Ocelot

Judgement

What it is

Building block

What it does

An API gateway library for ASP.NET Core that routes, aggregates, authenticates and rate-limits requests to downstream services from a JSON configuration.

Adopt it when

You run .NET microservices and want the gateway in the same stack and codebase as the rest of your services.

Watch out

Microsoft's YARP now covers much of the same ground with first-party backing, and Ocelot has had periods of thin maintenance.

Ready for

Production-ready

Runs as

Library

Built with

C# and ASP.NET Core

How established

Established: started 10 years ago, latest release 25.0.2.

What the license allows

You can build it into a product you sell, as long as you keep its copyright notice.

Judged on 2026-11-06 from the project's README and GitHub data. The license and age lines are worked out directly.

Built from

Follow it down: Ocelot → Runtime → LLVM project → runs on a microchip

How compilers were built, back to punched paper tape

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