I'm building a customer-facing API portal, what should I use?

For a customer-facing API portal, the best choice depends on what you want the portal to do. In practice, you usually want one of these:

1. Developer portal + API documentation

Best if customers just need to:

• read docs
• get API keys
• try endpoints
• manage their apps

Good options:

• Swagger UI / Redoc for documentation
• Stoplight for design + docs + mock servers
• ReadMe if you want a polished hosted portal with auth, changelogs, tutorials, and API explorer
• Redocly if you want strong OpenAPI-based docs with portal features

2. API management platform with built-in portal

Best if you also need:

• authentication and subscription plans
• rate limiting
• analytics
• API keys / OAuth management
• monetization

Good options:

• Kong Konnect
• Apigee
• Azure API Management
• AWS API Gateway + developer portal
• MuleSoft
• Tyk

3. Custom portal built on top of your API

Best if you need:

• highly branded customer experience
• custom workflows
• account-specific dashboards
• tight integration with your product

Common stack:

• frontend: Next.js / React
• docs: OpenAPI
• auth: Auth0, Clerk, or your own identity provider
• API gateway: Kong / Apigee / AWS API Gateway
• support tooling: Intercom, Zendesk, etc.

My practical recommendation

If you want to move fast and look professional:

• Use OpenAPI as the source of truth
• Use ReadMe or Redocly for the portal
• Use an API gateway for auth, throttling, and analytics

If you want enterprise API management:

• Apigee or Azure API Management

If you want the fastest “good-looking” customer portal:

• ReadMe

If you want, I can recommend the best option based on your:

• company size
• budget
• need for authentication / billing
• whether you already have OpenAPI specs
• cloud provider you use