Kong Gateway vs Zoraxy
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
Zoraxy
General-purpose HTTP reverse proxy and forwarding tool
| Feature | Kong Gateway | Zoraxy |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Lua | HTML |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, kubernetes, helm | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 43,947 | ★ 5,370 |
| First released | 2015 | 2022 |
| Replaces | AWS API Gateway, Apigee | Nginx Proxy Manager |
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 Zoraxy if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.4k GitHub stars
Frequently asked questions
Is Kong Gateway or Zoraxy better?
Neither is universally better. Kong Gateway has the larger community, while Zoraxy is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Kong Gateway and Zoraxy free and open-source?
Yes. Kong Gateway is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Zoraxy under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Kong Gateway and Zoraxy with Docker?
Kong Gateway: yes. Zoraxy: yes.