Kong vs AWS API Gateway: API Gateways Comparison (2026)

An independent side-by-side comparison of Kong and AWS API Gateway for api gateways buyers — pricing, features, integrations, and how often each is cited by major AI engines.

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
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
AWS API Gateway
Tracking…
No data yet
Perplexity
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
AWS API Gateway
Tracking…
No data yet
Gemini
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
AWS API Gateway
Tracking…
No data yet
Claude
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
AWS API Gateway
Tracking…
No data yet
Copilot
Kong
Tracking…
No data yet
AWS API Gateway
Tracking…
No data yet
Scale:NoneLowFairStrongExcellent

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

Pricing

Kong
Starting price
$12/user/month
Free tier
Yes
konghq.com
AWS API Gateway
Starting price
$1.00/million
Free tier
Yes
aws.amazon.com/api-gateway

Key Features

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
AWS API Gateway
  • Pay-as-you-go pricing
  • One million free API calls
  • No minimum fees
  • No upfront commitments

When to choose Kong

Choose Kong if your team prioritizes its strengths over AWS API Gateway's. Full guidance populates as Kong's feature data is indexed.

When to choose AWS API Gateway

Choose AWS API Gateway if your team prioritizes its strengths over Kong's. Full guidance populates as AWS API Gateway's feature data is indexed.

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