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