Kong vs Stoplight
Side-by-side comparison of features, pricing, and integrations.
Quick Verdict
Kong offers more features (59 vs 57) and more integrations (8 vs 7). Starting price: Kong at $12/mo vs Stoplight at $56/mo. Kong has 57 unique features while Stoplight has 55 unique features, with 2 features in common.
| Kong | Stoplight | |
|---|---|---|
| Category | DevOps | DevOps |
| Total Features | 59 | 57 |
| AI-Powered Features | 4 | 0 |
| Starting Price | $12/mo | $56/mo |
| Pricing Tiers | 6 | 5 |
| Integrations | 8 | 7 |
| Shared Features | 2 | |
| Shared Integrations | 0 | |
| Data Quality | 90% | 90% |
Feature Comparison by Category
AI Connectivity (3 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| AI Gateway | ||
| AI Gateway Paid Plugins | ||
| MCP Gateway |
API Design (0 vs 8)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Code-Based Editing | ||
| Component Libraries | ||
| Design Validation | ||
| Git Sync | ||
| Multi-Branch Support | ||
| OpenAPI Export | ||
| OpenAPI/JSON Schema Visual Designer | ||
| Schema Reuse |
API Discovery (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Developer Portal | ||
| Service Catalog |
API Governance (5 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Consumer Groups | ||
| Federated API Management | ||
| Plugin Ordering | ||
| Request Validation | ||
| Workspaces |
API Mocking (0 vs 7)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Automatic Mock Servers | ||
| Configurable Response Codes | ||
| Dynamic Responses | ||
| Instant Mock Servers | ||
| Local Mock Servers | ||
| Request Validation | ||
| Static Responses |
API Testing (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Insomnia |
Access Control (0 vs 7)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Approved Email Domains | ||
| Internal Projects | ||
| Per-Project User Access | ||
| Private Projects | ||
| Public Projects | ||
| User Management and RBAC | ||
| Workspace Groups |
Analytics (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Analytics Integration |
Automation (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Event Hooks |
Billing (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Custom Payment Terms | ||
| Invoicing |
Collaboration (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Discussions | ||
| Workspace Teams |
Core Gateway (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| API Gateway |
Data Processing (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Data Transformation |
Deployment (5 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Dedicated Cloud Gateway | ||
| Hybrid Gateway | ||
| Kubernetes Ingress Controller | ||
| Multi-Cloud Deployment | ||
| Serverless Gateway |
DevOps (3 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| CI/CD Integration | ||
| Declarative Configuration | ||
| Git Sync |
Development Tools (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| API Design & Testing |
Documentation (0 vs 11)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| API Console (Try It Out) | ||
| Automatic SSL | ||
| Code Generation | ||
| Custom Domains | ||
| Documentation Editor | ||
| Interactive API Documentation | ||
| Remove Stoplight Branding | ||
| Rich Markdown Articles | ||
| Theming | ||
| Unlimited Documentation Views | ||
| Versioning |
Event Streaming (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Event Gateway | ||
| Kafka Integration |
Extensibility (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Plugin Development Kit | ||
| Plugin System |
Governance (0 vs 12)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| API Style Guides | ||
| Activity Logs | ||
| Automatic Changelogs | ||
| Automatic Git Repo Analysis | ||
| Create Shared Style Guide Projects | ||
| Dependency Graph | ||
| Enable Shared Style Guides | ||
| Enable Stoplight Style Guide | ||
| Model Masking | ||
| Search and Filter | ||
| Star API Assets | ||
| Technical Knowledge Base |
Integration (0 vs 4)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Catalog API Access | ||
| Cloud Git Providers | ||
| Self-Hosted Git Providers | ||
| Stoplight CLI |
Management (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Admin GUI | ||
| Kong Manager |
Monetization (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Metering & Billing |
Monitoring & Analytics (3 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| API Analytics | ||
| Observability | ||
| OpenTelemetry Support |
Protocol Support (2 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| GraphQL Support | ||
| Multi-Protocol Support |
Reliability (1 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Data Plane Resilience |
Security (0 vs 1)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| LDAP and SAML SSO |
Security & Compliance (16 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| 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 |
Support (0 vs 2)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| 24x7 Community Access | ||
| Priority Support |
Testing (3 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Gateway Mocking | ||
| Inso CLI | ||
| Mock Server Requests |
Traffic Management (4 vs 0)
| Feature | Kong | Stoplight |
|---|---|---|
| Advanced Rate Limiting | ||
| Caching | ||
| Rate Limiting | ||
| Routing Engine |
Unique Features
Only in Kong (57)
AI Gateway
AI Gateway Paid Plugins
MCP Gateway
Developer Portal
Service Catalog
Consumer Groups
Federated API Management
Plugin Ordering
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
CI/CD Integration
+ 37 more unique features
Only in Stoplight (55)
Approved Email Domains
Internal Projects
Per-Project User Access
Private Projects
Public Projects
User Management and RBAC
Workspace Groups
Analytics Integration
Code-Based Editing
Component Libraries
Design Validation
Multi-Branch Support
OpenAPI Export
OpenAPI/JSON Schema Visual Designer
Schema Reuse
Automatic Mock Servers
Configurable Response Codes
Dynamic Responses
Instant Mock Servers
Local Mock Servers
+ 35 more unique features
Want to build your own alternative to Kong or Stoplight?
Analyze it with Reap