Ocelot

At a glance

• Editor score
  5.5 / 10
• Pricing
  Open source
• Best for
  ASP.NET Core and service-discovery users
• Paid from
  None
• Deployment model
  Self-hosted
• Facts checked
  20 Sep 2026

• Where it wins

  • Broad routing, security, throttling, transformation, and proxy features
  • Supports Consul, Kubernetes, Eureka, and Service Fabric discovery
  • Handles HTTP(S), WebSocket, WSS, and SignalR proxying

• Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires an ASP.NET Core application
  • Designed primarily for .NET microservice architectures
  • Configuration and route forwarding require application-level setup

Our verdict on Ocelot

Ocelot is an open-source API gateway implemented as ASP.NET Core middleware. It forwards client requests to downstream services through configuration and route-based request forwarding, making it a fit for teams building .NET microservice architectures. The gateway supports HTTP, HTTPS, WebSocket, and WebSocket Secure traffic, and it is installed as a NuGet package inside an ASP.NET Core application. Its audience is therefore developers and platform teams already working within the ASP.NET Core ecosystem.

Its strongest area is the breadth of gateway behavior available within that focused environment. Ocelot supports authentication and authorization through configurable ASP.NET Core schemes, including JWT bearer and IdentityServer bearer-token support. Teams can apply rate limiting globally or per route, transform claims, headers, query strings, paths, and HTTP methods, and use request aggregation, caching, load balancing, and quality-of-service middleware. WebSocket, WebSocket Secure, and SignalR proxying extend its usefulness beyond straightforward HTTP forwarding. Service discovery integrations for Consul, Kubernetes, Eureka, and Service Fabric also support deployments where downstream services are managed dynamically.

The main trade-off is its deployment and ecosystem focus. Ocelot is self-hosted and operates inside an ASP.NET Core application, so it is best suited to teams comfortable managing a .NET-based gateway and its configuration. Buyers seeking a gateway that fits outside ASP.NET Core or want a different deployment model should consider an alternative. Ocelot is a strong match when routing, authentication, transformations, rate controls, discovery, and service-proxy capabilities need to sit close to .NET services; it is less suitable when the priority is a broader platform approach rather than a focused ASP.NET Core implementation.

Ocelot pricing

Ocelot fact sheet

Ocelot integrations

Ocelot lists 5 integrations on its own site.

• Consul
• Kubernetes
• Eureka
• Service Fabric
• SignalR

Alternatives to Ocelot

• Amazon API GatewayA broad AWS-native gateway for HTTP, REST, WebSocket, and private API workloads.8.8
• Azure API ManagementA full-lifecycle API platform for enterprises with hybrid deployment needs.8.6
• Apache APISIXA self-hosted gateway for teams needing broad protocol support and extensible traffic controls.7.7

See all Ocelot alternatives →

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Featured on iTechGuides

Ocelot is listed in our API Gateway Software directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.

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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Sep 2026

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Last updated 28 Sep 2026 · How we research and update