Kong Gateway vs Traefik Geoblock
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Kong Gateway
Cloud-native, fast, scalable API gateway
VS
Traefik Geoblock
Geo-blocking middleware plugin for Traefik
| Feature | Kong Gateway | Traefik Geoblock |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Lua | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 43,947 | ★ 314 |
| First released | 2015 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS API Gateway, Apigee | Cloudflare WAF |
Why pick each one
Choose Kong Gateway if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 43.9k GitHub stars
Choose Traefik Geoblock if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is Kong Gateway or Traefik Geoblock better?
Neither is universally better. Kong Gateway has the larger community, while Traefik Geoblock is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kong Gateway and Traefik Geoblock free and open-source?
Yes. Kong Gateway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Traefik Geoblock under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kong Gateway and Traefik Geoblock with Docker?
Kong Gateway: yes. Traefik Geoblock: yes.