Kong Gateway vs WireGuard UI
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
WireGuard UI
Web interface for managing WireGuard configurations
| Feature | Kong Gateway | WireGuard UI |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Lua | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 43,947 | ★ 5,137 |
| First released | 2015 | 2020 |
| Replaces | AWS API Gateway, Apigee | OpenVPN Access Server |
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 WireGuard UI if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.1k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Kong Gateway or WireGuard UI better?
Neither is universally better. Kong Gateway has the larger community, while WireGuard UI is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kong Gateway and WireGuard UI free and open-source?
Yes. Kong Gateway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and WireGuard UI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kong Gateway and WireGuard UI with Docker?
Kong Gateway: yes. WireGuard UI: yes.