Express Gateway vs Kong
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and integrations.
Quick Verdict
Express Gateway offers fewer features (13 vs 59) and fewer integrations (3 vs 8). Starting price: Express Gateway at Contact Sales vs Kong at $12/mo. Express Gateway has 13 unique features while Kong has 59 unique features, with 0 features in common.
| Express Gateway | Kong | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | DevOps | DevOps |
| Total Features | 13 | 59 |
| AI-Powered Features | 0 | 4 |
| Starting Price | Contact Sales | $12/mo |
| Pricing Tiers | 0 | 6 |
| Integrations | 3 | 8 |
| Shared Features | 0 | |
| Shared Integrations | 0 | |
| Data Quality | 40% | 90% |
Feature Comparison by Category
AI Connectivity (0 vs 3)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| AI Gateway | ||
| AI Gateway Paid Plugins | ||
| MCP Gateway |
API Discovery (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Developer Portal | ||
| Service Catalog |
API Governance (0 vs 5)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Groups | ||
| Federated API Management | ||
| Plugin Ordering | ||
| Request Validation | ||
| Workspaces |
API Testing (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Insomnia |
Automation (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Event Hooks |
Compatibility (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Framework Agnostic | ||
| Language Agnostic |
Configuration Management (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Auto-detect and Hot-reload Config Changes | ||
| Single Configuration |
Core Architecture (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Express Middleware Built-in |
Core Gateway (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Gateway |
Data Processing (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Data Transformation |
Deployment (2 vs 5)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Cloud Gateway | ||
| Docker Support | ||
| Hybrid Gateway | ||
| Kubernetes Ingress Controller | ||
| Multi-Cloud Deployment | ||
| Orchestrator Compatibility | ||
| Serverless Gateway |
DevOps (0 vs 3)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD Integration | ||
| Declarative Configuration | ||
| Git Sync |
Development Tools (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Design & Testing |
Event Streaming (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Event Gateway | ||
| Kafka Integration |
Extensibility (3 vs 2)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Plugin Development | ||
| Express Middleware Extension | ||
| Plugin Architecture | ||
| Plugin Development Kit | ||
| Plugin System |
Integration (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| DevOps Integration |
Management (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Admin GUI | ||
| Kong Manager |
Microservices (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Microservice Support |
Monetization (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Metering & Billing |
Monitoring & Analytics (0 vs 3)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| API Analytics | ||
| Observability | ||
| OpenTelemetry Support |
Protocol Support (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| GraphQL Support | ||
| Multi-Protocol Support |
Reliability (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Data Plane Resilience |
Security (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Authentication and Authorization |
Security & Compliance (0 vs 16)
| Feature | Express Gateway | 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 (0 vs 3)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Mocking | ||
| Inso CLI | ||
| Mock Server Requests |
Traffic Management (0 vs 4)
| Feature | Express Gateway | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Rate Limiting | ||
| Caching | ||
| Rate Limiting | ||
| Routing Engine |
Unique Features
Only in Express Gateway (13)
Framework Agnostic
Language Agnostic
Auto-detect and Hot-reload Config Changes
Single Configuration
Express Middleware Built-in
Docker Support
Orchestrator Compatibility
Custom Plugin Development
Express Middleware Extension
Plugin Architecture
DevOps Integration
Microservice Support
Custom Authentication and Authorization
Only in Kong (59)
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
+ 39 more unique features
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