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Kong

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162
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0
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Kong vs WSO2: What are the differences?

Introduction

Kong and WSO2 are both widely used open-source platforms that provide API management solutions. While they share similarities in terms of functionality, there are key differences that set them apart.

  1. Deployment Flexibility: Kong is known for its lightweight and flexible deployment options. It can be easily deployed as a standalone solution or as a microservices-based architecture. On the other hand, WSO2 is a more comprehensive platform that offers not only API management but also various middleware capabilities. It is typically deployed as a stack of interconnected components, making it more suitable for enterprise-level deployments.

  2. Scalability and Performance: Kong is designed to be highly scalable and performant, leveraging technologies like Nginx and LuaJIT. It can handle a large number of API requests efficiently, making it ideal for high-traffic scenarios. WSO2, on the other hand, provides scalability through its distributed architecture and clustering capabilities. It is capable of handling complex scenarios with high volumes of requests.

  3. Extensibility and Customization: Kong provides a plugin architecture that allows developers to extend its functionality and customize various aspects of API management. It offers a wide range of plugins that can be easily integrated into the platform. WSO2 also offers extensibility through its extensive set of components and the ability to develop custom extensions. However, the process of extending and customizing WSO2 may require a deeper understanding of its architecture.

  4. Security Features: Kong offers a range of security features out-of-the-box, including authentication, rate limiting, and request-validation mechanisms. It also supports integration with third-party authentication providers like OAuth and JWT. WSO2 provides a comprehensive security framework that includes support for various authentication mechanisms, authorization policies, and advanced security features like threat protection and anomaly detection.

  5. Developer-Friendly Interface: Kong provides a simple and intuitive interface for developers, making it easy to create, configure, and manage APIs. It offers a user-friendly dashboard and a RESTful Admin API for programmatic access. WSO2, on the other hand, provides a more feature-rich and powerful web-based interface for API management, catering to the needs of both developers and administrators. Its interface allows for advanced configurations and provides in-depth analytics and reporting capabilities.

  6. Community and Support: Kong has a large and active community of developers, which provides extensive documentation, tutorials, and plugins. It also has a vibrant marketplace where users can find pre-built plugins and integrations. WSO2 has a strong community and a dedicated support team that offers commercial support and consulting services. It provides comprehensive documentation and resources, including developer guides, tutorials, and forums.

In summary, Kong offers lightweight deployment options, high scalability, and extensibility, with a developer-friendly interface. WSO2, on the other hand, provides a comprehensive platform with enterprise-level deployment capabilities, advanced security features, and a more feature-rich interface. The choice between the two ultimately depends on the specific requirements and preferences of the organization.

Decisions about Kong and WSO2
Prateek Mittal
Fullstack Engineer| Ruby | React JS | gRPC at Ex Bookmyshow | Furlenco | Shopmatic · | 4 upvotes · 288.8K 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.

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Pros of Kong
Pros of WSO2
  • 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
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    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.

    What is 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.

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    What are some alternatives to Kong and WSO2?
    Apigee
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    Amazon API Gateway handles all the tasks involved in accepting and processing up to hundreds of thousands of concurrent API calls, including traffic management, authorization and access control, monitoring, and API version management.
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    Tyk Cloud
    Tyk is a leading Open Source API Gateway and Management Platform, featuring an API gateway, analytics, developer portal and dashboard. We power billions of transactions for thousands of innovative organisations.
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