Kong Konnect vs WSO2 API Manager comparison

Kong and WSO2 are both solutions in the API Management category. Kong is ranked #25 with an average rating of 8.5, while WSO2 is ranked #6 with an average rating of 7.8. Kong holds a 0.9% mindshare in APIM, compared to WSO2’s 5.0% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Kong users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of WSO2 users who would recommend it.

Kong Konnect

Read 2 Kong Konnect reviews

454 Views
454 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

WSO2 API Manager

Read 41 WSO2 API Manager reviews

5,442 Views
5,442 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Kong Konnect

WSO2 API Manager

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between Kong Konnect and WSO2 API Manager based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two API Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.

To learn more, read our detailed Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager

July 2025

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Helped 864,574 peers since 2012

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

Kong Konnect

Ranking in API Management

25th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

WSO2 API Manager

Ranking in API Management

6th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Kong Konnect is 0.9%, up from 0.1% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WSO2 API Manager is 5.0%, up from 4.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

API Management

Featured Reviews

Shahnawaz_Alam

Senior Software Engineer at Netenrich

Significant email security benefits combined with efficient spam filtering, yet cost hinders long-term use

The integration with our on-prem Exchange was very straightforward; the only thing we did was redirect all email traffic over Proofpoint, so Proofpoint did everything independently, and we were very happy. I am still receiving emails from Proofpoint's site. Not using it at the moment, but in the short term we will be tackling that portion of the product as well. We cannot provide feedback regarding Dynamics because we are not experienced enough at the moment; we have initiatives going on but did not get enough feedback from end users. Based on my overall experience with Proofpoint, considering the cost perspective, I would rate it a 7 out of 10.

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VishalSingh14

IT Engineer at Reliance Industries Ltd

Easy to deploy APIs and easy to manage CORS configuration

I have used WSO2 Store and WSO2 API Manager at the architecture level. I worked on two versions, namely WSO2 API Manager 2.6.0 and 5.7.0. I have also worked with WSO2 Identity Server versions 5.7 and 5.11. There are certain things that Apigee handles better than WSO2 API Manager. The user interface of WSO2 API Manager is much easier than that of Apigee. The scope of flexibility was much greater in Apigee. In WSO2 API Manager, we had little flexibility and were restricted to a specific software or tool. On the other hand, we had the scope of customization in Apigee.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Technical support from Proofpoint was absolutely excellent."

"The documentation is excellent, and it includes a developer portal, which helps create a common distribution channel for APIs within and outside the enterprise."

"The solution is stable."

"The capability to define processes and seamless integration with APIs enhances our operations."

"WSO2 API Manager is open-source, which offers a range of features not found in other open-source API tools."

"API management lifecycle is the most valuable."

"Functionality-wise, I like WSO2 API Manager - Publisher API and WSO2 Enterprise Service Bus."

"Yes WSO2 API Manager is scalable"

"We could easily deploy APIs on WSO2 API Manager, and CORS configuration was easy to manage."

"Its open-source features are very good, especially for your production work."

More WSO2 API Manager pros

Cons

"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."

"Pricing was the issue as it becomes very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances."

"I would like it to be a more stable solution. Maybe in the last version that is approved. For me it would be good if they had a community established version."

"I can say that user management is not really flexible. So, if I want to create 1,000 store users, I can't do it as a publisher. You have to register as a store user using the store URL."

"I would like it to be a more convenient development platform with the ability to write orchestrations and so on. Our problem with this product is that in my country, we are the only enterprise that has been using this product. We're missing a lot of knowledge from colleagues to consult with, and we also aren't able to recruit people with relevant skills. It is a big problem. The small team that is maintaining this product is the only team that can actually relate to any technical issue. The support that we're getting from the company is not great. There is also a cultural gap there because they're from Sri Lanka, and it is not easy. They're putting in a lot of effort, but they are not meeting our expectations."

"Integration is an area that needs to be improved."

"WSO2 API Manager could improve by adding external API security features, which is one area where there is room for enhancement. Internally, API security is strong, and all other necessary features are already available. It has a solid marketplace, supports both Docker and standalone setups, and offers great enterprise integration. The developer portal has greatly improved the user experience, making it simple and user-friendly wherever we’ve implemented it. Overall, it’s not as complicated as other API gateways."

"The product hasn’t been updated for some time."

"WSO2 API Manager can be improved a lot relating to usability"

"We have encountered some concerns with concurrency. Our integrations do not handle high-volume transactions, and when benchmarking, some issues arose with concurrent testing."

