3 self-hosted Kong alternatives

Kong is a popular proprietary tool in the reverse proxy & gateways space. These open-source apps let you replace Kong with software you host and control yourself.

Best self-hosted Kong alternatives

Apache APISIX

Reverse Proxy & Gateways

Dynamic, real-time, high-performance API gateway

Replaces Kong, AWS API Gateway

★ 17k Medium setup Apache-2.0

Emissary-ingress

Reverse Proxy & Gateways

Kubernetes-native API gateway built on Envoy

Replaces AWS API Gateway, Kong

★ 4.5k Medium setup Apache-2.0

KrakenD

Reverse Proxy & Gateways

Ultra-high-performance API gateway

Replaces AWS API Gateway, Kong

★ 2.7k Medium setup Apache-2.0

Compare Kong alternatives

Switching from Kong

Moving off Kong means trading a managed subscription for a service you run yourself. The payoff is ownership: no per-seat pricing, no vendor lock-in, and full control of your data. Start with the option above that matches your setup-difficulty comfort level — every app links to a detailed specs page and head-to-head comparisons.