CircleCI vs Kong
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and integrations.
Quick Verdict
CircleCI offers fewer features (39 vs 59) and more integrations (30 vs 8). Starting price: CircleCI at $25/mo vs Kong at $12/mo. CircleCI has 38 unique features while Kong has 58 unique features, with 1 features in common.
| CircleCI | Kong | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | DevOps | DevOps |
| Total Features | 39 | 59 |
| AI-Powered Features | 4 | 4 |
| Starting Price | $25/mo | $12/mo |
| Pricing Tiers | 5 | 6 |
| Integrations | 30 | 8 |
| Shared Features | 1 | |
| Shared Integrations | 3 | |
| Data Quality | 70% | 90% |
Feature Comparison by Category
AI Connectivity (0 vs 3)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| AI Gateway | ||
| AI Gateway Paid Plugins | ||
| MCP Gateway |
API Discovery (0 vs 2)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Developer Portal | ||
| Service Catalog |
API Governance (0 vs 5)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Groups | ||
| Federated API Management | ||
| Plugin Ordering | ||
| Request Validation | ||
| Workspaces |
API Testing (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Insomnia |
Administration (3 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Backup and Restore | ||
| Project Settings | ||
| Team Management |
Analytics (3 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Performance Insights | ||
| Test Insights | ||
| Usage Insights |
Artifacts (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Artifact Management |
Automation (1 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Event Hooks | ||
| Scheduled Pipelines |
CI/CD (3 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Continuous Deployment | ||
| Continuous Integration | ||
| Workflows |
Configuration (3 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Config File Processing | ||
| Dynamic Configuration | ||
| Orbs |
Core Gateway (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Gateway |
Data Processing (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Data Transformation |
Debugging (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| SSH Debugging |
Deployment (0 vs 5)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Cloud Gateway | ||
| Hybrid Gateway | ||
| Kubernetes Ingress Controller | ||
| Multi-Cloud Deployment | ||
| Serverless Gateway |
DevOps (0 vs 3)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD Integration | ||
| Declarative Configuration | ||
| Git Sync |
Development Tools (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Design & Testing |
Docker (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Container Builds |
Event Streaming (0 vs 2)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Event Gateway | ||
| Kafka Integration |
Extensibility (0 vs 2)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Plugin Development Kit | ||
| Plugin System |
Infrastructure (6 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Docker Executors | ||
| Machine Executors | ||
| Resource Classes | ||
| Self-Hosted Runners | ||
| Windows Executors | ||
| macOS Executors |
Integration (2 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API | ||
| Webhooks |
Management (0 vs 2)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Admin GUI | ||
| Kong Manager |
Monetization (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Metering & Billing |
Monitoring & Analytics (0 vs 3)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Analytics | ||
| Observability | ||
| OpenTelemetry Support |
Notifications (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Notifications |
Package Management (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Package Registries |
Performance (2 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Caching | ||
| Parallelization |
Protocol Support (0 vs 2)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| GraphQL Support | ||
| Multi-Protocol Support |
Reliability (0 vs 1)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Data Plane Resilience |
Security (5 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Audit Logs | ||
| Context Variables | ||
| Dependency Management | ||
| OIDC Token Exchange | ||
| SSH Keys Management |
Security & Compliance (0 vs 16)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| ACME Certificate Management | ||
| API Security Shift Left | ||
| Advanced Authentication | ||
| Advanced Authorization (OPA) | ||
| Audit Logging | ||
| Basic Authentication | ||
| Bot Detection & CORS Controls | ||
| Domain Capture and Control | ||
| End-to-End Encryption | ||
| FIPS 140-2 Compliance | ||
| Native Vault Integration | ||
| Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) | ||
| SCIM Integration | ||
| SSO (SAML/OIDC) | ||
| Secret Management Integration |
Testing (2 vs 3)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Code Coverage Reports | ||
| Gateway Mocking | ||
| Inso CLI | ||
| Mock Server Requests | ||
| Test Result Aggregation |
Traffic Management (0 vs 4)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Rate Limiting | ||
| Caching | ||
| Rate Limiting | ||
| Routing Engine |
VCS Integration (1 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub Check Runs |
Workflow (3 vs 0)
| Feature | CircleCI | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Approval Jobs | ||
| Branch Filtering | ||
| Matrix Jobs |
Unique Features
Only in CircleCI (38)
Backup and Restore
Project Settings
Team Management
Performance Insights
Test Insights
Usage Insights
Artifact Management
Scheduled Pipelines
Continuous Deployment
Continuous Integration
Workflows
Config File Processing
Dynamic Configuration
Orbs
SSH Debugging
Container Builds
Docker Executors
Machine Executors
macOS Executors
Resource Classes
+ 18 more unique features
Only in Kong (58)
AI Gateway
AI Gateway Paid Plugins
MCP Gateway
Developer Portal
Service Catalog
Consumer Groups
Federated API Management
Plugin Ordering
Request Validation
Workspaces
Insomnia
Gateway Event Hooks
API Gateway
Data Transformation
Dedicated Cloud Gateway
Hybrid Gateway
Kubernetes Ingress Controller
Multi-Cloud Deployment
Serverless Gateway
API Design & Testing
+ 38 more unique features
Want to build your own alternative to CircleCI or Kong?
Analyze it with Reap