Do I need an API gateway for microservices?

Not always — but often, yes, if your microservices are exposed to clients directly.

When an API gateway is useful

An API gateway sits in front of your services and can handle:

• Routing requests to the right service
• Authentication/authorization
• Rate limiting
• Request/response transformation
• Aggregation of multiple service calls into one client response
• Logging, metrics, tracing
• TLS termination / security controls

This is especially helpful when:

• You have many services
• You have mobile/web clients that should not talk to services directly
• You want a single public entry point
• You need consistent cross-cutting concerns handled centrally

When you may not need one

You might skip it if:

• You have only a few services
• Services are used mainly internally
• You’re still early and want to keep things simple
• You already use another edge layer like:
  • a load balancer
  • BFF (Backend for Frontend) services
  • a service mesh for internal traffic
  • GraphQL as an aggregation layer

Common tradeoffs

Pros

• Simplifies client access
• Centralizes concerns
• Can improve security and observability

Cons

• Extra component to build/operate
• Can become a bottleneck or single point of failure if poorly designed
• Adds latency if overused
• Can duplicate logic better handled in services or BFFs

Practical rule of thumb

• Need one public entry point + shared concerns? Use a gateway.
• Small/internal system? You can probably skip it.
• Complex UI/API needs? Consider BFF instead of a one-size-fits-all gateway.

If you want, I can help you decide based on your specific architecture (number of services, client types, and traffic patterns).