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APIs · head to head

Kong vs Svix

Kong logo

Kong

APIs

Cloud-native API gateway and service connectivity platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Svix logo

Svix

APIs

Outbound webhook sending as a service, with retries, signing and a customer-facing portal

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Svix the Professional tier at 490 US dollars a month includes the same 50,000 messages as the free tier, so the upgrade buys SLA, throughput and retention rather than volume, which is a jarring step for a growing product.
  • They diverge on capability: Kong covers API Gateway, Svix covers Automatic retries.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Kong and Svix actually diverge.

Attributes where Kong and Svix differ
AttributeKongSvix
Pricing modelsubscriptionPer month by message count
PlatformsLinux, Docker, KubernetesWeb, Cloud, Docker
Founded2010Unknown

Identical on both: starting price (Free), 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 Svix

  • Automatic retries
  • Payload signing
  • Consumer portal
  • Event types and filtering
  • Delivery logs and replay
  • Rate limiting
  • Static source IPs
  • Language SDKs

What people use each for

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

Kong

  • API gateway management and routingnot Svix
  • API development and testingnot Svix
  • Enterprise API security and governancenot Svix

Svix

  • A SaaS company adding webhooks to its API that does not want to build retry, signing and a customer debugging UI from scratchnot Kong
  • A payments or fintech product whose customers need signature verification libraries in several languages they did not writenot Kong
  • An engineering team drowning in support tickets from customers whose endpoints silently failed and who need self-service delivery logsnot Kong
  • A platform with a small number of very slow customer endpoints that must not delay deliveries to everyone elsenot 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

Svix

  • The Professional tier at 490 US dollars a month includes the same 50,000 messages as the free tier, so the upgrade buys SLA, throughput and retention rather than volume, which is a jarring step for a growing product.
  • Only attempted messages count toward usage, but a customer with many subscribed endpoints multiplies a single event into many billable messages, and forecasting that fan-out before launch is difficult.
  • The open source server is MIT licensed but trails the hosted product in features, so self-hosting is a fallback position rather than a genuinely equivalent option.
  • Routing outbound customer traffic through a third party puts a vendor in the delivery path for events your customers may treat as contractual, which some security reviews will not accept.
  • Payload retention is 30 days on the free tier and 90 on Professional, so anyone needing longer delivery history for audit must pay for Enterprise or log independently.

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

Svix

Free
  • FreeFree
    • 50,000 messages a month included
    • Overage at $0.0001 per message
    • 99.9% uptime SLA
  • Professional$490/month
    • 50,000 messages included, same as free
    • 99.99% uptime SLA
    • 800 messages per second
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom volume and rate limits
    • 99.999% uptime SLA
    • Custom retention

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 Svix if

  • You need automatic retries.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Cloud, Docker.
  • You also want payload signing.
Svix review

Questions people ask

Is Kong or Svix better?
Neither clearly leads. Kong starts at Free and Svix at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Kong or Svix?
Kong starts at Free and Svix at Free.
Does Kong or Svix run on more platforms?
Kong runs on Linux, Docker, Kubernetes. Svix runs on Web, Cloud, Docker.
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 Svix is typically brought in for.
What can Kong do that Svix cannot?
Kong covers API Gateway, Authentication & Authorization, Rate Limiting, Kubernetes. Svix covers Automatic retries, Payload signing, Consumer portal, Event types and filtering.

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
Svix: How much does Svix cost?

Free up to 50,000 messages a month; Professional starts at 490 US dollars a month with the same included volume but better SLA and throughput.

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
Svix: Can I self-host it?

Yes, there is an MIT licensed server, but it lags the hosted service in features and has no SLA.

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
Svix: What counts as a message?

Attempted or transformed deliveries. Retries and messages filtered out because no endpoint subscribed are not charged.

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
Svix: Does it handle inbound webhooks?

Its focus is outbound sending on behalf of API providers, not receiving webhooks from third parties.

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