API Management · head to head
Kong Gateway vs Pusher
Kong Gateway
API Management
Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Pusher
API Management
Realtime messaging API for building live features into apps
- 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.; Pusher the free Sandbox plan is capped at 100 concurrent connections, which is quickly outgrown by production apps.
- They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Pusher covers Pub/sub channels.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Kong Gateway and Pusher actually diverge.
| Attribute | Kong Gateway | Pusher |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | web, linux, api | web, ios, android, api |
| Founded | 2017 | Unknown |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (freemium), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (API Management).
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 Pusher
- Pub/sub channels
- Presence channels
- Client libraries
- Webhooks
- 24/7 monitoring
- Priority support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Kong Gateway
- Routing and securing traffic across microservicesnot Pusher
- Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Pusher
- Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Pusher
- Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Pusher
Pusher
- Adding live chat to a web or mobile appnot Kong Gateway
- Showing realtime presence of online usersnot Kong Gateway
- Pushing live notifications or dashboard updatesnot Kong Gateway
- Building collaborative features without managing WebSocket serversnot 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.
Pusher
- The free Sandbox plan is capped at 100 concurrent connections, which is quickly outgrown by production apps.
- Pricing jumps sharply between tiers (e.g. $49 to $99 to $299), leaving few options for teams with moderate but growing usage.
- Priority support with faster response times costs an additional $3,000/month on top of plan pricing.
Pricing, plan by plan
Kong Gateway
Free- Free TrialFree
- 30-day enterprise functionality trial
- Unlimited gateways
- 30-day analytics retention
- Plus$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
Pusher
Free- SandboxFree
- 200k messages/day
- 100 concurrent connections
- Standard support
- Startup$49/month
- 1M messages/day
- 500 concurrent connections
- Pro$99/month
- 4M messages/day
- 2,000 concurrent connections
- Business$299/month
- 10M messages/day
- 5,000 concurrent connections
- Premium support
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 Pusher if
- You need pub/sub channels.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on web, ios, android, api.
- You also want presence channels.
Questions people ask
- Is Kong Gateway or Pusher better?
- Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Pusher at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Pusher?
- Kong Gateway starts at Free and Pusher at Free.
- Does Kong Gateway or Pusher run on more platforms?
- Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Pusher runs on web, ios, android, 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 Pusher is typically brought in for.
- What can Kong Gateway do that Pusher cannot?
- Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Pusher covers Pub/sub channels, Presence channels, Client libraries, Webhooks.
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.
SourcePusher: What does Pusher cost?
Pusher Channels offers a free Sandbox plan (200k messages/day, 100 connections) and paid plans starting at $49/month for Startup, scaling up through Pro, Business, and several higher tiers up to $1,199/month, plus 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.
SourcePusher: Can I change or cancel my plan?
Yes, customers can log into the dashboard and adjust their plan at any time, including upgrading, downgrading, or cancelling.
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.
SourcePusher: How is usage metered?
Usage is measured by concurrent connections and messages per day; a message counts both the publish and each delivery, so publishing one message to 50 subscribers counts as 51 messages.
SourceRelated pages
More on Kong Gateway
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