unkey
The Developer Platform for Modern APIs
The Lens
By Erik Loyd, SaaS CEO and former COO/CFO of an AWS Premier Partner.
Updated Sep 2026
Unkey handles the unglamorous parts of running a public API: issuing and revoking API keys, rate limiting per customer, and per-key usage analytics. It has since grown into a platform that also deploys your API and routes traffic through its own gateways. The code is AGPLv3, and hosted API management is free up to 150K valid requests a month.
Self-hosting is legal but not the paved road. The README offers no packaged install, and the local dev stack runs on Kubernetes through Tilt with MySQL and ClickHouse behind it. Plan for real ops work if you go that way.
Paid API management starts at $25/mo for 250K valid requests and scales to $1,000/mo for 100M, adding 7-day logs and team workspaces. Solo builders launching a paid API fit the free tier. Small and medium teams get a lot for $25. Large teams that want the gateway inside their own network should compare Kong and Apache APISIX, which self-host far more easily.
The catch is governance. Unkey has stopped accepting outside pull requests while the team focuses on platform direction, and its focus has widened from key management to hosting your API. Open source you cannot contribute to is worth weighing before you build on it.
Free vs Self-Hosted vs Paid
free self hosted paid cloudFree tier: The code is AGPLv3, except the packages and internal/icons directories, which carry their own licenses. On Unkey's cloud, API management is free for 1K API keys and 150K valid requests a month, with unlimited APIs, 1-day log retention and 3-day audit log retention.
Self-hosted: Allowed under the AGPL, but no packaged install is offered. The repository's local environment runs on Kubernetes through Tilt with MySQL and ClickHouse. Expect heavy ops work and no vendor help. Unkey is not accepting external pull requests right now, so fixes you make stay in your fork.
Paid: API management Pro is $25/mo for 250K valid requests, with tiers at $50 (500K), $75 (1M), $100 (2M), $250 (10M), $500 (50M) and $1,000 (100M). Pro raises the key limit to 1M and adds 7-day logs, 14-day audit logs and team workspaces. Unkey Deploy is billed separately: Starter $5/mo, Pro $25/mo and Business $50/mo, each including the same amount in usage credits, with active keys at $0.002 each per month. Enterprise is custom, with IP allowlisting and a dedicated Slack channel.
Free cloud tier up to 150K valid requests; paid API management starts at $25/mo. Self-hosting is legal under AGPL but heavy.
What to do by team size
- Solo
- free cloud tier covers most launches
- Small team
- Pro at $25/mo once you pass 150K valid requests
- Medium team
- Pro, sized by request volume
- Large team
- Enterprise, or self-host Kong or APISIX if the gateway must live in your own network
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Trust Signals
License: GNU Affero General Public License v3.0
AGPLv3 for the core; packages/ and internal/icons/ carry their own licenses. Must share source even for SaaS/network use.
Commercial use: ✓ Yes
About
- Owner
- Unkey (Organization)
- Stars
- 5,440
- Forks
- 636
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