Softwr

Software · head to head

Kong Gateway vs Treblle

Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

Software

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Treblle logo

Treblle

Software

API observability, security, and governance platform

From
$233/month
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.; Treblle no free tier is offered; the entry-level Core plan starts at $233/month billed yearly.
  • They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Treblle covers API discovery.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Kong Gateway and Treblle differ
AttributeKong GatewayTreblle
Starting priceFree$233/month
Pricing modelfreemiumsubscription
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, linux, apiweb, api
Founded2017Unknown

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

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 Treblle

  • API discovery
  • Runtime security
  • API governance
  • Compliance monitoring
  • API documentation and analytics
  • Agentic AI 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 Treblle
  • Publishing internal or external developer portalsnot Treblle
  • Managing rate limits and authentication at the API edgenot Treblle
  • Gateway-level routing to multiple LLM providersnot Treblle

Treblle

  • Gaining full visibility into API traffic across multi-cloud environmentsnot Kong Gateway
  • Detecting shadow APIs and runtime security risksnot Kong Gateway
  • Meeting compliance audit requirements such as HIPAA or GDPRnot Kong Gateway
  • Governing API design standards through CI/CDnot 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.

Treblle

  • No free tier is offered; the entry-level Core plan starts at $233/month billed yearly.
  • Growth and Enterprise pricing is custom and not published, requiring a sales conversation to budget.
  • Core plan is limited to 1 workspace and only 30 days of data retention.
  • SSO and on-prem/BYO cloud deployment are reserved for the top Enterprise tier.

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

Treblle

$233/month
  • Core$233/month
    • Billed yearly
    • 5 APIs
    • 500 requests/min
  • Growth$undefined/month
    • Custom APIs and request limits
    • 50M requests/month baseline
    • API security
  • Enterprise$undefined/month
    • Unlimited workspaces, APIs, and requests/min
    • API governance and compliance
    • SSO

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 Treblle if

  • You need api discovery.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want runtime security.
Treblle review

Questions people ask

Is Kong Gateway or Treblle better?
Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Treblle at $233/month, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Treblle?
Kong Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Kong Gateway and $233/month for Treblle.
Does Kong Gateway or Treblle run on more platforms?
Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Treblle runs on web, api.
Can I use Kong Gateway for free?
Yes. Kong Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Treblle starts at $233/month.
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 Treblle is typically brought in for.
What can Kong Gateway do that Treblle cannot?
Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Treblle covers API discovery, Runtime security, API governance, Compliance monitoring.

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
Treblle: What does Treblle cost?

Treblle's Core plan costs $233/month billed yearly and covers 5 APIs and 5M requests/month; Growth and Enterprise plans use custom pricing for larger request volumes and advanced features.

Source
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
Treblle: Is there a free plan?

Treblle does not offer a free tier; it instead offers a no-credit-card demo rather than free ongoing access.

Source
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
Treblle: How is usage metered?

Plans are metered by number of APIs monitored and requests per minute/month, with the Core plan capped at 500 requests/min and 5M requests/month.

Source
Share

Related pages

More on Kong Gateway

More on Treblle

Keep looking

Other head to heads