate limiting, authentication, API keys, or WebSocket support.

• You want to expose public APIs with fine-grained controls.

Use ALB when:

• You use ECS, EC2, or even Lambda with fewer API management needs.

• You want cheaper costs at scale.

• You serve gRPC, or need basic routing to multiple microservices.

In my projects, I usually start with API Gateway because of its simplicity and out-of-the-box features, especially when building MVPs or internal tools. But when traffic grows, or the backend is fully containerized, ALB often becomes the better long-term fit.

What are they?

API Gateway is a fully managed service for building REST, HTTP, and WebSocket APIs. It’s designed to work closely with Lambda, but it can also front other backends.

Application Load Balancer (ALB) is a Layer 7 load balancer designed for HTTP/HTTPS traffic. It routes requests to ECS, EC2, or even Lambda (via function URLs).

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Thank you for reading, let’s chat 💬

💬 Do you use API Gateway or ALB for exposing API?
💬 Any challenges while setting up your infrastructure?
💬 Any corner cases that reqiered custom setup?

I love hearing from readers 🫶🏻 Please feel free to drop comments, questions, and opinions below👇🏻