Azure Logic Apps versus API Gateway
External APIs and Connectors – to be consumed by data center (or Azure hosted) apps – Use Azure Logic Apps
Azure Logic Apps provides both API connectors as well as over a 100 connectors (to both cloud resources and data center resources) to databases, EDI platforms and more.
It is a serverless offering which means you don’t need to worry about patching or updating underlying VMs.
Workflows can be built using Logic Apps’ visual designer.
The power of Azure services such as Machine Learning and Cognitive Services, is easy to harness within Logic Apps.
Internal APIs to be consumed by external customers
For the reverse use case (internal APIs to be consumed by external customers), Azure offers a simpler API gateway. An API Gateway is the endpoint that accepts API calls and routes them to your backends.
It is purely an API router – and lacks any kinds of connectors and integrators (which are part of Azure Logic Apps).
Summary
Azure logic apps should be your first choice when it comes to application integration and / or consuming external APIs.
For a simpler use case of providing external consumers access to your Azure hosted APIs, an API gateway may be a good choice.
Anuj holds professional certifications in Google Cloud, AWS as well as certifications in Docker and App Performance Tools such as New Relic. He specializes in Cloud Security, Data Encryption and Container Technologies.
Anuj Varma – who has written 1214 posts on Anuj Varma, Hands-On Technology Architect, Clean Air Activist.
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