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Amazon API Gateway vs Kong Gateway Enterprise comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 17, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon API Gateway
Ranking in API Management
3rd
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
42
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Kong Gateway Enterprise
Ranking in API Management
6th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
24
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Amazon API Gateway is 14.6%, down from 14.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Gateway Enterprise is 6.0%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

Dinesh Agrawalla - PeerSpot reviewer
Requires minimal configuration and easy-to-launch
I would like to improve the restrictions and security elements of the solution, as there are certain configurations that are not currently supported. There are certain restrictions that cannot be implemented without web access. In the next release, I would like a feature that can validate requests and filter out any jQuery injections. Additionally, I would like to prioritize these requests. I've noticed that such features are usually not available in web applications.
AmitKanodia - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides role-based access control and can be easily customized with Lua script
Kong is meant for north-south communications, so it will be interesting to see what solutions they can come up with in the realms of east-west communications, service-to-service communications, and Zero Trust architecture. I believe that if they can provide for these areas, then they will be able to solve the overall integration and security concerns for microservices architecture in general.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable feature of the solution is that it is a stable solution with an uptime of 99.99 percent."
"In terms of most valuable features, it would say that it is really easy to start working with it."
"What I like best about Amazon API Gateway is that it's simple to use, easy to set up, and you can quickly get it up and running. It's a very user-friendly solution. I also didn't experience any issues in terms of Amazon API Gateway interface, integration, or monitoring. The solution runs smoothly."
"The best thing about Amazon API Gateway is that it can authenticate and authorize requests without going to our back end."
"API Gateway is easy to set up, allows for custom domain assignment and rate limiting based on customer tiers, and works well for defining different states for different customers based on their purchase plans."
"A most valuable feature of Amazon API Gateway is how quickly we can connect to backend services and have APIs accessible from anywhere."
"t is easy for integrations if it is deployed in AWS Services."
"Integrating API Gateway with other AWS services was easy. It worked out of the box, so it worked perfectly."
"The route limiting feature is very valuable."
"In our buying companies' perspective, it was easier to use compared to other platforms. The markets were pretty familiar with the solutions."
"The most valuable features of Kong Enterprise are the out-of-the-box open source easy functionality."
"This is a solid intrusion prevention system that combines a firewall and antivirus in a single solution."
"Kong enterprise has significantly enhanced our ability to manage and secure our Microservices. Its most valuable feature is monitoring."
"The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we prioritize limiting API usage. This is crucial because we provide APIs to other companies and must ensure they adhere to their allocated usage limits. Without rate limiting, there's a risk of excessive usage, which could result in significant costs."
"The solution provides good performance."
"It offers a wide range of plugins that we leverage, including OIDC, Rate Limiting, Lambda functions, and more."
 

Cons

"We would like to see more UI-based monitoring."
"The tool's UI requires time to understand."
"The solution could improve signature validation."
"When it comes to DDoS protection, I would like to see that become available at the API Gateway level."
"Amazon API Gateway will wait for only 30 seconds to get a response from other services, such as the Lambda function."
"It would be useful to have a more complete development environment for the developer, with different integrative capabilities to manage all the life cycles for the API. I think the full version formula for that is really useful. They should improve the development environment for easier integration."
"There are features lacking in API Gateway, such as the timeout settings, which currently are set at 29 seconds."
"We faced a few issues with the documentation."
"The tool needs improvement in UX."
"We are facing issues with the solution's features like reports and traffic analysis."
"Kong Enterprise has decided not to support the web portal feature anymore, but I think that feature should stay in the on-premises solution."
"The tool needs to improve in areas like documentation and UI."
"It becomes difficult if you try to scale it up to multiple clusters."
"Because it is open-source, it should be less expensive than others."
"They could focus more on pricing."
"The developer portal needs to be improved."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"We use all open-source technology."
"The solution's price is reasonable."
"Fees are volume-based."
"Since it's a serverless solution, Amazon API Gateway is not so expensive."
"I rate the platform's pricing a five out of ten."
"The product is expensive."
"The product can be described as a medium-priced solution, but its cost is higher than Azure."
"The solution is expensive. Though the product was previously available at a cheap rate, nowadays it is expensive."
"I don't have any information on licensing costs currently."
"The price is really reasonable compared to that of alternative solutions."
"The licensing is expensive."
"There is a need to pay towards the licensing charges...In some areas, the functionalities are available free of charge."
"Kong Enterprise's pricing is reasonable for our company size."
"It's expensive in Thailand (10 million baht, in Thai currency)."
"Kong Enterprise's pricing is at par compared to the other technologies."
"The licensing fees are paid yearly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
15%
Computer Software Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
6%
Financial Services Firm
20%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

Which is better - Apigee or Amazon API Gateway?
Amazon API Gateway is a platform that supports the creation and publication of API for web applications. The platform can support thousands of simultaneous API calls, and it provides monitoring, ma...
How does Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager compare with Amazon API Gateway?
I have found that Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager is the best integration tool out there for API management. It is easy to implement and learn; it provides several options for deployment, (including ...
Which is better - Azure API Management or Amazon API Gateway?
If you use Azure products, API Management is a great solution. It solves many of the problems of externalizing web services. For example, when you need versioning, establish a developer portal and ...
How does Kong Enterprise compare with Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager?
The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that ...
What do you like most about Kong Enterprise?
The tool's feature that I find most beneficial is rate limiting. In our usage, especially in the financial sector, we prioritize limiting API usage. This is crucial because we provide APIs to other...
What needs improvement with Kong Enterprise?
The open-source version of Kong does not support a dashboard, which would be very helpful. We use an open-source tool called Konga for basic dashboard needs, but it lacks support. It would be bette...
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Autodesk, Fox Digital Consumer Group, iFlix, UK Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Miovision, Olympusat, PhotoVogue, Royale International Group, Veracode
Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon API Gateway vs. Kong Gateway Enterprise and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
831,481 professionals have used our research since 2012.