Kong Mesh vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Kong and VMware are both solutions in the Service Mesh category. Kong is ranked #5 with an average rating of 6.0, while VMware is ranked #4 with an average rating of 8.4. Additionally, 100% of VMware users are willing to recommend the solution.

Kong Mesh

Read 1 Kong Mesh review

1,591 Views
1,466 Comparison Views

0% willing to recommend

VMware Tanzu Platform

Read 20 VMware Tanzu Platform reviews

710 Views
576 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Kong Mesh

VMware Tanzu Platform

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Kong Mesh and VMware Tanzu Platform based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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To learn more, read our detailed Service Mesh Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Service Mesh

January 2025

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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

Kong Mesh

Ranking in Service Mesh

5th

Average Rating

6.0

Reviews Sentiment

5.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware Tanzu Platform

Ranking in Service Mesh

4th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (12th), PaaS Clouds (9th), Cloud Management (17th), Development Platforms (3rd), Container Management (3rd), Agile and DevOps Services (5th)

Featured Reviews

Arjun Pandey

Engineering Lead- Cloud and Platform Architecture at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees

Provides a unique advantage by offering a global view for all workloads and clusters within the mesh but lack of a robust community for open-source support

There are a number of areas where Kong Kuma can improve. One is in terms of product delivery, such as Helm charts. There are a lot of gaps in the Helm charts currently. Another is in terms of the default monitoring and logging setup. It is not as production-ready as it could be. By default, Kuma comes with Loki, Yagger, and Prometheus to monitor the control plane and data plane, but the unified dashboarding and logging solution should be closer to production-grade. It is good for trying out the product, but I would not recommend taking it to production without setting up your own monitoring and logging solution. Additionally, Kuma recently released Fivecarless Mesh, which was built on top of Envoy. The challenge with this is that it adds overhead. If you want to run 100 containers in production, you will actually need to run 200 containers because you need to run one sidecar container per pod. Overall, I think Kong Kuma is a moderate product, but I would not personally recommend it for production use.

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Vikram Casula

Head Of Infrastructure & Cloud ops at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees

Gives a single pane to manage multiple Kubernetes environments and has competitive pricing

Tanzu provides better manageability as compared to OCP, but when it comes to tagging it with other products, it's a bit rigid. If I have to bring in any new product or something out of the box from a different vendor, working with Tanzu becomes a little difficult. For example, if I want to use the F5 services, I have to add one more layer of Avi, but I don't want to do that. If I have a list of the products that I want to use, such as for firewall services, with Tanzu, I will have to go through another layer, which creates complexity. The other part is that the virtualization and the database have to be at separate levels. That is another problem for me. We are a big Oracle customer. Oracle and VMware don't go very well. From a licensing point of view, it never works.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"It is a scalable product."

"The multi-tenancy with the VCD is great."

"The initial setup is easy."

"The most popular feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is its graphical user interface for describing network policies on the Service Mesh, which is highly integrable with other tools commonly used in supply chains such as security."

"A feature we find valuable is that other products can also be integrated with Mission Control. This means that we can see the status of specific clusters, as well as view the monitoring application logs all from one point."

"The observability platform and end-to-end service portal provided by Tanzu are the most valuable features."

"Tanzu Mission Control has quite a set of rich features when compared to OpenShift."

"The most important feature of Tanzu Mission Control is its integration with the other products, especially with ESX and vSAN. This is a strong part of Tanzu Mission Control. In other solutions, such as OpenShift or Kubernetes, you can find similar features, but they don't have similar integration. With Tanzu Mission Control, you get a total solution with only one provider. You have the integration with the infrastructure, virtualization of networking, and virtualization of storage. You have a natural integration, and you don't have the problem of integrating it with different products or providers. Sometimes, different companies have good integration, but it is not always guaranteed. For example, many years ago, Cisco and VMware were good partners in networking, but when VMware started to sell ESX, the relationship was broken. This is the problem that you can face when you are using solutions from two different companies."

"We never experienced any problems with scalability."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pros

Cons

"The initial setup is complicated. Although Kuma has its own CLI, CTL, and they say to use their CLI, if I have to build a generic solution, my personal preference would be to use Helm or another similar solution other than Kuma. If you have your own library CLI, it becomes hard for others to adopt it. For example, if I have to write some automation, infrastructure automation, I can't just use Kuma. I have to change my code to use Kuma's CTL, which is unfair because it doesn't make sense. It doesn't fit with my current automation structure. I have to do something extra, something additional, which I really don't like."

"VMware Tanzu Service Mesh could add better integration with other cloud platforms, such as vRealize Automation or VMware vCloud Director for cloud providers."

"Tanzu provides better manageability as compared to OCP, but when it comes to tagging it with other products, it's a bit rigid. If I have to bring in any new product or something out of the box from a different vendor, working with Tanzu becomes a little difficult. For example, if I want to use the F5 services, I have to add one more layer of Avi, but I don't want to do that. If I have a list of the products that I want to use, such as for firewall services, with Tanzu, I will have to go through another layer, which creates complexity."

