Softwr

APIs · head to head

Kong Gateway vs Portworx

Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

APIs

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Portworx logo

Portworx

Cloud

Kubernetes-native storage and data services, priced by the node hour

From
$0.33/node hour
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: Kong Gateway the free open-source gateway lacks the analytics, portals, and support of the paid Konnect tiers.; Portworx bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Portworx covers Container-native volumes.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Kong Gateway and Portworx differ
AttributeKong GatewayPortworx
Starting priceFree$0.33/node hour
Pricing modelfreemiumPer node hour
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, linux, apiLinux
CategoryAPIsCloud
Founded2017Unknown

Identical on both: 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 Portworx

  • Container-native volumes
  • Failure domain placement
  • Volume encryption
  • Database automation
  • Disaster recovery
  • Autopilot capacity management
  • Hardware independence

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Kong Gateway

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

Portworx

  • Running a production PostgreSQL or Cassandra cluster on Kubernetes and needing the data to survive node lossnot Kong Gateway
  • A platform team offering self-service databases to developers on an internal Kubernetes platformnot Kong Gateway
  • Failing over stateful applications between clusters in different regions as a disaster recovery positionnot Kong Gateway
  • An OpenShift estate where the built-in storage option does not meet the availability requirement for stateful setsnot 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.

Portworx

  • Bare metal nodes are charged at 1.11 USD per node hour against 0.33 for virtual nodes, so a bare metal cluster costs more than three times a virtualised one for identical capability.
  • A 1,000 node hour monthly minimum applies, which means small or intermittent clusters pay for capacity they do not consume.
  • Replicating volumes across nodes consumes real capacity and network bandwidth, so the underlying infrastructure cost rises alongside the licence in a way the node hour rate does not show.
  • Pure Storage ownership means roadmap priorities are set by an array vendor, and buyers should confirm that hardware independence remains contractual rather than assumed.
  • Operating it well requires Kubernetes storage expertise, and teams that adopted Kubernetes to simplify operations often find they have added a distributed storage system to run.

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

Portworx

$0.33/node hour
  • Portworx Enterprise on virtual machine nodes$0.33/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Replicated persistent volumes
    • Encryption and disaster recovery
  • Portworx Enterprise on bare metal nodes$1.11/node hour
    • Minimum 1,000 node hours per month
    • Same capabilities on bare metal clusters
    • Higher rate reflects node density

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.
Kong Gateway review

Choose Portworx if

  • You need container-native volumes.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want failure domain placement.
Portworx review

Questions people ask

Is Kong Gateway or Portworx better?
Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Portworx at $0.33/node hour, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Portworx?
Kong Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Kong Gateway and $0.33/node hour for Portworx.
Does Kong Gateway or Portworx run on more platforms?
Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Portworx runs on Linux.
Can I use Kong Gateway for free?
Yes. Kong Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Portworx starts at $0.33/node hour.
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 Portworx is typically brought in for.
What can Kong Gateway do that Portworx cannot?
Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Portworx covers Container-native volumes, Failure domain placement, Volume encryption, Database automation.

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.

Source
Portworx: Is Portworx tied to Pure Storage hardware?

No. It runs on any Kubernetes distribution over any underlying storage, though Pure has owned it since 2020 and sets the roadmap.

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
Portworx: What does a real cluster cost?

At 0.33 USD per virtual node hour, twenty nodes running continuously is roughly 4,800 USD a month. Bare metal at 1.11 USD per node hour is around 16,000 USD for the same node count.

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
Portworx: Is backup included?

No. Portworx Backup is a separately priced product covering Kubernetes application backup.

Share

Related pages

More on Kong Gateway

More on Portworx

Keep looking

Other head to heads