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Cloud · head to head

Chef vs Kong Gateway

Chef logo

Chef

Cloud

Infrastructure automation and management

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

APIs

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Chef priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size; Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
  • They diverge on capability: Chef covers Recipes, Kong Gateway covers API request routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Chef and Kong Gateway actually diverge.

Attributes where Chef and Kong Gateway differ
AttributeChefKong Gateway
Pricing modelopen-sourcefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Mac, Apiweb, linux, api
CategoryCloudAPIs
Founded20092017

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Chef

  • Recipes
  • Cookbooks
  • Roles
  • Data bags
  • Attributes
  • Chef Server
  • Chef Infra
  • Chef Compliance

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.

Chef

  • Configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleetsnot Kong Gateway
  • Enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodesnot Kong Gateway

Kong Gateway

  • Routing and securing traffic across microservicesnot Chef
  • Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Chef
  • Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Chef
  • Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Chef

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Chef

  • Priced per node per year, at $59 on Business and $189 on Enterprise, so cost scales with fleet size rather than with team size
  • Tripling the price between the two published tiers puts compliance and audit features well above basic automation
  • Enterprise Plus and every self managed deployment are custom quoted with no published price

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

Chef

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Chef Infra
    • Community support
    • Full functionality
  • Chef Automate$4000/year
    • Chef Infra
    • Compliance automation
    • Insights

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 Chef if

  • You need recipes.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api.
  • You also want cookbooks.
Chef review

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.
Kong Gateway review

Questions people ask

Is Chef or Kong Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. Chef starts at Free and Kong Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Chef or Kong Gateway?
Chef starts at Free and Kong Gateway at Free.
Does Chef or Kong Gateway run on more platforms?
Chef runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Api. Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api.
Can I use Chef for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Chef best used for?
Chef is most often used for configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets, enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes. Of those, configuration management and infrastructure automation across server fleets and enforcing compliance and audit policy on managed nodes are not what Kong Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can Chef do that Kong Gateway cannot?
Chef covers Recipes, Cookbooks, Roles, Data bags. Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Chef: How much does Chef cost?

Chef does not publish pricing on its website. The company offers a free trial and directs interested customers to request a demo or contact their sales team for pricing details.

Source
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.

Source
Chef: Is there a free trial available?

Yes, Chef offers a free trial to interested users, allowing them to evaluate the platform before purchasing.

Source
Kong 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.

Source
Chef: What deployment options are available?

Chef is available as SaaS (cloud-hosted), on-premises, and through cloud marketplaces like AWS and Azure, but specific pricing for each deployment model is not published.

Source
Kong Gateway: What support is included?

Plus includes email support with a 2-business-day SLA, while Enterprise adds dedicated success managers and professional services.

Source
Chef: How do I get pricing information?

Sign up for the free trial or request a demo through Chef's website to speak with their sales team about pricing.

Source
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