Comparison

Azure API Management vs Kong Gateway

No clear leader: Kong Gateway (49.4) and Azure API Management (44.8) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Azure API Management45
Kong Gateway49
Score
Vioscale score
Azure API Management45 / 100low · 21%
Kong Gateway49 / 100high · 76%
Pricing
Free tier
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway
Model
Azure API Managementcommercial
Kong Gatewaycommercial
Price level
Azure API Management
Kong Gatewaylow
Transparent
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway
Integrations
Count
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway11
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 Gateway7.4
Soc2
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway
Reliability
Status page
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway
Adoption
Dependent repos
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway1
Github stars
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway44,043
Activity
Commits last 30d
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway1
Release
Cadence days
Azure API Management
Kong Gateway29
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
Azure API Management

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

Azure API Management enables enterprises to manage, secure, and govern APIs spanning traditional services through to AI models and agents. Built as a cloud-native Azure service, it supports hybrid deployment patterns and is designed with AI readiness in mind.

Independently observed

Kong Gateway

Kong provides a unified platform for building, testing, and governing APIs and AI agents. It handles both traditional API gateway functions—routing, rate limiting, authentication—and modern AI-specific concerns like token budgeting, context management, and LLM traffic control. Includes gateway, API management, testing tools, and event streaming 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

Pricing not documented yet.

Kong Gateway

SubscriptionFree tier
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
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

11 total
  • AWS Bedrock
  • Azure Content Safety
  • Google Cloud Model Armor
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Llama 3
  • Kubernetes
  • Helm
  • Git
  • Stripe
  • Twilio
Independently observed

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

Azure API Management vs Kong Gateway: an evidence-based comparison · Vioscale