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Kong API Gateway

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Company health

Employee growth
27% increase in the last year
Web traffic
12% decrease in the last quarter
Financing
August 2024 - $344M

Ratings

G2
4.3/5
(238)
Glassdoor
3.9/5
(130)

Kong API Gateway description

Kong API Gateway is a software platform that helps businesses manage how their applications communicate with each other. It acts like a central hub, directing traffic between different parts of your software and external services. Kong is designed to be fast, flexible, and secure, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes that need a reliable way to handle their API traffic.


What companies are using Kong API Gateway?

GSK is using Kong API Gateway
GSK
AppDynamics is using Kong API Gateway
AppDynamics
PEloton is using Kong API Gateway
PEloton
Nasdaq is using Kong API Gateway
Nasdaq
Wayfair is using Kong API Gateway
Wayfair
Peloton is using Kong API Gateway
Peloton
LINE is using Kong API Gateway
LINE
Zapier is used by GSK, AppDynamics, PEloton, Nasdaq, Wayfair, Peloton, LINE.

Who is Kong API Gateway best for

Kong API Gateway is a robust platform for managing communication between applications and services. Its flexible plugin architecture and high performance are praised by users. However, some find the documentation lacking and the Enterprise Edition costly. It's ideal for businesses adopting microservices or cloud-native architectures looking for scalable API management.

  • Ideal for small, medium, and enterprise businesses.

  • Best fit for Software, IT, Telecommunications, Education, Media & Entertainment, and Non-profit & Government.


Kong API Gateway features

Supported

Kong API Gateway supports API management, including design and security features.

Supported

Kong supports hybrid deployments with its control plane and data plane architecture.

Supported

Kong supports secure communication with encryption and authentication mechanisms.

Supported

Kong supports encryption for data at rest and key management, especially in the enterprise version.

Supported

Kong supports PKI for secure communication and authentication using certificates and mTLS.

Qualities

We evaluate the sentiment that users express about non-functional aspects of the software

Value and Pricing Transparency

Rather negative
-0.3

Customer Service

Rather positive
+0.57

Ease of Use

Strongly positive
+0.7

Reliability and Performance

Strongly positive
+0.82

Ease of Implementation

Rather positive
+0.37

Scalability

Strongly positive
+0.91

Kong API Gateway reviews

We've summarised 238 Kong API Gateway reviews (Kong API Gateway G2 reviews) and summarised the main points below.

Pros of Kong API Gateway
  • Flexible and extensible through a wide range of plugins, including custom plugin development with Lua, Go, and Javascript
  • High performance and scalability due to Nginx foundation
  • Easy setup and deployment, particularly with Docker and Kubernetes
  • Supports hybrid and multi-cloud deployments
  • Good customer support, particularly for the Enterprise Edition
Cons of Kong API Gateway
  • Limited documentation, especially for troubleshooting and custom plugin development
  • Developer portal lacks maturity and advanced features, like monetization and application limits
  • High cost of the Enterprise Edition, especially with per-microservice and per-environment pricing
  • Lack of client credential storage, unlike some competitors
  • Dropping support for Alpine-based images, increasing attack surface with Ubuntu image

Kong API Gateway pricing

The commentary is based on 32 reviews from Kong API Gateway G2 reviews.

Kong Konnect offers a 30-day free trial for the Plus plan. The Plus plan has a pay-as-you-go pricing model with various components like Gateway Manager, Developer Portal, Analytics, Mesh Manager, Service Catalog, Organization, and Training & Support. The Enterprise plan requires contacting sales for custom pricing and includes everything in the Plus plan along with Professional Services, 24/7/365 technical support, and volume discounts.

Users sentiment

Neutral
-0.07

See the Kong API Gateway pricing page.

  • Kong API Gateway has a free trial.

Serverless
$25 per month

The fastest way to run an API gateway in Konnect. Great for development and prototyping. Includes 1M API requests, limited to 1 custom domain.

Self Hosted / K8s
$200 per month

A flexible option for deploying your production API gateway, integrated into our Konnect API platform. Includes 1M API requests.

Dedicated Cloud
$500 per month

Fully managed, multi-cloud enterprise-grade API gateways that auto-scale. Includes 1M API requests.

Enterprise
Custom

Cost-effective contracts with predictability and savings, plus dedicated support. Includes everything in Plus and Professional Services, 24x7x365 technical support, and volume discounts.


Kong API Gateway alternatives

  • Logo of Amazon API Gateway
    Amazon API Gateway
    Creates, manages, and secures your APIs, connecting apps seamlessly.
    Read more
  • Logo of Tyk
    Tyk
    Open-source API gateway: manage, secure, and scale your APIs.
    Read more
  • Logo of Apigee Edge
    Apigee Edge
    Secure API gateway: manage, analyze, and scale your connections.
    Read more
  • Logo of Gravitee.io
    Gravitee.io
    Open-source API management: full lifecycle, flexible, secure.
    Read more
  • Logo of Apache APISIX
    Apache APISIX
    Cloud-native API gateway, fast, scalable, and developer-friendly.
    Read more
  • Logo of WSO2 API Manager
    WSO2 API Manager
    Open-source API management: create, secure, and monitor API lifecycles.
    Read more

Kong API Gateway FAQ

  • What is Kong API Gateway and what does Kong API Gateway do?

    Kong API Gateway is a cloud-native, open-source API gateway built on top of Nginx. It manages, secures, and governs API traffic, enabling seamless communication between applications and services. Kong offers flexible deployment options and a plugin-based architecture for extensibility.

  • How does Kong API Gateway integrate with other tools?

    Kong API Gateway integrates with other tools through its plugin architecture. It supports a wide range of plugins for functionalities like authentication, traffic control, and analytics. This allows Kong to fit into various technology stacks and workflows.

  • What the main competitors of Kong API Gateway?

    Top Kong API Gateway competitors include Apigee Edge, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, AWS API Gateway, and Azure API Management. These alternatives offer similar API management functionalities, catering to diverse business needs and technical preferences.

  • Is Kong API Gateway legit?

    Kong API Gateway is a legitimate and safe API management platform. It offers robust security features, flexible deployment options, and high performance. However, potential users should be aware of the high cost of the Enterprise Edition and limited documentation.

  • How much does Kong API Gateway cost?

    Kong API Gateway pricing is complex. Kong Konnect offers a free trial and pay-as-you-go plans with custom pricing for most features. Kong Gateway Enterprise has Business, Platinum, and Diamond support tiers with custom pricing. Kong Insomnia has Hobby (free), Pro ($12/month), and Enterprise ($45/month) plans. Contact sales for detailed pricing information.

  • Is Kong API Gateway customer service good?

    Kong API Gateway's customer support receives positive feedback, with users highlighting its responsiveness and helpfulness in resolving issues and answering questions. However, some users mention that community support could be improved.


Reviewed by

MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

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