Comparison

Azure API Management vs Kong Gateway

On the evidence we track, Kong Gateway leads this comparison with a composite score of 54/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Azure API Management43
★Kong Gateway54
Score
vioscaleAI score
Azure API Management43 / 100low · 32%
Kong Gateway54 / 100medium · 74%
Pricing
Free tier
Azure API Management✗
Kong Gateway✓
Model
Azure API Managementcommercial
Kong Gatewayopen_source
Price level
Azure API Managementunknown
Kong Gatewayfree
Transparent
Azure API Management✗
Kong Gateway✗
Integrations
Count
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway12
Security
Disclosure policy
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway✓
Gdpr
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway✓
Pci
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway✓
Scorecard
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway7.5
Soc2
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway✓
Reliability
Sla pct
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway99.99
Status page
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓
Adoption
Dependent repos
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway1
Github stars
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway44,260
Activity
Commits last 30d
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway10
Release
Cadence days
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway42
History
Azure API Management–
Kong Gateway20 items
License
Spdx
Azure API Management–
Kong GatewayApache-2.0
Language
Primary
Azure API Management–
Kong GatewayLua
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Azure API Management4 items
Kong Gateway8 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for api gateways. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Deployment
Hosting
Azure API ManagementCloud + self-hosted
Kong GatewayCloud + self-hosted
Kubernetes-native
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Traffic
Rate limiting
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓
Request/response transformation
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Security
OAuth2 / OIDC / JWT
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Mutual TLS
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Protocols
GraphQL gateway
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway-
gRPC support
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway-
Delivery
Developer portal
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Monetization
Azure API Management-
Kong Gateway✓
Ecosystem
Plugin ecosystem
Azure API ManagementExtensive
Kong GatewayExtensive
Insight
Observability
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Azure API Management

An Azure-hosted platform that handles API lifecycle management, governance, and security. It provides centralized oversight and control for APIs across cloud and hybrid environments, supporting traditional services, modern applications, and AI systems.

Independently observed

Kong Gateway

Leader

Kong Gateway is a scalable API and LLM gateway platform designed for cloud-native deployments. It provides traffic management, authentication, rate limiting, request transformation, and advanced AI capabilities.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Azure API Management

Usage-based30-day trial

Pay-as-you-go pricing. $200 credit and 30-day trial.

as of verify ↗

Kong Gateway

Leader
Open source

Open source core; Kong Konnect cloud platform offers free trial and commercial subscriptions

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓
Linux
Azure API Management✗
Kong Gateway✓
CLI
Azure API Management✗
Kong Gateway✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓
Self-hosted
Azure API Management✗
Kong Gateway✓
Hybrid
Azure API Management✓
Kong Gateway✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Azure API Management

Not documented yet.

Kong Gateway

Leader
19 total
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Azure Content Safety
  • Google Cloud Model Armor
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Llama 3
  • Kubernetes
  • Helm
  • Git
  • Stripe
  • Twilio
  • Llama
  • DocuSign
  • Insomnia
  • Apache Kafka
  • Redis
  • Prometheus
  • cert-manager
  • AWS Lambda
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Azure API Management or Kong Gateway: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.