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APIs · head to head

Kong Gateway vs Volt

Kong Gateway logo

Kong Gateway

APIs

Open-source and cloud API gateway for managing microservices traffic

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Volt logo

Volt

APIs

Account-to-account pay by bank across Europe, the UK, Brazil and Australia

From
On request
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.; Volt account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
  • They diverge on capability: Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Volt covers Pay by bank.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

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

Attributes where Kong Gateway and Volt differ
AttributeKong GatewayVolt
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreemiumquote
Free tierYesNo
Platformsweb, linux, apiWeb, REST API
Founded2017Unknown

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

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 Volt

  • Pay by bank
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Virtual IBANs
  • Payouts and refunds
  • Verify
  • Stablecoin checkout

What people use each for

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

Kong Gateway

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

Volt

  • A travel seller with high average order values paying percentage card fees it wants to replace with flat transfer feesnot Kong Gateway
  • An iGaming operator needing fast deposits and payouts where card acceptance is restrictednot Kong Gateway
  • A merchant with heavy card fraud that wants strongly authenticated irreversible paymentsnot Kong Gateway
  • A marketplace verifying seller bank accounts before paying outnot 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.

Volt

  • Account-to-account payments carry no chargeback mechanism, so consumers lose scheme dispute protection and merchants lose a familiar framework for handling claims.
  • Refunds are outbound payments rather than reversals, which changes treasury handling and means a refund can fail for reasons a card refund never would.
  • Conversion is lower than a stored card because the shopper must complete a bank authentication journey, and drop-off varies significantly by bank.
  • Core pay by bank pricing is per transaction but refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs, Verify and fraud tooling are billed separately, so the real cost is a stack of line items.
  • Bank API availability and quality vary across markets, and an outage at a major bank removes a slice of your checkout with no fallback unless you keep cards live.

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

Volt

On request
  • Volt pay by bank$undefined/year
    • Per successful transaction fee, quoted by volume and market
    • Separate charges for refunds, payouts, virtual IBANs and Verify
    • Circuit Breaker fraud tooling priced as an add-on

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 Volt if

  • You need pay by bank.
  • You work on Web, REST API.
  • You also want circuit breaker.
Volt review

Questions people ask

Is Kong Gateway or Volt better?
Neither clearly leads. Kong Gateway starts at Free and Volt at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong Gateway or Volt?
Kong Gateway has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Kong Gateway and On request for Volt.
Does Kong Gateway or Volt run on more platforms?
Kong Gateway runs on web, linux, api. Volt runs on Web, REST API.
Can I use Kong Gateway for free?
Yes. Kong Gateway has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Volt starts at On request.
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 Volt is typically brought in for.
What can Kong Gateway do that Volt cannot?
Kong Gateway covers API request routing, Plugin ecosystem, Developer portals, AI Gateway. Volt covers Pay by bank, Circuit Breaker, Virtual IBANs, Payouts and refunds.

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
Volt: Are there chargebacks?

No. Bank transfers are irrevocable, so disputes are handled commercially between merchant and customer, not through a card scheme.

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
Volt: How do refunds work?

As a separate outbound payment initiated by the merchant, which Volt charges for separately from the inbound transaction.

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
Volt: Which markets are covered?

Europe and the UK, plus Brazil and Australia, on a single API integration.

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