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Apache APISIX vs Kong Konnect comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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

Apache APISIX
Ranking in API Management
18th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
2
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Kong Konnect
Ranking in API Management
13th
Average Rating
8.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
10
Ranking in other categories
AI Observability (13th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2026, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Apache APISIX is 2.3%, down from 3.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kong Konnect is 1.0%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
API Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Kong Konnect1.0%
Apache APISIX2.3%
Other96.7%
API Management
 

Featured Reviews

AS
Senior Java Software Developer at VOIS
Integration with backend systems and runtime configuration simplicity enhance operational efficiency
Apache APISIX is easy to configure. It supports coding for filters and can integrate with many languages. Its configuration at runtime is very easy. You can configure your gateway at runtime without needing to restart the gateway to apply configurations. This is a perfect feature. The service discovery feature integrates with backend systems and provides powerful load balancing. Also, its integration with Keycloak and authorization systems is a valuable feature.
AK
CTO at Keogh Innovation
Centralizes API and AI control planes and has enabled federated self-service for many teams
The whole area of API and AI management is quite complex, with so many different ways of being able to do things. I think a positive of Kong is that it's so configurable and extendable, but that is also a con because there are so many ways of achieving the same thing that I think often people are either confused or struggle to get going as to how to solve a particular problem. In my mind, a more opinionated deployment of Kong itself or even how to solve certain use cases would be something I would like to see, so a more opinionated use of their products and configuration of their products on how to solve the most common use cases. That's probably the main thing about needed improvements for Kong Konnect. It's a pretty fully-fledged platform; there obviously are portions of it that could be improved. But I think overall as a platform, it's really good, and I think it can help the majority of organizations looking to manage their throughput of APIs or AI traffic. The majority of what I've said before probably covers the improvements needed for Kong Konnect. There probably are some API Ops and AI Ops changes that could be improved, which is not necessarily the Kong Konnect product, but some of the toolchains around it. I'm thinking around, especially if it's API Ops, about topics like better GitOps processes and the ways of being able to roll back changes when there are issues. At the moment, a lot of that is either non-existent or is hand-cranked. I would like to see the ability to roll back configurations when there are issues being added to the product.

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 features of Apache APISIX include routing for upstream and frontend services, masking using proxy rewrite, and the integration of different plugins like Prometheus and Grafana."
"I recommend Apache APISIX to others because of its many useful features."
"Kong Konnect has positively impacted our organization by securing our APIs, which is one of the main concerns for us, and securing our APIs has benefited our organization by improving compliance and reducing incidents."
"Kong Konnect has positively impacted my organization by making our development easier and helping us push new routes to our current customers."
"The documentation is excellent, and it includes a developer portal, which helps create a common distribution channel for APIs within and outside the enterprise."
"I think it's a really great tool, and I've seen a number of enterprise companies using it."
"Their tech support is excellent; when I raise an incident or a support ticket, it gets answered in four hours."
"Kong Konnect has impacted my organization positively, particularly in enhancing security and providing a compliance dashboard for applications, making it a very positive impact on my organization."
"My advice for others looking into using Kong Konnect is to please go with it, as it is very good compared to other tools in the market, low cost, has a user-friendly interface, is easy to set up, and customer support is also very good."
"Kong Konnect provides centralized API management, which means there is one place to manage all the APIs, with a good plugin subsystem for authentication, logging, and rate limiting, plus a hybrid architecture that improves scalability and developer productivity while reducing engineering time and costs."
 

Cons

"The user interface is limited and does not support all features of Apache APISIX."
"The routing algorithms in Apache APISIX, such as node-based and round-robin, could be improved. Introducing more plugins and supporting AI features can enhance the solution."
"Kong Konnect's RBAC needs to evolve more, as they currently offer only one or two levels of RBAC in terms of organization and teams."
"I think a positive of Kong is that it's so configurable and extendable, but that is also a con because there are so many ways of achieving the same thing that I think often people are either confused or struggle to get going as to how to solve a particular problem."
"Kong Konnect needs improvement in the UI."
"Kong Konnect requires some improvement, but overall the experience is quite positive."
"I wish Kong Konnect could improve by having a built-in notification system whenever any APIs get pinged so that we can receive alerts and send them to the developer."
"Pricing was the issue as it becomes very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances."
"When comparing documentation, Kong's documentation is not on par with Google, Amazon, or other cloud providers."
"I do not rate Kong Konnect a nine out of ten because the configuration can be complex and not beginner-friendly."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
16%
Comms Service Provider
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
8%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Manufacturing Company
13%
Outsourcing Company
13%
Construction Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business6
Midsize Enterprise2
Large Enterprise2
 

Questions from the Community

What needs improvement with Apache APISIX?
The routing algorithms in Apache APISIX, such as node-based and round-robin, could be improved. Introducing more plugins and supporting AI features can enhance the solution.
What is your primary use case for Apache APISIX?
The primary use case for Apache APISIX is to mask the API endpoints for my microservices and use self-given APIs in Apache APISIX and mask those with the actual real ones. This helps to prevent use...
What advice do you have for others considering Apache APISIX?
I rate Apache APISIX an eight out of ten overall. For new users, I advise going through the official documentation deeply to implement the solution efficiently.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kong Konnect?
The processing of the license for Kong Konnect is normally handled by procurement, so in large enterprises, that's not something I've had to deal with, so I can't really comment on that at all. Set...
What needs improvement with Kong Konnect?
The whole area of API and AI management is quite complex, with so many different ways of being able to do things. I think a positive of Kong is that it's so configurable and extendable, but that is...
What is your primary use case for Kong Konnect?
My main use case for Kong Konnect, at least with the clients that I work with, is to create a centralized single pane of glass for all of their control planes, whether it be for their API gateways ...
 

Overview

Find out what your peers are saying about Apache APISIX vs. Kong Konnect and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
900,747 professionals have used our research since 2012.