Kong Konnect vs WSO2 API Manager comparison

Kong and WSO2 are both solutions in the API Management category. Kong is ranked #29 with an average rating of 8.0, while WSO2 is ranked #7 with an average rating of 7.8. Kong holds a 0.8% 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

346 Views
291 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

WSO2 API Manager

Read 41 WSO2 API Manager reviews

5,896 Views
4,159 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: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager

June 2025

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Helped 857,028 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

29th

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

7th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the API Management category, the mindshare of Kong Konnect is 0.8%, up from 0.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of WSO2 API Manager is 5.0%, up from 4.2% 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

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

"Technical support from Proofpoint was absolutely excellent."

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

"The flexibility is definitely a highlight. We have flexible mapping capabilities, allowing us to provide common mappings or create custom ones as needed."

"The solution is open-source."

"A complete integration suite and a good platform."

"It's a good product."

"This is a flexible and versatile API management solution that has the power to integrate with more than just API."

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

"There are a lot of tools to help the manager. WSO2 is very easy to install. It has all the principal functionalities that you think about when you want to put up the management solution. It's a very friendly tool."

More WSO2 API Manager pros

Cons

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

"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."

"Basically, mTLS is a certificate-based communication protocol that WSO2 API Manager doesn't support."

"The solution could be more user friendly for engineers."

"The technical support must be improved."

"The professional support and licensing aspects of WSO have been a challenge."

"We found WSO2 API Manager to be a bit complex."

"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."

"The pricing models offered by WSO2 API Manager could be more flexible and should offer different options so that more people can access them."

"Lacks some new features and updated functionalities."

More WSO2 API Manager cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

Information not available

"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."

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

"WSO2 API Manager is quite an expensive tool. I rate the product's pricing a nine on a scale of one to ten, where one is low and ten is high."

"I am using the free version."

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

"My previous company paid about 1.2 million dollars, and my current company pays about 300k. Both companies are at the enterprise level."

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

"For our projects, we found the pricing to be a little high."

More WSO2 API Manager pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

26%

Computer Software Company

15%

Insurance Company

11%

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

18%

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?

While the pricing model isn't very clear on how usage is tracked, the initial cost and setup for using Kong Konnect are reasonable.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Kong Konnect?

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. Additionally, the licensing model could be simplified, especiall...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Kong Konnect?

I use Kong Konnect ( /products/kong-konnect-reviews ) as an API Gateway or API management solution. I have several use cases, including securing internal APIs within Siemens network by deploying Ko...

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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.

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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...

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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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Apigee vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 21% of the time

Kong Gateway Enterprise vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 19% of the time

Apache APISIX vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon API Gateway vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 12% of the time

Microsoft Azure API Management vs WSO2 API Manager

Compared 11% of the time

More WSO2 API Manager Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

API Management

May 2025

Download Kong Konnect product report

Buyer's Guide

WSO2 API Manager

May 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

June 2025

Free Report: Kong Konnect vs. WSO2 API Manager

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