"The implementation is not easy, it is very complex and can take a day or two to complete."

"This product doesn't have a GUI. In order to use it properly, I need to connect it to a new GUI or build a GUI to manage it — it's pretty difficult."

"The product should support integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)"

"The solution could improve by having better integration with other solutions such as HPE."

"The disaster recovery feature could be improved to provide better tracking of issues. I would also like to see the introduction of a dashboard view, for even further integration of all the areas that Mission Control looks at."

"Cost is always a concern. Smaller companies might find the price a bigger issue."

More VMware Tanzu Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I have tried for my personal research and all those things. I have tried only the open-source version. So, for me, it was always free."

"I would recommend that businesses look into the full price for their requirements. The price is high, but there are some open-source add-ons that can be used for customization while keeping costs down, although these might not be suitable for everyone."

"The license for VMware Tanzu Application Service is expensive. The license should be cheaper."

"The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution"

"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."

"The solution is bundled in with Cloud Foundry so the pricing is not independent."

"The licensing cost is expensive."

"VMware Tanzu Mission Control is cheaper than Red Hat OpenShift."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

27%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

15%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Kong Mesh?

It is a scalable product.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kong Mesh?

I have tried for my personal research and all those things. I have tried only the open-source version. So, for me, it was always free.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kong Mesh?

See all answers

Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Tanzu Application Service?

The solution is integrated very well with a lot of other systems. Also, its GUI is very good.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Application Service?

The licensing cost is yearly. The licensing cost is expensive.

See all answers

Comparisons

Istio vs Kong Mesh

Compared 52% of the time

Envoy vs Kong Mesh

Compared 30% of the time

HashiCorp Consul vs Kong Mesh

Compared 10% of the time

Traefik Enterprise vs Kong Mesh

Compared 6% of the time

AWS App Mesh vs Kong Mesh

Compared 2% of the time

More Kong Mesh Competitors

Rancher Labs vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 18% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 13% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Kubernetes vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 9% of the time

Amazon EKS vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 8% of the time

More VMware Tanzu Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Service Mesh

January 2025

Download Kong Mesh product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Tanzu Platform

December 2024

Download VMware Tanzu Platform product report

Also Known As

Kuma

Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu

Learn More

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Kong

VMware

Overview

Kong Mesh is the ultimate universal service mesh designed for enterprise organizations, offering simplicity and scalability with Kuma and Envoy technologies. This cloud-native solution is versatile, deployable on Kubernetes, VMware, and various environments. Kong Mesh excels in ease of installation, configuration, and management, making it a top choice for organizations seeking streamlined service mesh implementation. With robust features like fine-grained traffic control, observability tools for in-depth monitoring, and comprehensive security mechanisms such as authentication and encryption, Kong Mesh ensures that microservices are both secure and high-performing. Its multi-zone and multi-mesh support allow for distributed deployments, making it a flexible and powerful choice for those looking to enhance their service infrastructure.

VMware Tanzu Platform is designed for cloud-native development and management of Kubernetes, CI/CD processes, microservices, and containerized workloads. It supports deployments both on cloud and on-premises, providing centralized management via Mission Control.

VMware Tanzu Platform offers seamless integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN, supporting centralized cluster management and lifecycle management. The platform provides a GUI for monitoring CI/CD pipelines and network policies, enhancing multi-tenancy and Day 2 operations. Users can easily manage Kubernetes clusters, monitor applications, and integrate with tools such as GitHub, GitLab, Cloud Foundry, and Azure. It ensures compliance and security for service providers, financial institutions, and businesses.

What are the key features of VMware Tanzu Platform?

Integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN: Enhances compatibility and flexibility.
Seamless Cluster Management: Centralized control over Kubernetes clusters.
CI/CD Pipelines and Network Policies: Simplifies monitoring and management.
Multi-tenancy Support: Facilitates resource sharing among multiple users.
Comprehensive Lifecycle Management: Streamlines deployment and scalability.
Observability Platform: Provides enhanced visibility and control.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in VMware Tanzu Platform reviews?

Centralized Management: Simplifies operations and reduces manual effort.
Enhanced Compliance and Security: Meets regulatory requirements.
Flexibility in Deployment: Supports both cloud and on-premises options.
Seamless Integration: Works with multiple vendors and tools.
Developer-Friendly Environment: Improves productivity and innovation.

Industries such as financial institutions, service providers, and businesses requiring rigorous compliance and security deploy VMware Tanzu Platform. These entities benefit from centralized management, streamlined DevOps processes, and integrated tools, enhancing their capabilities in cloud-native developments and containerized workloads.

Sample Customers

First AbuDhabi Bank, CISCO, Papa johns pizza, Samsung, Expedia

Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq

Find out what your peers are saying about Isito, Envoy, HAProxy and others in Service Mesh. Updated: January 2025.

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