Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
Google Cloud Endpoints vs Kong: What are the differences?
Google Cloud Endpoints is a fully managed API management platform provided by Google Cloud, offering features like authentication, monitoring, and analytics for APIs deployed on Google Cloud Platform. On the other hand, Kong is an open-source API gateway and microservices management platform, known for its flexibility, extensibility, and support for hybrid and multi-cloud environments. Let's explore the key differences between Google Cloud Endpoints and Kong:
Managed vs Self-Hosted: Google Cloud Endpoints is a fully managed solution provided by Google Cloud. Google takes care of the infrastructure, scaling, and maintenance, allowing developers to focus solely on building their APIs. On the other hand, Kong is a self-hosted solution, which means that developers are responsible for deploying and managing the Kong API gateway on their own infrastructure.
Cloud Platform Integration: Google Cloud Endpoints is tightly integrated with Google Cloud Platform services, making it an excellent choice for projects that are already hosted on Google Cloud. It provides seamless integration with other Google Cloud services, such as Cloud Functions, App Engine, and Cloud Run, enabling easy development and deployment of serverless APIs. Kong, being a self-hosted solution, is more agnostic to the cloud provider and can be deployed on various cloud environments or on-premises.
Extensibility and Plugins: Kong is well-known for its extensibility and plugin support. It offers a wide range of plugins that can be used to add additional functionalities to the API gateway, such as authentication, rate-limiting, logging, and caching. This flexibility allows developers to customize the API gateway according to their specific needs. Google Cloud Endpoints also offers some built-in features, but its extensibility options are limited compared to Kong.
Hybrid and Multi-Cloud Support: Kong is designed to be cloud-agnostic and can be deployed in hybrid environments or across multiple cloud providers. This makes it a suitable choice for organizations with complex infrastructure setups or those looking for vendor independence. On the other hand, Google Cloud Endpoints is more tightly integrated with Google Cloud Platform and may not offer the same level of flexibility for hybrid or multi-cloud setups.
Pricing Model: Google Cloud Endpoints pricing is based on the number of requests made to the API and additional features like authentication and monitoring. Kong, being an open-source solution, is free to use, but organizations need to consider the cost of managing and maintaining the infrastructure on which it is deployed.
In summary, Google Cloud Endpoints is a fully managed platform with tight integration with Google Cloud Platform, making it suitable for projects hosted on Google Cloud. On the other hand, Kong is a flexible and extensible self-hosted API gateway that can be deployed in various environments, making it a good choice for organizations looking for more control and customization options.
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.
Pros of Google Cloud Endpoints
- Android Integration1
Pros of Kong
- Easy to maintain37
- Easy to install32
- Flexible26
- Great performance21
- Api blueprint7
- Custom Plugins4
- Kubernetes-native3
- Security2
- Has a good plugin infrastructure2
- Agnostic2
- Load balancing1
- Documentation is clear1
- Very customizable1
Sign up to add or upvote prosMake informed product decisions
What is Google Cloud Endpoints?
What is Kong?
Need advice about which tool to choose?Ask the StackShare community!
What companies use Google Cloud Endpoints?
Sign up to get full access to all the companiesMake informed product decisions
What tools integrate with Google Cloud Endpoints?
What tools integrate with Kong?
Sign up to get full access to all the tool integrationsMake informed product decisions
Blog Posts
+26