For a multi-cloud API management setup, the best tools depend on whether you need a full API management platform, a developer portal, gateway/runtime, security, or service mesh/internal APIs. Here are the main tools worth considering, grouped by category.

Top API management platforms

These are the most common “single-pane” platforms for designing, publishing, securing, and monetizing APIs:

• Google Apigee

  • Strong enterprise API management
  • Good analytics, policies, developer portal, monetization
  • Strong if you’re already in GCP or need a mature managed platform

• Azure API Management

  • Good for hybrid and multi-cloud integration
  • Tight integration with Azure services
  • Often attractive if you’re Microsoft-heavy

• AWS API Gateway + AWS Lambda / related services

  • Solid for AWS-native workloads
  • Less of a full API lifecycle platform than Apigee or Apigee-style offerings, but strong for serverless and cloud-native use

• MuleSoft Anypoint Platform

  • Very strong for enterprise integration and API-led connectivity
  • Good when APIs are tied to lots of systems, ESB-like integration, and governance

• Boomi API Management

  • Good if you want integration + API management together
  • Often used in enterprise integration-heavy environments

• Kong Konnect

  • Popular for hybrid and multi-cloud deployments
  • Good developer experience, gateway flexibility, and Kubernetes friendliness
  • Strong choice if you want a cloud-agnostic control plane

• Tyk

  • Open-source roots, flexible, often cost-effective
  • Good for self-managed and hybrid setups
  • Worth considering if you want more control and less vendor lock-in

• Gravitee

  • Modern API management, good for hybrid/multi-cloud
  • Strong event-driven/API gateway capabilities
  • Often a strong fit for teams wanting flexibility and good UX

API gateways/runtime layers

If you’re assembling a platform rather than buying an all-in-one suite, these are important:

• Kong Gateway
• NGINX Plus / NGINX Gateway Fabric
• Envoy Gateway / Envoy proxy
• Tyk Gateway
• Traefik
• HAProxy
• Azure API Gateway / Apigee runtime equivalents

These are useful when you want a gateway at the edge, in Kubernetes, or per cloud, with centralized policy/control.

Internal API and service mesh tools

If the main challenge is internal service-to-service traffic across clouds:

• Istio
• Linkerd
• Consul
• Cilium
• Kuma

These are not replacements for external API management, but they matter a lot for multi-cloud internal APIs, mTLS, policy, and traffic control.

Developer portal and API lifecycle tools

Sometimes these are separate from gateway/management:

• SwaggerHub
• Stoplight
• Postman API Platform
• Redocly
• ReadMe
• Backstage with API plugins

Useful for design-first API development, documentation, mocking, and collaboration.

Security-focused tools

Important for multi-cloud API security and discovery:

• Salt Security
• 42Crunch
• Akamai API Security
• Noname Security
• Wallarm

These are often used alongside your API gateway to detect abuse, anomalies, and shadow APIs.

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What’s worth considering first?

If you want the shortest shortlist:

Best enterprise managed options

• Apigee
• Azure API Management
• MuleSoft
• Boomi

Best cloud-agnostic / hybrid options

• Kong Konnect
• Tyk
• Gravitee

Best if you’re Kubernetes-first

• Kong
• Tyk
• NGINX
• Istio + an external API management layer

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How to choose

Look at these criteria:

• Deployment model: SaaS, self-managed, hybrid
• Multi-cloud support: consistent policy across AWS/Azure/GCP
• Gateway performance: latency, throughput, scaling
• Developer portal: docs, onboarding, keys, subscriptions
• Security: auth, mTLS, rate limiting, schema validation, threat protection
• Governance: versioning, approvals, lifecycle control
• Analytics: usage, latency, errors, consumer behavior
• Integration: CI/CD, Kubernetes, IAM, SIEM, observability tools
• Vendor lock-in: portability across clouds

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Practical recommendations by scenario

If you need a mature enterprise platform

Start with:

• Apigee
• MuleSoft
• Azure API Management

If you want flexibility and multi-cloud portability

Start with:

• Kong Konnect
• Tyk
• Gravitee

If your APIs are mostly Kubernetes/microservices

Start with:

• Kong Gateway
• NGINX
• Istio
• Cilium

If integration with SaaS/ERP/legacy systems is a big driver

Start with:

• MuleSoft
• Boomi

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If you want, I can also give you:

1. a comparison table of these tools,
2. a recommended architecture for multi-cloud API management, or
3. a shortlist based on your cloud stack, team size, and budget.