The battle of the open source API gateways
Tyk versus Kong Open Source
We’re not in the business of throwing shade. Mainly because it’s just not nice but also because, when you have a product this great, there’s no need
The world’s biggest companies trust Tyk to deliver exceptional API experiences.
Let’s jump right in by looking at what’s included in each
What we do want to share is a clear, side-by-side comparison of Tyk’s open source API gateway versus Kong’s open source offering
Features
Benefit
Tyk
Kong
Five benefits of Tyk
Everything you need, straight out of the box
Tyk can make your life easier. Much easier. That’s why we’ve bundled so much into our open source gateway. It’s our “batteries included approach” – it means you can do everything you need, straight out of the box. Whether you need to use mTLS or OpenID Connect for your authentication, or to implement high-availability, high-performance rate limiting, you can do so with Tyk. You won’t need plugins to extend what the open source gateway can do – it’s all there at your fingertips from the outset.
Authentication that suits your setup
How do you need to deal with authentication? Whether it’s with access tokens, HMAC request signing, JSON Web tokens, Mutual TLS, OpenID Connect, basic auth, LDAP, Social OAuth (login with GPlus, Twitter, Github, etc.) or legacy Basic Authentication providers, Tyk’s open source API gateway provides what you need.
Freedom forever. And for free.
Tyk has one API gateway. It’s fully open source and free to use, for now and forever. Whether you’re a community user or an enterprise user, you have access to the same gateway. We don’t tie your hands and restrict what you can do. Our open source API gateway is fully featured, providing the freedom and flexibility you need to manage your APIs effectively and securely.
Stellar support
It’s always good to know that someone’s got your corner. With Tyk’s open source gateway, you can certainly be assured of that. We are really proud of how well we support our open source users. We’ve been community-based since the outset and we’ll never forget that. That’s why we put so much time and effort into supporting every single one of Tyk’s users. We wouldn’t be here without you.
No breaking changes
Tyk is about making your API management easier, not harder. Breaking changes don’t make life easier. So we don’t include them in our updates.
Tyk vs Kong vs Gravitee
Based on verified reviews from real users in the API Management market. Kong has a rating of 4.5 stars with 114 reviews. Tyk has a rating of 4.8 stars with 77 reviews. See side-by-side comparisons of product capabilities, customer experience, pros and cons, and reviewer demographics to find the best fit for your organisation.
Tyk compared