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Cloud · head to head

containerd vs Kong Gateway

containerd logo

containerd

Cloud

Industry-standard container runtime, and the engine inside Docker

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: containerd not a developer-facing tool: there is no build command and the CLI is deliberately minimal, so it needs companions like nerdctl or Buildah; Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
  • They diverge on capability: containerd covers Full container lifecycle, Kong Gateway covers API request routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 29 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where containerd and Kong Gateway differ
AttributecontainerdKong Gateway
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feefreemium
PlatformsLinux, Windowsweb, linux, api
CategoryCloudAPIs
FoundedUnknown2017

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 containerd

  • Full container lifecycle
  • CRI support
  • OCI compliant
  • Snapshotter plugins
  • Namespaces
  • Stable API

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.

containerd

  • Running the container runtime under a Kubernetes cluster after the Docker shim removalnot Kong Gateway
  • Building a platform or PaaS that needs to execute containersnot Kong Gateway
  • Reducing the moving parts on nodes that only ever run Kubernetes workloadsnot Kong Gateway
  • Embedding container execution inside another productnot Kong Gateway

Kong Gateway

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

Where each one falls short

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

containerd

  • Not a developer-facing tool: there is no build command and the CLI is deliberately minimal, so it needs companions like nerdctl or Buildah
  • Debugging is lower-level than Docker, and error messages assume knowledge of the runtime internals
  • Documentation is aimed at platform engineers, so newcomers usually find Docker or Podman material more useful
  • No image building at all — that is out of scope by design

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

containerd

Free
  • containerdFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

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 containerd if

  • You need full container lifecycle.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows.
  • You also want cri support.
containerd 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 containerd or Kong Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. containerd 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, containerd or Kong Gateway?
containerd starts at Free and Kong Gateway at Free.
Does containerd or Kong Gateway run on more platforms?
containerd runs on Linux, Windows. Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api.
Can I use containerd for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is containerd best used for?
containerd is most often used for running the container runtime under a kubernetes cluster after the docker shim removal, building a platform or paas that needs to execute containers, reducing the moving parts on nodes that only ever run kubernetes workloads, embedding container execution inside another product. Of those, running the container runtime under a kubernetes cluster after the docker shim removal and building a platform or paas that needs to execute containers are not what Kong Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can containerd do that Kong Gateway cannot?
containerd covers Full container lifecycle, CRI support, OCI compliant, Snapshotter plugins. Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

containerd: Is containerd free?

Yes. It is an open-source CNCF graduated project with no licence fee.

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
containerd: Do I need containerd if I use Docker?

You already have it. Docker uses containerd underneath to run containers; it is not an alternative you install separately.

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
containerd: Why did Kubernetes drop Docker for containerd?

Kubernetes talks to runtimes through the Container Runtime Interface. Docker did not speak CRI natively and needed a shim, so Kubernetes removed the shim and talks to containerd directly, which Docker was already using anyway.

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
containerd: Can containerd build images?

No. Image building is deliberately out of scope. Tools such as Buildah, BuildKit or Docker handle that.

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