Kong Gateway vs KrakenD API Gateway
Kong Gateway
konghq.com
KrakenD API Gateway
krakend.ioSide by side
| Figure | Kong Gateway | KrakenD API Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 7 | 2 |
| Spec score · API Security & Management Platforms | 7.7 (#4) | 7.6 (#5) |
| Spec score · Rest Apis | 7.8 (#10) | 7.7 (#11) |
| Spec score · API Gateway Software | 7.8 (#12) | 7.8 (#13) |
| Spec score · Apis | 7.8 (#13) | 7.7 (#16) |
| Deployment | Kong says the gateway can run on premises, in cloud, Kubernetes, or serverless environments, with or without a database and in hybrid or cloud-hosted modes. | KrakenD is self-hosted and available through Docker and Kubernetes, cloud marketplace virtual machines, Linux packages, and Linux generic binaries. |
| Founded | 2017 | 2016 |
| Headquarters | San Francisco, California, USA | Barcelona, Spain |
| Purpose | Kong Gateway is an open-source API gateway built for hybrid and multi-cloud environments and optimized for microservices and distributed architectures. | KrakenD is a stateless, distributed API gateway for connecting, securing, aggregating, and transforming APIs and AI workloads. |
| Support | Konnect Plus includes email support with a two-business-day SLA; Enterprise lists dedicated customer success and technical account managers and higher SLAs. | Community support resources include Google Groups, GitHub issue reporting, and Gophers Slack; Enterprise offers direct vendor support and SLAs. |
Plans
Kong Gateway
- Free trialFree
- PlusPriced on request
- EnterprisePriced on request
- Kong Gateway Open SourceFree
- Konnect Free trialFree
- Konnect EnterprisePriced on request
- Konnect PlusPrice not published
KrakenD API Gateway
- Community EditionFree
- Enterprise EditionPriced on request
In their own words
Kong Gateway
Kong Gateway has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
KrakenD API Gateway
KrakenD API Gateway is a stateless, distributed gateway for connecting, securing, aggregating, and transforming APIs and AI workloads. It can combine data from multiple services into one response shaped for client needs. Traffic controls include rate limiting, circuit breaking, IP filtering, bot detection, and load balancing. Connectivity includes REST, RabbitMQ, SNS, SQS, Kafka, GraphQL, gRPC, SOAP, and Lambda; listed protocols also include HTTP, WebSockets, AMQP, and NATS. Authentication options include JWT, OAuth2, OpenID Connect, client credentials, API keys, Basic Authentication, and mTLS. KrakenD is self-hosted, with deployment choices including Docker, Kubernetes, cloud marketplace virtual machines, and Linux packages or binaries. The maker says the development Docker image can be used on Windows, Mac, or Linux, and KrakenD runs natively on Linux and Mac OS. Community Edition costs nothing and includes unlimited requests, APIs, and AI workloads. AI Gateway and AI security are Enterprise features.