API Management · head to head
Kong Gateway vs Ory
Kong Gateway
API Management
Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Ory
Identity & Access Management
Open-source identity, authentication, and permissions infrastructure
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.; Ory production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
- They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Ory covers Authentication APIs.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Kong Gateway and Ory actually diverge.
| Attribute | Kong Gateway | Ory |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | freemium | usage-based |
| Platforms | web, linux, api | web, api |
| Category | API Management | Identity & Access Management |
| Founded | 2017 | Unknown |
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 Kong Gateway
- API request routing
- Plugin ecosystem
- Developer portals
- AI Gateway
- Analytics and observability
- SSO and audit logs
Only in Ory
- Authentication APIs
- Permissions engine
- Machine-to-machine tokens
- B2B organizations
- SAML SSO
- Multi-region deployments
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Kong Gateway
- Routing and securing traffic across microservicesnot Ory
- Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Ory
- Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Ory
- Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Ory
Ory
- Adding self-hosted or cloud identity to a new productnot Kong Gateway
- Implementing fine-grained permission checksnot Kong Gateway
- Supporting B2B organizations and multi-tenancynot Kong Gateway
- Building machine-to-machine authentication for microservicesnot Kong Gateway
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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.
Ory
- Production and Growth plans are billed annually ($770/year and $9,350/year), which is a larger upfront commitment than monthly-only competitors.
- SAML SSO and multi-region deployments are reserved for the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
- Usage-based pricing across aDAU, M2M tokens, and permission checks makes cost estimation more complex than flat per-MAU billing.
Pricing, plan by plan
Kong Gateway
Free- Free TrialFree
- 30-day enterprise functionality trial
- Unlimited gateways
- 30-day analytics retention
- Plus$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
Ory
Free- DeveloperFree
- Community support
- No production environments
- Production$64/month
- $21 monthly credit included
- 1 production environment
- 3 staging environments
- Growth$779/month
- $255 monthly credit included
- 2 production environments
- B2B organizations (max 3)
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Ory if
- You need authentication apis.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, api.
- You also want permissions engine.
Questions people ask
- Is Kong Gateway or Ory better?
- Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Ory at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Ory?
- Kong Gateway starts at Free and Ory at Free.
- Does Kong Gateway or Ory run on more platforms?
- Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Ory runs on web, api.
- Can I use Kong Gateway for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Kong Gateway best used for?
- Kong Gateway is most often used for routing and securing traffic across microservices, publishing internal or external developer portals, managing rate limits and authentication at the api edge, gateway-level routing to multiple llm providers. Of those, routing and securing traffic across microservices and publishing internal or external developer portals are not what Ory is typically brought in for.
- What can Kong Gateway do that Ory cannot?
- Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Ory covers Authentication APIs, Permissions engine, Machine-to-machine tokens, B2B organizations.
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.
SourceOry: What does Ory cost?
Ory has a free Developer tier, a Production plan at $770/year including a $21 monthly credit, a Growth plan at $9,350/year including a $255 monthly credit, and 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.
SourceOry: How is usage metered?
Beyond the included credit, Ory charges per average daily active user (aDAU), per machine-to-machine token, and per permission check, with lower per-unit rates on the Growth plan.
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.
SourceOry: What payment methods are supported?
Ory accepts credit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Amex) and bank transfer, processed via Stripe.
SourceRelated pages
More on Kong Gateway
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