Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

Amazon API Gateway vs Kong Gateway Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon API Gateway
Ranking in API Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Kong Gateway Enterprise
Ranking in API Management
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Amazon API Gateway is 14.6%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Gateway Enterprise is 6.0%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Dinesh Agrawalla - PeerSpot reviewer
Requires minimal configuration and easy-to-launch
I would like to improve the restrictions and security elements of the solution, as there are certain configurations that are not currently supported. There are certain restrictions that cannot be implemented without web access. In the next release, I would like a feature that can validate requests and filter out any jQuery injections. Additionally, I would like to prioritize these requests. I've noticed that such features are usually not available in web applications.
AmitKanodia - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides role-based access control and can be easily customized with Lua script
Kong is meant for north-south communications, so it will be interesting to see what solutions they can come up with in the realms of east-west communications, service-to-service communications, and Zero Trust architecture. I believe that if they can provide for these areas, then they will be able to solve the overall integration and security concerns for microservices architecture in general.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Amazon API Gateway can integrate with ECS and Lambda."
"The solution is a managed service and requires minimal configuration, which makes it easy to launch an API."
"It's a low-code solution that helps our company manage operations seamlessly"
"Its security feature is the most valuable because it is mainly a security solution. It has easy authentication and authorization, and its integration is also useful."
"The most valuable feature in Amazon API Gateway is the itinerary release."
"It is a stable solution."
"This solution gives you a unified way to have your API accessed."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"The most valuable feature of Kong Enterprise is its capability to integrate with various security tools."
"Protocol transformation is the most valuable feature of Kong Enterprise."
"It boasts remarkable speed and stability, and these qualities, particularly the gateway's resilience, are standout features for me."
"The solution's technical support is good and fast in terms of responsiveness and problem-solving skills."
"Kong's most valuable features are its lightweight performance when handling millions of requests and the ability to write custom plugins to enhance security, such as end-to-end encryption, even in the open-source version."
"There are a few features that I like about Kong when it comes to authentication and authorization. Specifically, being able to use Kong for role-based access control (RBAC), and then further being able to integrate the RBAC mechanism with our enterprise directory, was very useful."
"Kong Enterprise has excellent plugin support."
"The tool's scalability is good...The solution's technical support is good."
 

Cons

"The solution could improve signature validation."
"Its performance and scalability could be better compared to one of its competitors."
"When using APIs, the manual bit for intermediate confirmation with VTL can be a challenge."
"I'd appreciate improvements in the user interface to make it more understandable, especially for new AWS users."
"Its support for SAM integration could be made more accessible."
"API Gateway lacks some governance features that MuleSoft offers, and there are additional features that could make it even better."
"There should be more videos and documentation about the new features that are released every month."
"We faced a few issues with the documentation."
"The ease of billing is lost when Kong is not available directly on the Azure marketplace. This is one area where they can improve."
"Kong Enterprise has decided not to support the web portal feature anymore, but I think that feature should stay in the on-premises solution."
"From an improvement perspective, the product should offer more readily available connectors and also allow for more seamless AI integrations."
"We would like to see an automatic data API when we have a table in the database."
"Kong Enterprise fails to provide live tracing of the APIs, which is possible nowadays."
"They could focus more on pricing."
"There should be an easier way to integrate with other solutions, even though it's the same API solution layer. Comparability will be a good improvement."
"Because it is open-source, it should be less expensive than others."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It is somewhat costly, particularly when it introduces server-related features, which are often scheduled on our end."
"Since it's a serverless solution, Amazon API Gateway is not so expensive."
"It's cost-effective, even as our workload and the number of APIs we manage have increased."
"The solution is expensive. Though the product was previously available at a cheap rate, nowadays it is expensive."
"The product is a little expensive."
"I am satisfied with the price."
"There are no licensing fees."
"Azure products are more cost-effective than AWS solutions"
"The licensing is expensive."
"Kong Enterprise is cheaper than Apigee. I rate its pricing as four out of ten."
"Kong Enterprise's pricing is reasonable for our company size."
"There are many factors that influence the price of Kong Enterprise, such as scale, licenses, and usage."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing charges...In some areas, the functionalities are available free of charge."
"Basically, my company uses the tool's open-source version."
"Kong Enterprise's pricing is at par compared to the other technologies."
"The product is reasonably priced because it goes by the SaaS model."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which API Management solutions are best for your needs.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Apigee or Amazon API Gateway?
Amazon API Gateway is a platform that supports the creation and publication of API for web applications. The platform can support thousands of simultaneous API calls, and it provides monitoring, ma...
How does Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager compare with Amazon API Gateway?
I have found that Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the best integration tool out there for API management. It is easy to implement and learn; it provides several options for deployment, (including ...
Which is better - Azure API Management or Amazon API Gateway?
If you use Azure products, API Management is a great solution. It solves many of the problems of externalizing web services. For example, when you need versioning, establish a developer portal and ...
How does Kong Enterprise compare with Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?
The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that ...
What do you like most about Kong Enterprise?
The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we prioritize limiting API usage. This is crucial because we provide APIs to other...
What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?
The open-source version of Kong does not support a dashboard, which would be very helpful. We use an open-source tool called Konga for basic dashboard needs, but it lacks support. It would be bette...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Fox Digital Consumer Group, iFlix, UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Miovision, Olympusat, PhotoVogue, Royale International Group, Veracode
Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon API Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,158 professionals have used our research since 2012.