No. 2 of 37 ·API Monetization Software

Kong Gateway

Web · Linux · Self-hosted · API

Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.5

Free tierA free tier is on its own pricing page
Open codeNo open-source code on record
Runs widely2 of 6 device platforms
DocumentedPlans, terms and facts published

Kong Gateway is ranked #2 of 37 in API monetization software on Freedom251. It runs on API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web. There is a free plan. A free trial is offered.

Kong Gateway plans and pricing

All plans

Kong Gateway Open Source Free Open-source API gateway; no paid-plan limits stated on the product page konghq.com · 29 Sept 2026

Konnect Free trial Free 30 days; no credit card required Enterprise functionality; no Gateway limits; analytics retained for 30 days konghq.com · 29 Sept 2026

Konnect Enterprise Not published Custom pricing billed annually No Gateway limits · unlimited developer portals and published APIs · fully self-hosted API gateways available konghq.com · 29 Sept 2026

Konnect Plus Not published Charged per Gateway per month, bill monthly Up to 5 serverless gateways · 2 hybrid gateways · 2 dedicated cloud gateways · 1M API requests/month included · $200/month per additional 1M requests konghq.com · 29 Sept 2026

Compared on API monetization software

Free plan: No
Paid from: $25/mo
API catalog: Yes

Best Kong Gateway alternatives

See all 12

Two bars Gravitee API Gateway Free tier No. 1$2,500/mo6.6 One bar Lago Free tier No. 3Free6.4 One bar Moesif Free tier No. 4Free6.4 One bar Revenium Free tier No. 5Free6.4 One bar Stigg Free tier No. 6$399/mo6.4 One bar Zuplo Free tier No. 7$25/mo6.4

The record

Purpose: Kong Gateway is an open-source API gateway built for hybrid and multi-cloud environments and optimized for microservices and distributed architectures.
Performance: Kong describes its NGINX engine as ultra-lightweight and states it handles 50K+ transactions per second per node.
Configuration: The gateway can be configured through an API, web UI, or declarative configuration, including updates managed through CI/CD pipelines.
Deployment: Kong says the gateway can run on premises, in cloud, Kubernetes, or serverless environments, with or without a database and in hybrid or cloud-hosted modes.
Plugins: Built-in plugins cover security, authentication, transformation, and analytics, and custom plugins can be developed with Kong's Plugin Development Kit.
Kubernetes: Kong Ingress Controller configures Kong Gateway using Kubernetes-native resources and supports traffic management, transformations, and observability across clusters.
Protocol support: Konnect Plus lists support for REST, HTTP, LLMs, Kafka, WebSockets, gRPC, and GraphQL.
Security controls: Kong's product page lists security and authentication plugins, while its pricing page lists RBAC and identifies SSO and audit logs as Enterprise features.
Support: Konnect Plus includes email support with a two-business-day SLA; Enterprise lists dedicated customer success and technical account managers and higher SLAs.
Linux installation: Kong's installation documentation provides Linux packages and binaries, Docker images, and Kubernetes deployment instructions.
Windows limitation: Kong's documentation says Windows installation uses Docker and that Kong does not provide a native Windows installation method.
Company history: Kong's company page says its story began in Milan in 2009 and that the API gateway was open-sourced and named Kong later in the company's history.
Founded: 2010
Headquarters: San Francisco, California, United States
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on Freedom251

Best API Monetization Software in 2026#2 of 37
Best LLM Gateway Software in 2026#4 of 32
Best API Developer Portal Software in 2026#3 of 31
Best API Management Software in 2026#3 of 28
Best API Marketplace Software in 2026#3 of 28
Best API Gateway Software in 2026#2 of 27
Best Service Mesh Platforms in 2026#4 of 16

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Sources

konghq.com/products/kong-gateway· checked 29 Sept 2026
konghq.com/pricing· checked 29 Sept 2026
developer.konghq.com/gateway/install/· checked 29 Sept 2026
konghq.com/company· checked 29 Sept 2026