Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

Apigee

235
686
+ 1
29
Kong

657
1.5K
+ 1
139
Add tool

Apigee vs Kong: What are the differences?

Key Differences between Apigee and Kong

Apigee and Kong are two popular API management platforms, but there are key differences between them that set them apart. Here are six specific differences between Apigee and Kong:

  1. Scalability: One of the key differences between Apigee and Kong is their scalability. Apigee is a cloud-based platform that offers high scalability, allowing businesses to easily handle large amounts of traffic and scale their APIs as needed. Kong, on the other hand, is a lightweight, open-source platform that can also handle high loads but may require additional configuration and optimization to achieve the same level of scalability as Apigee.

  2. Deployment Options: Another difference between Apigee and Kong is their deployment options. Apigee is a fully managed platform that runs in the cloud, making it easy to deploy and manage APIs without worrying about infrastructure. Kong, on the other hand, can be deployed in various environments, including on-premises, in the cloud, or in a hybrid environment, giving businesses more flexibility in terms of where they choose to run their APIs.

  3. Pricing Model: Apigee and Kong also differ in their pricing models. Apigee follows a consumption-based pricing model, where businesses pay based on the amount of API traffic processed. Kong, on the other hand, offers both open-source and enterprise versions, with the open-source version being free to use and the enterprise version offering additional features and support at a cost. This difference in pricing models allows businesses to choose the option that best fits their budget and requirements.

  4. Developer Experience: When it comes to developer experience, Apigee and Kong offer different approaches. Apigee provides a comprehensive and user-friendly developer portal, making it easy for developers to discover, test, and consume APIs. Kong, on the other hand, offers a more lightweight developer portal, focusing more on the API gateway capabilities and allowing developers to customize and extend it as needed. This difference in developer experience can be a determining factor for businesses depending on their specific developer needs.

  5. Integration Capabilities: Apigee and Kong also differ in their integration capabilities. Apigee provides a wide range of out-of-the-box integrations with other systems, making it easier for businesses to connect their APIs with existing infrastructure and services. Kong, on the other hand, offers a plugin architecture that allows businesses to extend its functionality and integrate with different systems, giving them more flexibility and control over the integration process.

  6. Support and Community: Finally, the support and community around Apigee and Kong vary. Apigee is a well-established platform with a large and active community, providing businesses with access to a wealth of resources, documentation, and community support. Kong, being an open-source platform, also has a strong community and offers support options through its enterprise version. However, the level of support and resources may differ compared to Apigee's offerings.

In summary, Apigee and Kong differ in terms of scalability, deployment options, pricing model, developer experience, integration capabilities, and support and community. These differences make each platform suitable for different use cases and business needs.

Decisions about Apigee and Kong
Prateek Mittal
Fullstack Engineer| Ruby | React JS | gRPC at Ex Bookmyshow | Furlenco | Shopmatic · | 4 upvotes · 287K views

Istio based on powerful Envoy whereas Kong based on Nginx. Istio is K8S native as well it's actively developed when k8s was successfully accepted with production-ready apps whereas Kong slowly migrated to start leveraging K8s. Istio has an inbuilt turn-keyIstio based on powerful Envoy whereas Kong based on Nginx. Istio is K8S native as well it's actively developed when k8s was successfully accepted with production-ready apps whereas Kong slowly migrated to start leveraging K8s. Istio has an inbuilt turn key solution with Rancher whereas Kong completely lacks here. Traffic distribution in Istio can be done via canary, a/b, shadowing, HTTP headers, ACL, whitelist whereas in Kong it's limited to canary, ACL, blue-green, proxy caching. Istio has amazing community support which is visible via Github stars or releases when comparing both.

See more
Get Advice from developers at your company using StackShare Enterprise. Sign up for StackShare Enterprise.
Learn More
Pros of Apigee
Pros of Kong
  • 12
    Highly scalable and secure API Management Platform
  • 6
    Quick jumpstart
  • 5
    Good documentation
  • 3
    Fast and adjustable caching
  • 3
    Easy to use
  • 37
    Easy to maintain
  • 32
    Easy to install
  • 26
    Flexible
  • 21
    Great performance
  • 7
    Api blueprint
  • 4
    Custom Plugins
  • 3
    Kubernetes-native
  • 2
    Security
  • 2
    Has a good plugin infrastructure
  • 2
    Agnostic
  • 1
    Load balancing
  • 1
    Documentation is clear
  • 1
    Very customizable

Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions

Cons of Apigee
Cons of Kong
  • 11
    Expensive
  • 1
    Doesn't support hybrid natively
    Be the first to leave a con

    Sign up to add or upvote consMake informed product decisions

    - No public GitHub repository available -

    What is Apigee?

    API management, design, analytics, and security are at the heart of modern digital architecture. The Apigee intelligent API platform is a complete solution for moving business to the digital world.

    What is Kong?

    Kong is a scalable, open source API Layer (also known as an API Gateway, or API Middleware). Kong controls layer 4 and 7 traffic and is extended through Plugins, which provide extra functionality and services beyond the core platform.

    Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!

    What companies use Apigee?
    What companies use Kong?
    See which teams inside your own company are using Apigee or Kong.
    Sign up for StackShare EnterpriseLearn More

    Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions

    What tools integrate with Apigee?
    What tools integrate with Kong?

    Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions

    Blog Posts

    GitHubPythonNode.js+26
    29
    15943
    What are some alternatives to Apigee and Kong?
    Mashery
    Sign In and discover new APIs from our open data commons of RESTful APIs. Mashery's API management offerings include strategic consulting & developer support to help you build your business.
    Zuul
    It is the front door for all requests from devices and websites to the backend of the Netflix streaming application. As an edge service application, It is built to enable dynamic routing, monitoring, resiliency, and security. Routing is an integral part of a microservice architecture.
    WSO2
    It delivers the only complete open source middleware platform. With its revolutionary componentized design, it is also the only open source platform-as-a-service for private and public clouds available today. With it, seamless migration and integration between servers, private clouds, and public clouds is now a reality.
    Istio
    Istio is an open platform for providing a uniform way to integrate microservices, manage traffic flow across microservices, enforce policies and aggregate telemetry data. Istio's control plane provides an abstraction layer over the underlying cluster management platform, such as Kubernetes, Mesos, etc.
    Postman
    It is the only complete API development environment, used by nearly five million developers and more than 100,000 companies worldwide.
    See all alternatives