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APIs · head to head

Kong Gateway vs Rowy

Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

APIs

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Rowy logo

Rowy

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet interface for Google Cloud Firestore with cloud functions written in the browser

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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.; Rowy every Firestore limit is inherited, including the one megabyte per document ceiling and roughly one sustained write per second per document, which surprises users who expect spreadsheet behaviour.
  • They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Rowy covers Firestore backed grid.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Kong Gateway and Rowy differ
AttributeKong GatewayRowy
Pricing modelfreemiumOpen source, no licence fee
Platformsweb, linux, apiWeb
CategoryAPIsSpreadsheets
Founded2017Unknown

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 Rowy

  • Firestore backed grid
  • Browser authored cloud functions
  • Typed columns
  • Runs in your Google Cloud project
  • Role based access
  • Form view
  • Open source

What people use each for

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

Kong Gateway

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

Rowy

  • A Firebase application that needs an internal admin interface without building onenot Kong Gateway
  • Operations staff correcting production records in Firestore without developer involvementnot Kong Gateway
  • Attaching a small transformation or notification function to a field change without a full deployment pipelinenot Kong Gateway
  • A content team populating documents that a mobile application reads directly from Firestorenot 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.

Rowy

  • Every Firestore limit is inherited, including the one megabyte per document ceiling and roughly one sustained write per second per document, which surprises users who expect spreadsheet behaviour.
  • Firestore has no joins, so linking tables in the grid is a convenience layer rather than a relational feature and reports across collections still need a separate query.
  • It is useful only to teams already on Firebase, so choosing it effectively locks the operational tooling to one cloud vendor.
  • Query costs are billed by document read, and an unfiltered grid on a large collection can generate a bill that a spreadsheet user has no intuition for.
  • Development activity has slowed relative to the broader category, so evaluate current maintenance before making it load bearing for internal operations.

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

Rowy

Free
  • Open source self hostedFree
    • No licence fee
    • Deploys into your own Google Cloud project
    • You pay Google Cloud for Firestore reads, writes and storage

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 Rowy if

  • You need firestore backed grid.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want browser authored cloud functions.
Rowy review

Questions people ask

Is Kong Gateway or Rowy better?
Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Rowy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Rowy?
Kong Gateway starts at Free and Rowy at Free.
Does Kong Gateway or Rowy run on more platforms?
Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Rowy runs on Web.
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 Rowy is typically brought in for.
What can Kong Gateway do that Rowy cannot?
Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Rowy covers Firestore backed grid, Browser authored cloud functions, Typed columns, Runs in your Google Cloud project.

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
Rowy: Where is my data stored?

In your own Firestore instance inside your own Google Cloud project. Rowy does not hold a copy.

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
Rowy: What does it cost to run?

No licence fee. You pay Google Cloud for Firestore reads, writes, storage and function invocations, and an open grid on a big collection reads a lot.

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
Rowy: Can it do joins across collections?

Not really. Firestore does not support joins, and no interface layer can add them.

Rowy: Is there a row limit?

Not from Rowy. The limits that bite are Firestore document size and per document write throughput.

Rowy: Is it suitable if I am not on Firebase?

No. It is specifically a Firestore interface.

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