Kong
konghq.comBuild Difficulty: 5/5
Build a working replacement in a weekend with AI tools
The API Platform Powering the API World
How to Replace KongOverview
Features
59 features across 20 categories
AI Connectivity(3)
Unified, secure, reliable, cost-effective multi-LLM interface for AI agents and MCP servers to interact with LLMs across the enterprise
Advanced AI plugins including AWS Guardrails, Azure Content Safety, Prompt Compressor, RAG Injector, Rate Limiting, Sanitizer, Semantic Cache, and Semantic Prompt Guard
Design, compose, and run intelligent MCP integration patterns that leverage secure APIs and real-time data as lean, cost-effective tools
API Discovery(2)
Productize APIs, MCP servers, LLM APIs, and event data as self-service, reusable assets for developers and agents
Global service catalog for internal teams to discover and manage governed services
API Governance(5)
Define any number of plugin tiers such as rate limiting and apply them to subsets of consumers
Easily organize services and data planes via control planes for isolation based on environment or teams
Declaratively configure the execution order of plugins based on organizational needs
Validate requests using Kong's schema validator or JSON Schema Draft 4-compliant validator
Provide isolation and organization of API services and configurations for different teams
API Testing(1)
Build an AI trust layer with developer-friendly API and MCP design, testing, and debugging capabilities
Automation(1)
Auto-logout or send web hooks on gateway changes, such as new admins added or rate limits exceeded
Core Gateway(1)
High-performance API gateway supporting REST, HTTP, gRPC, GraphQL, WebSockets, Kafka, and UDP protocols
Data Processing(1)
Simple and advanced data transformations including adding/removing headers, JSON manipulation, and query string modifications
Deployment(5)
Dedicated cloud gateway control planes deployable across AWS, GCP, and Azure regions
Hybrid API gateway control planes for on-premises and cloud-hosted deployments
Configure Kong Gateway the same way as Kubernetes with Kubernetes native deployment patterns
Deploy Kong Gateway across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments including AWS, GCP, and Azure
Serverless API gateway control planes for scalable deployments
DevOps(3)
Automate the entire API lifecycle as part of CI/CD, GitOps, and Infrastructure as Code strategies
Manage Kong Gateway updates via declarative configuration and CI/CD pipelines
Synchronize API and gateway configurations with Git repositories for version control
Development Tools(1)
Design, test, and debug APIs with developer-friendly tools for building the AI fuel that powers applications
Event Streaming(2)
Expose, secure, and productize event data to fuel AI-powered applications with live data and real-time signals
Transform requests into Kafka messages and send Kong logs to Kafka
Extensibility(2)
Build custom plugins to support unique use cases and extend Kong Gateway functionality
Highly extensible plugin system with out-of-the-box security, authentication, transformation, and analytics plugins
Management(2)
Visually manage runtimes, plugins, APIs, and consumers through a web interface
Self-managed control plane manager for administrative tasks and configuration
Monetization(1)
Monetize agents, APIs, LLMs, MCP servers, event data, and more with managed metering and billing
Monitoring & Analytics(3)
Real-time visibility into all APIs and gateway performance with advanced analytics and request tracking
Stand-up cross platform observability, compliance guardrails, cost governance, and control mechanisms for every point of AI connectivity
Manage the collection and sampling of tracing information for observability
Protocol Support(2)
Convert GraphQL queries to REST requests and rate limit and cache GraphQL queries
Support for wide range of protocols including REST, gRPC, GraphQL, WebSockets, UDP, SOAP and Kafka
Reliability(1)
In case of control plane failure, new data plane nodes can boot by reading config files from S3-compatible storage
Security & Compliance(16)
Manage ACME certificates for secure API connectivity
Full OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, Vault, Mutual TLS, JWT Signing/Resigning, SAML2.0, JWE Decrypt, and full LDAP support
Control access to APIs with complex, programmable, enterprise-wide rules using Open Policy Agent
Shift API security left and right through automated API security checkpoints in CI/CD pipeline
