Apigee vs Kong: API Gateways Comparison (2026)

Apigee features pay-as-you-go pricing, API Analytics, and Advanced API Security. Kong offers API, protocol, and service support, AI Observability with token-level tracking, and unlimited access to plugins.

AI Citation Scorecard

How often each is cited by major AI engines when buyers ask api gateways questions. Last 90 days across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.

Too early to call — probes still building data.
ChatGPT
Apigee
Tracking…
No data yet
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
Perplexity
Apigee
Tracking…
No data yet
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
Gemini
Apigee
Tracking…
No data yet
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
Claude
Apigee
Tracking…
No data yet
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
Copilot
Apigee
Tracking…
No data yet
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

Probes run hourly; each (engine × query) combo retests every ~3 days.

Pricing

Apigee
Starting price
$20 (Standard API Proxy, per 1M API calls)
Free tier
Yes
cloud.google.com/apigee
Kong
Starting price
$12/user/month
Free tier
Yes
konghq.com

Key Features

Apigee
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing
  • Multiple subscription tiers
  • API Analytics
  • Advanced API Security
Kong
  • API, protocol, and service support
  • Unlimited agents for agent-to-agent traffic
  • AI Observability with token-level tracking
  • Advanced analytics for up to 1M API requests
  • Developer portal support for 2 portals
  • Enterprise-grade security controls
  • Email support during trial
  • Unlimited access to plugins

When to choose Apigee

Apigee is suitable when a pay-as-you-go pricing model is preferred, and features like API Analytics and Advanced API Security are important.

When to choose Kong

Kong is suitable when API, protocol, and service support, AI Observability with token-level tracking, and unlimited access to plugins are key requirements. It is also beneficial for environments requiring integrations with AWS, Azure, GCP, Git, Slack, Zendesk, Hashicorp, and SOC2.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the starting prices for Apigee and Kong?
Apigee's starting price is $20 (Standard API Proxy, per 1M API calls). Kong's starting price is $12/user/month.
Do Apigee and Kong offer a free tier?
Yes, both Apigee and Kong offer a free tier.
What are the key differences in features between Apigee and Kong?
Apigee's key features include pay-as-you-go pricing, multiple subscription tiers, API Analytics, and Advanced API Security. Kong's key features include API, protocol, and service support, unlimited agents for agent-to-agent traffic, AI Observability with token-level tracking, advanced analytics for up to 1M API requests, developer portal support for 2 portals, enterprise-grade security controls, email support during trial, and unlimited access to plugins.
What integrations does Kong offer?
Kong offers integrations with AWS, Azure, GCP, Git, Slack, Zendesk, Hashicorp, and SOC2. Apigee has no listed integrations.
What are the advantages of Apigee?
Apigee offers no upfront commitment, flexible pricing options, tailoring for various use cases, and high SLA options.

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