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.
LINEZapier 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.
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
Amazon API Gateway
Creates, manages, and secures your APIs, connecting apps seamlessly.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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