--- title: "Elva vs Apidog — design-first or code-derived · Elva" description: "How Elva compares to Apidog: specs derived from code instead of written by hand, endpoint scoring, contracts that block breaking changes, hosted MCP servers." canonical: "https://getelva.ai/vs/apidog" lastModified: "2026-09-01T23:11:23.016Z" --- 1. [Compare](https://getelva.ai/vs/postman.md) 2. Elva vs Apidog Comparison # Apidog designs the spec. Elva governs the API. Design-first tools assume somebody keeps the spec honest. Elva derives it from code, grades every endpoint, gates breaking changes, and hosts the MCP gateway your agents call. [Try Elva free](https://app.getelva.ai/signup) [Compare pricing](https://getelva.ai/pricing.md) Written by the Elva team. Apidog is a trademark of its respective owner and is not affiliated with Elva. Apidog DESIGN-FIRST PLATFORM An all-in-one workspace for designing, mocking, debugging, and documenting an API from a spec you author. Strong at the design loop, as long as someone keeps that spec in step with the code. Starts from a spec someone writes Per-seat pricing, plan-based limits Governance is review, not enforcement Elva API MANAGEMENT A system of record that reads your repo, writes the specs, scores every endpoint, and enforces one contract per audience at runtime. Collections are an output, not the input. Starts from the code, rescanned every commit Flat pricing, unlimited members and endpoints Governance blocks the publish Four real differences ## The gaps that matter once agents show up 01 Derived from code, not authored by hand A hand-written spec is a promise about the code. Nobody updates it on the busy week, and that is exactly when it starts lying. APIDOG The spec is the input. Design-first is a good discipline, but keeping it aligned with the implementation is manual and permanent work. ELVA Elva reads routes, handlers, and types from the repo, writes the OpenAPI itself, and rescans on every commit. The spec cannot drift from the code. 02 Scored for agent readiness, not just validity A spec can be perfectly valid and still be useless to an agent: no descriptions, loose types, ambiguous auth. APIDOG Validation tells you the document parses and matches OpenAPI. Whether a consumer or an agent can act on it is left to review. ELVA Every endpoint is graded on design, developer experience, AI readiness, security, and performance, with a concrete fix attached and an AI that can apply it. 03 Governance that can say no Mocking a change is not the same as controlling it. Someone has to decide whether a partner gets to keep the old shape. APIDOG Version history and diffs are there. Nothing stops a breaking change from reaching a consumer who depended on the old response. ELVA Contracts define what each audience sees per field. Breaking changes block the publish until approved, and the gateway enforces the same rules at runtime. 04 The MCP server is the product, not an export Agents do not read your docs. They call tools, retry badly, and act on whatever schema you hand them. APIDOG You can produce a server from a spec. Hosting it, scoping keys per tool, redacting fields, and logging which agent did what is outside the picture. ELVA Hosted MCP servers with OAuth2, per-tool scopes, field redaction, rate limits, and a full log of which agent called which tool, in one place. ## Side by side, capability by capability CAPABILITY Apidog Elva DISCOVER Generate specs from source code Partial ✓ Rescan on every commit No ✓ Finds undocumented endpoints No ✓ Import OpenAPI and collections ✓ ✓ Consumption tracing per endpoint No ✓ Unused endpoint detection No ✓ UNDERSTAND Endpoint-level quality scoring No ✓ AI readiness score No ✓ AI fixes applied to the spec Partial ✓ Score history and trends No ✓ Manual request testing ✓ ✓ Automated test generation ✓ ✓ Chaos suites for agent behavior No ✓ GOVERN Auto changelog from code No ✓ Contracts per audience No ✓ Field-level exposure control No ✓ Block-publish on breaking change No ✓ Approval workflows Partial ✓ Runtime enforcement of the contract No ✓ PUBLISH Docs site ✓ ✓ Collection export ✓ ✓ Client SDK generation ✓ ✓ MCP server generation Partial ✓ Hosted MCP with auth gateway No ✓ Per-tool scopes and rate limits No ✓ Per-agent and per-key call logs No ✓ COMMERCIALS Pricing model Per seat Flat