Kong AI Gateway
API gateway layer that routes and secures traffic to multiple LLMs and MCP servers, built on the open source Kong gateway.
How the 7.4 was reached
- Quality of output8/10
Kong on GitHub has 44,219 stars, is actively pushed, and uses the Apache-2.0 licence; strong adoption. github.com
- Ease of use6/10
30-day free trial with no card; gateway deployment takes real configuration and no usability evidence found. konghq.com
- Pricing value8/10
Open-source code is free under Apache-2.0, plus a free trial for the commercial product. github.com
- API and integration quality8/10
Plugin ecosystem with documented plugins and an official Kubernetes Ingress Controller. github.com
- Solves the problem it claims to solve7/10
Widely adopted gateway offering multi-LLM and MCP traffic features; AI-specific claims rest on vendor description. github.com
7.4/10 is the mean of the 5 criteria that apply. Scored on the five-criteria rubric v1, 29 September 2026. How scoring works
Pricing
- Apache-2.0 licence
- Kong gateway core
- No credit card required
Key Features
- Multi-LLM support
- Semantic security and MCP traffic security
- Traffic analytics
- Plugins for authentication, routing, load balancing and health checks
- Official Kubernetes Ingress Controller
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Kong has 44,219 GitHub stars and an Apache-2.0 licence
- Mature plugin ecosystem
- Kubernetes-native deployment
- Free open source core and a 30-day trial
Cons
- Deployment takes real configuration
- AI-specific claims rest on vendor description
- Commercial pricing was not shown in the text found
Good for platform teams that already run Kong or want one gateway for APIs and LLM traffic. Small teams with a single model provider will likely find it more than they need.
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