Best Self-Hosted Kong Alternatives in 2026
Kong is an API gateway and service connectivity platform for managing, securing, and orchestrating microservice APIs.
5 Self-Hosted Alternatives to Kong
Tyk
11KTyk lets you run fast and scalable API Gateway. Out of the box entirely on your own server.
UnKey
5.2KFor authentication & SSO, UnKey is a self-hosted solution that provides streamline API authentication.
KrakenD
2.6KSelf-hosted server management tool that provides high-performance.
Gravitee
396Gravitee handles full-lifecycle API management platform as a self-hosted solution.
Orbital
350Orbital handles automated data integration platform as a self-hosted solution.
Why Look for Kong Alternatives?
Kong is an API gateway and service connectivity platform for managing, securing, and orchestrating microservice APIs.
Self-hosted alternatives give you full data ownership, predictable costs, and zero vendor lock-in. You run the software on your own infrastructure and control everything.
5 Best Open-Source Alternatives to Kong
Tyk
Fast and scalable open source API Gateway. Out of the box, Tyk offers an API Management Platform with an API Gateway, API Analytics, Developer Portal and API Management Dashboard — 10,667 GitHub stars. Licensed under MPL-2.0.
UnKey
Streamline API authentication with UnKey’s powerful, developer-friendly platform for creating, revoking, and monitoring API keys. — 5,205 GitHub stars. Licensed under AGPL-3.0.
KrakenD
API gateway for microservices and secure communications — 2,573 GitHub stars. Licensed under Apache-2.0.
Gravitee
Full-lifecycle API management platform that unifies synchronous and asynchronous ecosystems. Manage APIs, event streams, and AI agents with enterprise security and 4x faster gateway performance. — 393 GitHub stars. Licensed under Apache-2.0.
Orbital
Automated data integration platform that connects APIs, databases, and event streams using semantic schemas. Deploy secure integrations in minutes with Git-based workflows. — 350 GitHub stars. Licensed under Open Source.
Why Self-Host Instead of Kong?
- Data ownership. Your data stays on your server, not on Kong’s infrastructure.
- Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
Why teams switch from Kong
- → Data ownership. Your data stays on your server -- not on Kong's infrastructure.
- → Predictable costs. Pay a fixed VPS cost instead of growing per-user or per-usage fees.
- → No vendor lock-in. Export and migrate your data anytime. You control the database.
- → GDPR and compliance. Hosting your own tools simplifies data residency and compliance requirements.
Head-to-Head Comparisons
Both are developer tools tools. Appwrite has 1 unique feature, Gravitee has 6.
Both are developer tools tools. Appwrite has 1 unique feature, Tyk has 5.
Both are developer tools tools. Kong has 5 unique features, Tyk has 4.
Both are developer tools tools. Tabby has 3 unique features, Tyk has 5.
Browse more Developer Tools tools
Explore 181 open-source developer tools tools you can self-host.
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