42Crunch API Protection vs Levo Runtime Application Security: Side-by-Side Comparison (2026)

42Crunch API Protection

Teams protecting microservices architectures should pick 42Crunch API Protection for its positive security model that enforces OpenAPI contracts at runtime, catching malformed requests before they reach application code. The tool covers all ten OWASP API vulnerabilities natively and deploys directly from CI/CD pipelines into containers and API gateways without requiring code changes. Skip this if you need a broader API management platform; 42Crunch is purpose-built for threat prevention, not governance or monetization.

Levo Runtime Application Security

Teams building AI-native applications or maintaining sprawling API ecosystems should choose Levo Runtime Application Security because it actually discovers and monitors machine-to-machine traffic that traditional WAFs and API gateways miss. The eBPF-based collection works without agents, and the unified runtime graph connecting APIs, LLMs, and agents gives you visibility into attack surfaces that don't show up in your inventory tools. Skip this if your infrastructure is mostly monolithic, on-prem applications with minimal API footprint; you'll pay for capabilities you don't need.