API Gateway Comparison 2026: Kong vs Tyk vs AWS vs Azure vs Open Source

API gateways are critical infrastructure for managing microservices traffic. Whether youre building internal APIs or exposing public endpoints, choosing the right gateway impacts security, performance, and costs. This guide compares Kong, Tyk, AWS API Gateway, Azure API Management, and open-source alternatives.

Quick Comparison

Kong: The Kubernetes Native Gateway

What Is Kong?

Kong is an open-source API gateway built on Nginx and Lua. Its highly extensible with a massive plugin ecosystem and works great in Kubernetes.

Advantages

• Most plugins: 2000+ community plugins (rate limiting, auth, transformation, etc.)
• Kubernetes native: Kong Ingress Controller for K8s integration
• High performance: Built on battle-tested Nginx
• Flexible: Works on any cloud or on-premises
• Open source: Complete control, no vendor lock-in
• Mature: 10+ years of development, proven at scale
• Enterprise edition: Kong Enterprise available for mission-critical
• Documentation: Excellent community documentation

Disadvantages

• Setup complexity: Requires more configuration than cloud solutions
• Operational burden: Must manage Kong cluster, database, monitoring
• Learning curve: Lua plugins require programming
• PostgreSQL dependency: Requires external database
• No managed service: Must self-host or use partner

Cost Model

• Open source: Free (self-hosted infrastructure only)
• Kong Enterprise: $50,000+/year
• Typical self-hosted: $500-2,000/month infrastructure

Best For

Kubernetes environments, organizations wanting unlimited customization, multi-cloud deployments, companies with DevOps expertise, microservices architectures.

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Tyk: The Lightweight Alternative

What Is Tyk?

Tyk is a lightweight, open-source API gateway written in Go. Its simpler than Kong with excellent rate limiting and no external database required.

Advantages

• Lightweight: Single binary, minimal dependencies
• No external DB: Works with just Redis (optional)
• Rate limiting: Excellent distributed rate limiting
• Performance: Written in Go (very fast)
• Easy setup: Simpler than Kong to get running
• Affordable: Open source + SaaS option available
• Good documentation: Clear guides and examples
• 500+ plugins: Good plugin ecosystem

Disadvantages

• Smaller community: Not as popular as Kong
• Fewer plugins: 500 vs Kongs 2000+
• Limited Kubernetes: Ingress controller less mature than Kong
• Smaller ecosystem: Fewer third-party integrations
• Enterprise features: Some features require paid tier

Cost Model

• Open source: Free
• Tyk Cloud (managed): $50-500/month
• Self-hosted: $300-1,000/month infrastructure

Best For

Teams wanting simplicity, lightweight deployments, startups with minimal budget, organizations prioritizing performance, non-Kubernetes environments.

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AWS API Gateway: The Cloud Native Choice

What Is AWS API Gateway?

AWS API Gateway is Amazons fully managed API gateway service integrated with AWS ecosystem (Lambda, EC2, DynamoDB, etc.).

Advantages

• Fully managed: Zero operational overhead
• Lambda integration: Direct integration with serverless functions
• AWS IAM: Leverage existing identity management
• Auto-scaling: Seamless scaling to millions of requests
• Multiple versions: REST API, HTTP API, WebSocket API
• Built-in security: WAF, DDoS protection, encryption
• CloudWatch integration: Excellent monitoring and logging
• Simple pricing: Pay per request (roughly $3.50/million calls)

Disadvantages

• AWS lock-in: Only works on AWS
• Limited customization: Less plugin ecosystem than Kong
• Cold starts: Lambda functions have cold start latency (problematic)
• Cost at high volume: Can become expensive for high-traffic APIs
• Limited rate limiting: Simpler than Kong/Tyk
• Throttling issues: Can be restrictive for some use cases

Cost Model

• Pricing: $3.50/million API calls + $0.09/GB data out
• Example (1 billion calls/month): $3,500/month + egress
• Low volume (10M calls): $35/month
• High volume (1T calls): $3.5 million/month

Best For

AWS-only shops, serverless architectures (Lambda), startups wanting zero ops, low-to-medium traffic APIs, simple REST APIs without complex logic.

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Azure API Management: The Enterprise Solution

What Is Azure API Management?

Azure API Management is Microsofts API gateway and management platform. Its feature-rich and tightly integrated with Azure services and Office 365.

Advantages

• Microsoft integration: Works with Office 365, Teams, Dynamics 365
• Enterprise features: Advanced developer portal, analytics, versioning
• Multi-region: Global distribution built-in
• Developer portal: Beautiful, customizable API documentation
• Application Insights: Excellent monitoring and diagnostics
• Managed service: Zero operations
• Azure IAM: Integration with Active Directory
• 200+ policies: Good extensibility

Disadvantages

• Azure lock-in: Only on Azure
• Expensive: Premium tier $1,500+/month
• Complex pricing: Multiple SKUs with different feature sets
• Steeper learning curve: Azure-specific concepts
• Limited plugin ecosystem: Fewer plugins than Kong

Cost Model

• Developer (free tier): Limited, no SLA
• Standard: $300-400/month (basic features)
• Premium: $1,500+/month (advanced features)
• Consumption-based: $0.035 per 10k calls

Best For

Microsoft Azure shops, enterprises using Office 365, organizations needing advanced analytics, multi-region deployments, companies with existing Azure investments.

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Open-Source Alternatives

Traefik

• Best for: Kubernetes (ingress + load balancer)
• Strengths: Cloud-native, dynamic configuration, simple
• Weaknesses: Less feature-rich than Kong, smaller community
• Cost: Free (open source)

Envoy Proxy

• Best for: Service mesh (Istio uses Envoy)
• Strengths: Mature, powerful, high-performance
• Weaknesses: Steep learning curve, complex configuration
• Cost: Free (CNCF project)

NGINX (Open Source)

• Best for: Reverse proxy, load balancing, basic API gateway
• Strengths: Lightweight, extremely reliable, large community
• Weaknesses: Not designed as API gateway, limited features
• Cost: Free

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Cost Comparison: 1 Billion API Calls/Month

Winner by cost: Traefik/Kong self-hosted ($7,200-12,000/year)

Winner for simplicity: AWS API Gateway (zero ops, but $42,000/year)

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Decision Matrix

Choose Kong If

• You need maximum extensibility (2000+ plugins)
• You want multi-cloud flexibility
• You have complex API gateway requirements
• Your team has DevOps expertise

Choose Tyk If

• You want simplicity and lightweight
• You need good rate limiting
• Youre on a budget
• You want to avoid external dependencies

Choose AWS API Gateway If

• Youre AWS-only
• Youre using Lambda/serverless
• You want zero operational overhead
• Your traffic is low-to-medium

Choose Azure API Management If

• Youre Azure-only
• You use Office 365/Teams
• You need enterprise features
• You want professional developer portal

Choose Traefik If

• Youre Kubernetes-only
• You want simplicity
• You want to minimize cost
• You dont need advanced features

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Recommendation for 2026

• Multi-cloud teams: Kong (most flexible, most plugins)
• Budget-conscious: Tyk or Traefik (cheapest)
• AWS shops: AWS API Gateway (native, zero ops)
• Azure shops: Azure API Management (enterprise features)
• Kubernetes-only: Traefik (simplest for K8s)

Best overall: Kong for flexibility and features, Traefik for simplicity and cost.