Head-to-head comparison
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Decision brief
AWS API Gateway vs Kong
Use this page when you already have two candidates. It focuses on the constraints and pricing mechanics that decide fit—not a feature checklist.
Verified — we link the primary references used in “Sources & verification” below.
- Why compared: They solve the same gateway problem but optimize for different constraints: AWS-native managed convenience vs neutral portability across environments
- Real trade-off: Managed AWS convenience and IAM-native integration vs a portable gateway you operate across environments (lock-in vs portability)
- Common mistake: Choosing managed convenience without modeling per-request cost and long-term coupling, then later needing portability and consistent policy across environments
At-a-glance comparison
AWS API Gateway ↗
AWS-managed API gateway for AWS-first teams: fast to adopt, tightly integrated with IAM and AWS services, but can create lock-in and per-call cost cliffs at scale.
See pricing details
- ✓ Fast managed setup for AWS-first stacks
- ✓ Tight integration with AWS IAM, networking, and surrounding services
- ✓ Good fit for teams that want managed convenience over platform ownership
Kong ↗
Developer-first, portable API gateway platform used to standardize routing, auth, and policy across environments when you can own the gateway ops model.
See pricing details
- ✓ Portable across clouds/clusters for consistent gateway patterns
- ✓ Extensible via plugins for auth, transformations, and policies
- ✓ Good fit when you want to avoid cloud-native lock-in for gateway/policy layer
Where each product pulls ahead
These are the distinctive advantages that matter most in this comparison.
AWS API Gateway advantages
- ✓ Managed convenience in AWS-first environments
- ✓ Tight IAM integration and AWS service adjacency
- ✓ Lower initial operational ownership
Kong advantages
- ✓ Portability across environments with consistent gateway patterns
- ✓ Control and extensibility via plugins and platform ownership
- ✓ Less cloud coupling when hybrid/multi-cloud is real
Pros & Cons
AWS API Gateway
Pros
- + Your org is AWS-first and IAM is the default auth/control plane
- + You want managed convenience and fast adoption across teams
- + Your request volume is moderate or you’ve modeled the cost cliff at scale
- + You don’t need the same gateway/policy model outside AWS
Cons
- − Portability is limited; policies and auth patterns become AWS-coupled
- − Pricing can cliff at high request volume (per-call + features + environments)
- − Governance and consistency across many teams is hard without a platform program
- − Gateway sprawl across accounts/environments can become an operational and cost issue
Kong
Pros
- + You require portability across Kubernetes, multiple clouds, or hybrid environments
- + You want consistent gateway behavior and policies across environments
- + You can own gateway ops (upgrades, plugins, observability, scaling)
- + You’re willing to standardize templates to prevent policy drift and sprawl
Cons
- − You own gateway lifecycle (deployments, upgrades, plugin maintenance, scaling)
- − Governance outcomes depend on how well you standardize policy templates and rollout
- − Can become gateway sprawl without strong platform patterns
- − Total cost is a combination of licensing + infra + operational ownership
Which one tends to fit which buyer?
These are conditional guidelines only — not rankings. Your specific situation determines fit.
AWS API Gateway
Pick this if
Best-fit triggers (scan and match your situation)
- ✓ Your org is AWS-first and IAM is the default auth/control plane
- ✓ You want managed convenience and fast adoption across teams
- ✓ Your request volume is moderate or you’ve modeled the cost cliff at scale
- ✓ You don’t need the same gateway/policy model outside AWS
Kong
Pick this if
Best-fit triggers (scan and match your situation)
- ✓ You require portability across Kubernetes, multiple clouds, or hybrid environments
- ✓ You want consistent gateway behavior and policies across environments
- ✓ You can own gateway ops (upgrades, plugins, observability, scaling)
- ✓ You’re willing to standardize templates to prevent policy drift and sprawl
Quick checks (what decides it)
Use these to validate the choice under real traffic
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Portability questionwill you need the same policies in non-AWS environments within 12–24 months? If yes, Kong is usually the safer default.
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Cost questioncompute monthly requests × per-request pricing × environments. If the cost cliff is unacceptable, managed convenience isn’t the win you think it is.
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Ops questiondo you have a platform owner for upgrades/observability? If no, AWS API Gateway reduces platform burden.
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Governance questionhow will you prevent policy drift across teams? If you can’t answer, you’ll end up with inconsistent auth/quotas and security debt.
Sources & verification
We prefer to link primary references (official pricing, documentation, and public product pages). If links are missing, treat this as a seeded brief until verification is completed.