Software · head to head
Akana vs Kong Gateway
Kong Gateway
Software
Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Kong Gateway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Akana owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com; Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
- They diverge on capability: Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, Kong Gateway covers API request routing.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Akana and Kong Gateway actually diverge.
| Attribute | Akana | Kong Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | $2500/monthly | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | freemium |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid | web, linux, api |
| Founded | 2001 | 2017 |
Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Akana
- API Lifecycle Management
- API Security
- Governance Controls
- OAuth
- SAML
- LDAP
- Active Directory
- Cloud support
Only in Kong Gateway
- API request routing
- Plugin ecosystem
- Developer portals
- AI Gateway
- Analytics and observability
- SSO and audit logs
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Akana
- API lifecycle management across REST, SOAP and GraphQLnot Kong Gateway
- Applying OAuth, JWT and SAML policies at the gatewaynot Kong Gateway
- Running the same platform on-premises, in Kubernetes or across cloudsnot Kong Gateway
- Developer portal and API monetisationnot Kong Gateway
- Monitoring API traffic and enforcing quotasnot Kong Gateway
Kong Gateway
- Routing and securing traffic across microservicesnot Akana
- Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Akana
- Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Akana
- Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Akana
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Akana
- Owned by Perforce and sold within their portfolio rather than independently, and akana.com redirects to perforce.com
- Pricing is not published; only a 30 day trial is offered
Kong Gateway
- The free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
- Plus tier caps API requests at 1M/month before incurring per-million overage charges.
- Enterprise pricing is custom and not published, making budgeting harder without sales contact.
- Configuration and plugin management can require significant operational expertise to run at scale.
Pricing, plan by plan
Akana
$2500/monthly- Professional$2500/monthly
- API Gateway
- Developer Portal
- Basic analytics
- Enterprise$5000/monthly
- Advanced governance
- Multi-cloud support
- Premium support
- Custom$undefined/monthly
- Custom solutions
- Dedicated support
- SLA guarantee
Kong Gateway
Free- Free TrialFree
- 30-day enterprise functionality trial
- Unlimited gateways
- 30-day analytics retention
- Plus$undefined/month
- Up to 5 serverless, 2 hybrid, 2 dedicated cloud gateways
- 1M API requests/month included
- Up to 2 developer portals
- Enterprise$undefined/month
- Unlimited hybrid and dedicated cloud gateways
- Unlimited developer portals
- SSO and audit logs
Which should you pick?
Choose Akana if
- You need api lifecycle management.
- You work on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid.
- You also want api security.
Choose Kong Gateway if
- You need api request routing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, linux, api.
- You also want plugin ecosystem.
Questions people ask
- Is Akana or Kong Gateway better?
- Neither clearly leads. Akana starts at $2500/monthly and Kong Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Akana or Kong Gateway?
- Kong Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $2500/monthly for Akana and Free for Kong Gateway.
- Does Akana or Kong Gateway run on more platforms?
- Akana runs on Cloud, On-premise, Hybrid. Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api.
- Can I use Kong Gateway for free?
- Yes. Kong Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Akana starts at $2500/monthly.
- What is Akana best used for?
- Akana is most often used for api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql, applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway, running the same platform on-premises, in kubernetes or across clouds, developer portal and api monetisation. Of those, api lifecycle management across rest, soap and graphql and applying oauth, jwt and saml policies at the gateway are not what Kong Gateway is typically brought in for.
- What can Akana do that Kong Gateway cannot?
- Akana covers API Lifecycle Management, API Security, Governance Controls, OAuth. Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Kong Gateway: Is Kong Gateway free?
Kong's core gateway is open source and free to self-host. Kong Konnect, the managed cloud platform, offers a 30-day free trial before moving to paid Plus or custom Enterprise pricing.
SourceKong Gateway: How is usage metered on the Plus plan?
The Plus plan includes 1M API requests per month, with additional usage billed at $200 per extra 1 million requests up to a 10M/month cap, plus per-gateway and per-LLM-model charges.
SourceKong Gateway: What support is included?
Plus includes email support with a 2-business-day SLA, while Enterprise adds dedicated success managers and professional services.
SourceRelated pages
More on Kong Gateway
Keep looking
Other head to heads
- Akana vs Appwrite
- Akana vs Hasura
- Akana vs PocketBase
- Akana vs Sanity
- Akana vs Apigee
- Akana vs Ably
- Akana vs Pusher
- Akana vs PubNub
- Akana vs Treblle
- Akana vs Apollo GraphQL
- Akana vs Bruno
- Akana vs KeystoneJS
- Akana vs Moesif
- Akana vs Parse Server
- Akana vs Stainless
- Akana vs Stoplight
- Akana vs Strapi
- Akana vs Swagger/OpenAPI
- Kong Gateway vs Appwrite
- Kong Gateway vs Hasura
- Kong Gateway vs PocketBase
- Kong Gateway vs Sanity
- Kong Gateway vs Apigee
- Kong Gateway vs Ably
- Kong Gateway vs Pusher
- Kong Gateway vs PubNub
- Kong Gateway vs Treblle
- Kong Gateway vs Apollo GraphQL
- Kong Gateway vs Bruno
- Kong Gateway vs KeystoneJS
- Kong Gateway vs Moesif
- Kong Gateway vs Parse Server
- Kong Gateway vs Stainless
- Kong Gateway vs Stoplight
- Kong Gateway vs Strapi
- Kong Gateway vs Swagger/OpenAPI