Kong Gateway vs Traefik Mesh
| Kong Gateway | Traefik Mesh | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | |
| Paid from | Free | Free |
| Platforms | api, Linux, self-hosted, Web | api, Linux, self-hosted |
| Deployment model | hybrid | self_hosted |
| Proxy architecture | sidecar | sidecarless |
| mTLS support | Yes | No |
| Traffic policies | Yes | Yes |
| Multi-cluster support | Yes | |
| Supported platforms | Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift | Kubernetes |
| Free plan | No | |
| Paid from | 25 /mo | |
| API catalog | Yes | |
| Supported protocols | REST, HTTP, Kafka, WebSockets, gRPC, GraphQL, UDP, TCP, TLS | |
| Authentication methods | Basic Auth, HMAC, JWT, Key Auth, LDAP, mutual TLS, OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, SAML, Vault | |
| Rate limiting | Yes | |
| Request transformation | Yes | |
| Monthly request limit | 1,000,000 requests/mo | |
| Developer portal | Yes | |
| Lifecycle management | Yes | |
| Access policies | Yes | |
| API analytics | Yes | |
| API product management | Yes | |
| Fallback routing | Yes | |
| Usage analytics | Yes | |
| Self-hosted deployment | Yes | |
| Budget controls | Yes | |
| Virtual API keys | Yes |
Listed together in Best Service Mesh Platforms