Softwr

APIs · head to head

Highnote vs Kong Gateway

Highnote logo

Highnote

APIs

Card issuing, acquiring and ledger on one platform for embedded payments

From
On request
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

  • Only Kong Gateway has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Highnote card issuing requires a sponsor bank, and that bank sets programme approval, compliance obligations and often minimum volumes, so a small programme can be rejected regardless of technical fit.; Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.
  • They diverge on capability: Highnote covers Card issuing, Kong Gateway covers API request routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Highnote and Kong Gateway differ
AttributeHighnoteKong Gateway
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquotefreemium
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, APIweb, linux, api
FoundedUnknown2017

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (APIs).

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 Highnote

  • Card issuing
  • Merchant acquiring
  • Unified ledger
  • Spend controls
  • GraphQL API
  • Programme management
  • Dispute handling
  • Real time authorisation webhooks

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.

Highnote

  • A marketplace that both pays out to sellers and issues them spend cards, wanting one settlement ledgernot Kong Gateway
  • A vertical software company embedding card acceptance and card issuing for the same customer basenot Kong Gateway
  • A fintech launching a commercial charge card programme with custom authorisation logicnot Kong Gateway
  • A platform replacing separate issuing and acquiring vendors to remove cross system reconciliationnot Kong Gateway

Kong Gateway

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

Where each one falls short

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

Highnote

  • Card issuing requires a sponsor bank, and that bank sets programme approval, compliance obligations and often minimum volumes, so a small programme can be rejected regardless of technical fit.
  • Pricing is entirely quoted, including platform fees, per active card charges and monthly minimums that do not appear on the website, so the true cost per card is only visible late in a sales process.
  • Interchange sharing is the real revenue model for most customers, and the split is negotiated, capped for regulated debit under the Durbin amendment and sensitive to your spend mix, so revenue projections built on headline interchange rates overstate income.
  • Running issuing and acquiring with one provider concentrates risk: an outage or a compliance action affects both money in and money out at the same time.
  • Highnote is a younger company than the established issuer processors, so long term programme continuity, network certifications in new geographies and international coverage are thinner than the incumbent alternatives.

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

Highnote

On request
  • Highnote platform$undefined/year
    • Quoted per programme with no public rate card
    • Requires a sponsor bank relationship for card issuing
    • Interchange sharing terms negotiated per programme

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 Highnote if

  • You need card issuing.
  • You work on Web, API.
  • You also want merchant acquiring.
Highnote 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 Highnote or Kong Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. Highnote starts at On request and Kong Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Highnote or Kong Gateway?
Kong Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for Highnote and Free for Kong Gateway.
Does Highnote or Kong Gateway run on more platforms?
Highnote runs on Web, API. 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. Highnote starts at On request.
What is Highnote best used for?
Highnote is most often used for a marketplace that both pays out to sellers and issues them spend cards, wanting one settlement ledger, a vertical software company embedding card acceptance and card issuing for the same customer base, a fintech launching a commercial charge card programme with custom authorisation logic, a platform replacing separate issuing and acquiring vendors to remove cross system reconciliation. Of those, a marketplace that both pays out to sellers and issues them spend cards, wanting one settlement ledger and a vertical software company embedding card acceptance and card issuing for the same customer base are not what Kong Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can Highnote do that Kong Gateway cannot?
Highnote covers Card issuing, Merchant acquiring, Unified ledger, Spend controls. Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Highnote: Do I need a sponsor bank?

Yes for card issuing in the United States. Highnote is a processor and programme platform, not a bank, and the sponsor bank sets approval and compliance terms.

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
Highnote: How do customers make money on a card programme?

Mostly interchange sharing. Negotiate the split explicitly and model it against your actual spend mix, since regulated debit interchange is capped.

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
Highnote: Can Highnote handle both accepting and issuing payments?

Yes since its 2025 acquiring launch, on the same ledger, which is its main structural differentiator.

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
Share

Related pages

More on Highnote

More on Kong Gateway

Keep looking

Other head to heads