Kong
A platform for governing API, AI, and event connectivity across teams and deployment environments.
Kong is the active canonical product brand.
About Kong
Kong is an API and AI connectivity platform for teams that need one control layer across gateways, developer access, AI traffic, and event streams. It covers the API lifecycle from design and testing through publishing, policy enforcement, observation, and monetization. Engineers can manage Gateway configuration as code with decK, operate Konnect resources with kongctl, and bring API linting or tests into CI through Inso. For AI workloads, Kong can centralize model access, apply controls to token consumption, and standardize resilience and access policies. Its breadth suits organizations that share connectivity infrastructure across teams. It also adds platform administration, and buyers need to map the modules they actually need. Some enterprise capabilities, including SSO, SCIM, support, and native vault integrations, sit in a paid tier; larger or more complex deployments may also require a sales conversation.
Best for
Best use cases
Centralize policy enforcement for APIs across environments
Control model access and token consumption for AI workloads
Publish APIs through a self-service developer portal
Compare before choosing
Evaluate whether one broad platform is preferable to separate gateway and portal tools
Compare paid identity and support needs with the free entry point
Check whether decK, kongctl, Inso, and MCP match the existing delivery workflow
Features
Govern API traffic
Apply gateway policies for authentication, access control, threat protection, resilience, and traffic management across APIs.
Manage AI connectivity
Route model and agent traffic through a controlled layer with token controls, cost optimization, and standardized access policies.
Publish developer experiences
Expose APIs through a developer portal with self-service documentation and tools for API consumers.
Automate platform operations
Manage Konnect and Gateway resources from terminals, CI pipelines, IDEs, or supported agent tools using decK, kongctl, and MCP.
Pros
- A single platform can reduce tool sprawl across API gateway, developer portal, AI traffic, and event connectivity workflows.
- decK, kongctl, Inso, and MCP support configuration-as-code, CI, terminal, IDE, and agent-based operating models.
- A free entry point lets teams evaluate workflows before paying for enterprise identity, support, and vault integrations.
Cons
- The platform spans many modules, so teams must budget time for architecture choices, policy design, and ongoing administration.
- SSO, SCIM, enterprise support, and native vault integrations require the paid Enterprise tier.
- The listed self-service Enterprise offer is limited to 50 users; larger teams need to contact sales.
Pricing Plans
Free
- Start with Kong at no charge
- Evaluate core API and AI connectivity workflows
Enterprise
- Self-service for up to 50 users
- Kong Konnect integration
- SAML/OIDC SSO and SCIM
- Enterprise support
- Native AWS, GCP, HashiCorp, and Azure vault integrations
* Pricing information is for reference only. Please refer to the latest announcement on Kong's official website.