per workspace Members included Paid per user Unlimited Endpoint limits Plan-based Unlimited Free tier ✓ Yes, 1 repo SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise Enterprise Apidog DISCOVER Generate specs from source code Partial Rescan on every commit No Finds undocumented endpoints No Import OpenAPI and collections ✓ Consumption tracing per endpoint No Unused endpoint detection No UNDERSTAND Endpoint-level quality scoring No AI readiness score No AI fixes applied to the spec Partial Score history and trends No Manual request testing ✓ Automated test generation ✓ Chaos suites for agent behavior No GOVERN Auto changelog from code No Contracts per audience No Field-level exposure control No Block-publish on breaking change No Approval workflows Partial Runtime enforcement of the contract No PUBLISH Docs site ✓ Collection export ✓ Client SDK generation ✓ MCP server generation Partial Hosted MCP with auth gateway No Per-tool scopes and rate limits No Per-agent and per-key call logs No COMMERCIALS Pricing model Per seat Members included Paid per user Endpoint limits Plan-based Free tier ✓ SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise Elva DISCOVER Generate specs from source code ✓ Rescan on every commit ✓ Finds undocumented endpoints ✓ Import OpenAPI and collections ✓ Consumption tracing per endpoint ✓ Unused endpoint detection ✓ UNDERSTAND Endpoint-level quality scoring ✓ AI readiness score ✓ AI fixes applied to the spec ✓ Score history and trends ✓ Manual request testing ✓ Automated test generation ✓ Chaos suites for agent behavior ✓ GOVERN Auto changelog from code ✓ Contracts per audience ✓ Field-level exposure control ✓ Block-publish on breaking change ✓ Approval workflows ✓ Runtime enforcement of the contract ✓ PUBLISH Docs site ✓ Collection export ✓ Client SDK generation ✓ MCP server generation ✓ Hosted MCP with auth gateway ✓ Per-tool scopes and rate limits ✓ Per-agent and per-key call logs ✓ COMMERCIALS Pricing model Flat per workspace Members included Unlimited Endpoint limits Unlimited Free tier Yes, 1 repo SSO / SAML, audit logs Enterprise On-prem deployment Enterprise Compiled from public product documentation in July 2026. Apidog ships fast, so check their site for the current state. If something here is out of date, tell us and we will fix it. Switching ## You do not have to throw anything away Import your projects, keep the specs your team authored, and let Elva reconcile them against the code. The interesting part is what the code has that the spec does not. 01 Import collections and specs Apidog projects, OpenAPI files, environments, and Postman collections. Everything lands in the catalog with its history intact. 02 Connect the repo This is where the gap shows. Expect to find endpoints no collection ever mentioned, usually a third of your surface. 03 Export back out any time Elva generates OpenAPI specs and Postman collections as deploy targets. No lock-in, and your designers keep the workflow they already like. WHEN APIDOG IS ENOUGH You are designing a new API from scratch, you want mocks before the backend exists, and the spec is the thing your team argues over. Apidog is a strong design loop and it will serve you well there. WHEN YOU NEED ELVA Nobody can list every endpoint you own. A partner or an agent depends on your response shape. Someone asks which agent called what, and the honest answer is that you do not know. That is the day a client stops being enough. ## FAQ ### How is Elva different from Apidog? Apidog is an all-in-one workspace for designing, mocking, and debugging an API from a spec you author. Elva derives the spec from code, grades every endpoint, gates breaking changes per audience, and hosts the MCP gateway your agents call. ### Is Elva design-first or code-first? Code-derived. The spec is generated from the repo and kept true on every commit; design intent lives in contracts layered on top, so the design and the implementation cannot silently diverge. ### How does pricing differ from Apidog? Apidog charges per seat. Elva plans are flat per workspace with unlimited members. ## Point Elva at one repo and see what is missing Free forever on your first repo. Import your existing specs in the same minute. [Sign up free](https://app.getelva.ai/signup) [See plans](https://getelva.ai/pricing.md)