More WSO2 API Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"As far as I'm aware, the costs are not minimal but satisfactory."

"The challenge is the increasing pricing, which has led some customers to consider alternatives, like using Spring Boot solutions instead. The rising costs, especially as cores and usage increase, have been a concern, prompting some to migrate to other products."

"There is a subscription-based pricing structure and also the open-sourced version available."

"I am using the free version."

"We have not opted for the paid version of WSO2 but we have implemented the free and open source WSO2 software to a great extent and it is working as per our expectation."

"We use the open-source version of WSO2 API Manager, there is no cost."

"WSO2 API Manager is an open-source solution."

"WSO2 API Manager is a costly solution, and its pricing is not competitive enough compared to other products."

More WSO2 API Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

24%

Computer Software Company

14%

Insurance Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

17%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kong Konnect?

The pricing deserves a high rating for consideration. Cost was the reason we stopped using it. Pricing was the issue as it becomes very expensive due to the nature of local circumstances.

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What needs improvement with Kong Konnect?

Pricing might be a topic to consider regarding improvements. I may advise Proofpoint to adjust marketing solutions based on each country itself.

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What is your primary use case for Kong Konnect?

The clients mainly were using Proofpoint for email security, which is the primary use case. We have used Proofpoint for email security.

See all answers

What do you like most about WSO2 API Manager?

It is possible to scale up and scale down with the solution...I can say that I have not seen any issues related to scalability.

See all answers

What needs improvement with WSO2 API Manager?

We have encountered some concerns with concurrency. Our integrations do not handle high-volume transactions, and when benchmarking, some issues arose with concurrent testing. It is uncertain whethe...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for WSO2 API Manager?

We use WSO2 API Manager ( /products/wso2-api-manager-reviews ) to integrate our telecom products with third-party REST APIs. We are orchestrating services where our business process defines the int...

See all answers

Comparisons

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs Kong Konnect

Compared 100% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

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Compared 19% of the time

Apache APISIX vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 10% of the time

More WSO2 API Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

API Management

July 2025

Download Kong Konnect product report

Buyer's Guide

WSO2 API Manager

July 2025

Download WSO2 API Manager product report

Overview

Kong Konnect facilitates efficient management and integration of APIs, providing a streamlined experience for developers to manage their services with high scalability.

Kong Konnect is a comprehensive platform tailored for API development and management. It offers an intuitive interface that simplifies the process of connecting, managing, and securing APIs. Organizations benefit from its scalable architecture, ensuring it meets diverse operational demands and optimizes service delivery, supporting a robust API ecosystem that aligns with modern development practices.

What are the key features of Kong Konnect?

API Gateway: Efficiently handles routing, transformations, and more for effective API management.
Security Management: Includes authentication and traffic control to protect data.
Analytics and Monitoring: Provides insights into API usage and performance metrics.
Developer Portals: Offers customizable portals for developer engagement and onboarding.
Plugin Architecture: Extends functionality through a rich library of plugins.

What benefits or ROI should users expect?

Cost Efficiency: Reduces operational costs through streamlined API processes.
Scalability: Easily adapts to increased API traffic without performance losses.
Improved Security: Enhances data protection through advanced security features.
Enhanced Developer Productivity: Accelerates development timelines with easy-to-use tools.
Better User Engagement: Improves collaboration through robust developer support.

In tech industries, Kong Konnect is often implemented to advance cloud-native applications by enhancing API connectivity and security. Financial services utilize it to ensure compliance and secure data sharing. Telecommunications deploy it to handle high data throughput efficiently.

Kong

WSO2 API Manager is a comprehensive platform that allows organizations to design, publish, and manage APIs.

It provides a centralized interface for API governance, security, and analytics.

With features like API monetization and developer portal, it enables businesses to drive innovation and create new revenue streams.

WSO2

Sample Customers

Information Not Available

1. eBay 2. StubHub 3. Cisco 4. Verizon 5. T-Mobile 6. Vodafone 7. Orange 8. BT Group 9. Telstra 10. Deutsche Telekom 11. Swisscom 12. AT&T 13. Sprint 14. Telefonica 15. O2 16. British Airways 17. Lufthansa 18. Emirates 19. Qatar Airways 20. Etihad Airways 21. Air France 22. KLM 23. American Express 24. Visa 25. Mastercard 26. PayPal 27. Western Union 28. Citibank 29. HSBC 30. Barclays 31. Santander 32. Goldman Sachs

Buyer's Guide

Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager

July 2025

Free Report: Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager

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