Is Kong or Stoplight better?

Neither clearly leads. Kong starts at Free and Stoplight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Kong or Stoplight?

Kong starts at Free and Stoplight at Free.

Does Kong or Stoplight run on more platforms?

Kong runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. Stoplight runs on Web, Cloud.

Can I use Kong for free?

Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.

What is Kong best used for?

Kong is most often used for api gateway management and routing, api development and testing, enterprise api security and governance. Of those, api gateway management and routing and api development and testing are not what Stoplight is typically brought in for.

What can Kong do that Stoplight cannot?

Kong covers API Gateway, Authentication & Authorization, Rate Limiting, Kubernetes. Stoplight covers API Design, API Documentation, Governance, GitHub.

APIs · head to head

Kong vs Stoplight

Kong

APIs

Cloud-native API gateway and service connectivity platform

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

Stoplight

APIs

API design, documentation, and governance platform

From: Free
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Kong the Plus plan includes 1M API requests a month and charges $200 a month for each additional million; Stoplight the free plan allows one project and one user
They diverge on capability: Kong covers API Gateway, Stoplight covers API Design.
Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kong and Stoplight actually diverge.

Attributes where Kong and Stoplight differ
Attribute	Kong	Stoplight
Platforms	Linux, Docker, Kubernetes	Web, Cloud
Founded	2010	2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (subscription), free tier (Yes), 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

API Gateway
Authentication & Authorization
Rate Limiting
Kubernetes
Consul
Eureka
PostgreSQL
Linux support

Only in Stoplight

API Design
API Documentation
Governance
GitHub
GitLab
Jenkins
Azure DevOps
Web support

What people use each for

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

Kong

API gateway management and routingnot Stoplight
API development and testingnot Stoplight
Enterprise API security and governancenot Stoplight

Stoplight

API design and documentationnot Kong
API governance and standardsnot Kong
Team collaboration on API developmentnot Kong
API mocking and testingnot Kong

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Kong

The Plus plan includes 1M API requests a month and charges $200 a month for each additional million
Plus is capped at 10M requests a month, so growth past that forces an Enterprise contract
Plus limits published APIs to 20 and includes one Developer Portal, with a second at $200 a month
SSO and audit logging are Enterprise only
Enterprise pricing is custom and billed annually

Stoplight

The free plan allows one project and one user
Private projects, multi branch support and custom domains start at the Startup plan, $113 a month billed annually
SSO and shared style guides are Pro Team only, at $362 a month billed annually
Seats beyond each plan's allowance are $11 to $27 each per month depending on tier and billing period

Pricing, plan by plan

Kong

Free

Kong Konnect Free TrialFree
- 30-day free trial
- Full enterprise functionality
- Unlimited gateways
Kong Konnect Plus$null/month
- Per gateway pricing billed monthly
- Up to 5 Serverless Gateways, 2 Hybrid, 2 Dedicated Cloud Gateways
- 1M API requests included per month
Kong Insomnia EssentialsFree
- Unlimited projects and CLI access
- Up to 3 Git Sync users
- 1,000 mock server requests per month
Kong Insomnia Pro$12/month
- Unlimited users with Git Sync access
- Unlimited organizations
- RBAC

Stoplight

Free

FreeFree
- 1 project
- 1 user
- Basic API design and documentation features
Basic$56/month
- Annual: $44/user/year
- 3 included users; $14 per additional user (monthly)
- Unlimited projects
Startup$147/month
- Annual: $113/user/year
- 8 included users; $14 per additional user (monthly)
- Private projects
Pro Team$453/month
- Annual: $362/user/year
- 15 included users; $27 per additional user (monthly)
- Up to 20 teams

Which should you pick?

Choose Kong if

You need api gateway.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes.
You also want authentication & authorization.

Kong review

Choose Stoplight if

You need api design.
You want to start without paying.
You work on Web, Cloud.
You also want api documentation.

Stoplight review

Questions people ask

Is Kong or Stoplight better?: Neither clearly leads. Kong starts at Free and Stoplight at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong or Stoplight?: Kong starts at Free and Stoplight at Free.
Does Kong or Stoplight run on more platforms?: Kong runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. Stoplight runs on Web, Cloud.
Can I use Kong for free?: Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Kong best used for?: Kong is most often used for api gateway management and routing, api development and testing, enterprise api security and governance. Of those, api gateway management and routing and api development and testing are not what Stoplight is typically brought in for.
What can Kong do that Stoplight cannot?: Kong covers API Gateway, Authentication & Authorization, Rate Limiting, Kubernetes. Stoplight covers API Design, API Documentation, Governance, GitHub.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Kong: Does Kong offer a free trial?

Yes, Kong Konnect offers a 30-day free trial with full enterprise functionality, unlimited gateways, and no credit card required.

Source

Stoplight: How much does Stoplight cost?

Stoplight starts with a free plan (1 project, 1 user), then Basic at $56/month per user (or $44/year), Startup at $147/month per user (or $113/year), Pro Team at $453/month per user (or $362/year), and Enterprise at custom pricing.

Source

Kong: How much does Kong Insomnia Pro cost?

Kong Insomnia Pro is $12 per user per month with 15% savings available for annual billing.

Source

Stoplight: How many included users are in each Stoplight plan?

Basic includes 3 users, Startup includes 8 users, and Pro Team includes 15 users. Additional users beyond the included count cost $14/month for Basic and Startup, or $27/month for Pro Team.

Source

Kong: What are Kong Konnect Plus API request limits?

Kong Konnect Plus includes 1M API requests per month; additional requests cost $200 per 1M (maximum 10M per month).

Source

Stoplight: Does Stoplight offer a free trial?

Yes, all paid Stoplight plans include a 14-day free trial. The free plan has no trial period as it is always available.

Source

Kong: What is included in Kong Insomnia Enterprise?

Kong Insomnia Enterprise is $45 per user per month with SSO, SCIM, vault integrations, unlimited mock server requests, and Konnect integration.

Source

Stoplight: Does Stoplight's free plan have limitations?

Yes, the free plan includes only 1 project and 1 user. Users viewing public documentation anonymously are not counted toward the 1-user limit.

Source

Kong vs Stoplight

Kong

Stoplight

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Kong

Only in Stoplight

What people use each for

Kong

Stoplight

Where each one falls short

Kong

Stoplight

Pricing, plan by plan

Kong

Stoplight

Which should you pick?

Choose Kong if

Choose Stoplight if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Kong

More on Stoplight

Keep looking

Other head to heads