What's the difference between API orchestration and an API gateway?

Short version:
An API gateway is a traffic manager / entry point for APIs.
API orchestration is a coordination layer that chains multiple APIs or services together to complete a business task.

API Gateway

Think of it as the front door to your backend services.

It typically handles:

• Authentication and authorization
• Rate limiting and throttling
• Request routing
• SSL termination
• Logging and monitoring
• Caching
• API versioning

Example:
A mobile app calls api.company.com, and the gateway forwards the request to the right backend service.

API Orchestration

Think of it as a conductor coordinating several services.

It handles:

• Calling multiple APIs/services in sequence or parallel
• Combining results from different services
• Managing dependencies between calls
• Handling retries/failures across a workflow
• Returning a single consolidated response

Example:
A “place order” flow might:

1. Check inventory API
2. Charge payment API
3. Create shipping request API
4. Send confirmation API

That coordination is orchestration.

Key difference

• Gateway = control and protect access to APIs
• Orchestration = execute a multi-step business workflow across APIs

Simple analogy

• API gateway = the reception desk
• API orchestration = the project manager

They can work together

A common setup is:

1. Client calls the API gateway
2. Gateway routes the request to an orchestration service
3. Orchestration service coordinates downstream APIs

If you want, I can also give you a diagram or a real-world microservices example.