All comparisons
toran vs AWS API Gateway (DIY proxy)
AWS API Gateway is a managed service for building, securing, and operating APIs. Some teams use it as a DIY forward proxy by routing outbound requests through an API Gateway endpoint to gain logging or control.
What an API Gateway-based proxy is good at
- ✓Centralized request routing, authentication, and throttling
- ✓Deep integration with AWS logging, metrics, and IAM
- ✓Operating APIs with strict policy and security requirements
Where the DIY approach falls short
- △Not designed for transparent, read-only forwarding of arbitrary outbound API calls
- △Configuration complexity and higher latency compared to a simple forward proxy
- △Easy to introduce retries, transformations, or failures that change request behavior
- △Harder to keep the setup reversible once embedded into production architecture
How toran is different
- →toran provides a purpose-built forward proxy for outbound API inspection
- →Activation is reversible by swapping a base URL
- →Read-only by design: toran does not retry, cache, or mutate requests
- →Conservative defaults for logging, redaction, and body storage
- →Designed for understanding third-party API consumption, not operating APIs
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Quick decision rule
Use AWS API Gateway if you need to build and operate APIs with policy, auth, and tight AWS integration. Use toran if you want immediate, reversible visibility into outbound API requests without redesigning your architecture.
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