Maintain detailed cluster config records for enhanced security, compliance, debugging, and risk management
Common API authentication methods including Basic Auth, HMAC, JWT Key Auth, limited OAuth 2.0, and limited LDAP
Basic authorization controls for bot detection, CORS management, and access control lists
Domain capture and lock with invite control for organizational security
E2EE encryption for secure data transmission in API calls
Configure Kong Gateway core in a FIPS 140-2 compliant mode for regulated environments
Native integrations with vault solutions including AWS, GCP, Hashicorp, and Azure
Control gateway configurations and API access based on user roles in the organization
System for Cross-domain Identity Management integration for user provisioning
OOTB integration with 3rd party secret management tools like Hashicorp Vault, AWS Secret Manager, GCP Secrets Manager
Visibility into the inventory of all software components (proprietary and open source), licenses, and dependencies
Single Sign-On support with SAML and OIDC protocols for enterprise identity management
Testing(3)
Mock API responses directly on the API gateway for testing and development
Command-line interface for CI/CD automation and API testing
Mock API server requests for testing and development purposes
Traffic Management(4)
Advanced rate limiting with sliding window controls for enterprise deployments
Lightweight caching capabilities for improved API performance
Enterprise-grade rate limiting with sliding window controls and configurable limits
New routing engine to configure Routes using Expressions for handling complex routing requests
Pricing
Kong Konnect Free Trial
- ✓Self-guided tour of Kong Konnect platform
- ✓No gateway limits
- ✓Analytics retained for 30 days
- ✓No credit card required
Kong Konnect Plus
- ✓Up to 5 Serverless Gateways
- ✓Up to 2 Hybrid Gateways
- ✓Up to 2 Dedicated Cloud Gateways
- ✓Support for REST APIs, HTTP APIs, LLMs, Kafka, WebSockets, gRPC, GraphQL
- ✓Up to 2 Developer Portals
- ✓Up to 20 published APIs in Developer Portal
- ✓Service Catalog support for 2 services
- ✓Up to 10 premium services during early access
- ✓Advanced analytics for 1M API requests/month
- ✓10M requests/month stored
- ✓RBAC
- ✓Email support with 2-business-day SLA
- ✓Kong Academy training
Kong Konnect Enterprise
Popular- ✓Everything in Plus, plus:
- ✓No Gateway limits
- ✓Unlimited Hybrid Gateways
- ✓Unlimited Dedicated Cloud Gateways
- ✓Fully self-hosted API Gateways
- ✓Unlimited Developer Portals
- ✓Unlimited published APIs
- ✓Enhanced Service Catalog governance
- ✓Unlimited Services in Service Catalog
- ✓No premium service limits
- ✓Enterprise-grade API platform security
- ✓Audit Logs
- ✓SSO
- ✓Dedicated customer-specific training
- ✓Dedicated Proof of Concept with Kong team
- ✓Dedicated Customer Success Managers
- ✓Dedicated Technical Account Managers
- ✓Professional services and migration support
- ✓Higher SLAs
Insomnia Essentials
- ✓Unlimited Git Sync projects for up to 3 users
- ✓Unlimited Cloud/Local projects for all users
- ✓Access to Inso CLI for CI/CD automation
- ✓Unlimited collection runs
- ✓Unlimited environments
- ✓1,000 mock server requests per month
- ✓End-to-end encryption (E2EE)
- ✓Unlimited access to plugins or build your own
- ✓Optional add-ons available
Insomnia Pro
- ✓Everything in Essentials, plus:
- ✓Unlimited users
- ✓All users have access to Git Sync projects
- ✓Unlimited organizations
- ✓Role-based access control (RBAC)
- ✓10,000 mock server requests per month
- ✓Optional add-ons available
Insomnia Enterprise
- ✓Everything in Pro, plus:
- ✓SSO (SAML/OIDC) and SCIM
- ✓Mandate where projects are stored (local, git, or cloud)
- ✓Domain capture/lock and invite control
- ✓Enterprise support
- ✓Access to SOC2 compliance and latest security testing results
- ✓Native vault integrations including AWS, GCP, Hashicorp, and Azure
- ✓Unlimited mock server requests
- ✓Custom payment options
- ✓Optional add-ons available
- ✓Kong professional services to help get started quickly
Cost Calculator
Keep Paying Kong
Build It Yourself
Total Cost Comparison
DIY hosting estimate based on Vercel + Supabase free/pro tiers (~$20/mo). Build time estimated from 59 features at very easy complexity.
Build vs Buy
Should you build a Kong alternative or buy the subscription? Estimate based on 59 features.
Buy Kong
Better ValueBuild Your Own
Buying Kong saves ~$51,120 over 3 years vs building.
Estimates based on 59 features and a BuildScore of 5/5. Actual costs vary.
Integrations
8 known integrations