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Kong Enterprise VS WSO2 API Manager

Compare Kong Enterprise VS WSO2 API Manager and see what are their differences

Kong Enterprise logo Kong Enterprise

Kong is the world’s most popular open-source API management gateway—built for hybrid and multi-cloud, optimized for microservices and distributed architectures.

WSO2 API Manager logo WSO2 API Manager

WSO2 API Manager is a 100% open source enterprise-class solution that supports API publishing, lifecycle management, application development, access control, rate limiting and analytics in one cleanly integrated system.
  • Kong Enterprise Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-11
  • WSO2 API Manager Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-09-17

Kong Enterprise features and specs

  • Scalability
    Kong Enterprise is built to handle high scalability, making it suitable for large organizations with demanding API traffic requirements.
  • Feature-Rich
    It offers a wide range of features including API security, traffic control, and plugin frameworks, providing extensive customization and control.
  • High Availability
    The platform supports clustering and high availability setups, ensuring minimal downtime and reliable API performance.
  • Performance
    Optimized for high performance, Kong Enterprise can efficiently manage large volumes of simultaneous API requests.
  • Extensible Architecture
    With its plugin-oriented architecture, Kong Enterprise allows users to extend and integrate additional functionalities according to specific needs.
  • Strong Security Features
    It provides robust security features including authentication, logging, and monitoring to safeguard APIs from potential threats.

Possible disadvantages of Kong Enterprise

  • Complexity
    The wide array of features and extensibility options can introduce complexity, potentially increasing the learning curve for new users.
  • Cost
    As an enterprise-grade solution, Kong Enterprise may involve higher costs compared to other API management tools, which can be a consideration for smaller organizations.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Kong Enterprise in a large-scale environment might require significant infrastructure resources, leading to increased operational costs.
  • Configuration Overhead
    Setting up and configuring Kong Enterprise can be time-consuming due to its many features and options.
  • Potential Overkill
    For smaller projects or organizations with simpler API management needs, the extensive features of Kong Enterprise might be more than necessary.

WSO2 API Manager features and specs

  • Comprehensive Features
    WSO2 API Manager offers a wide range of functionality including API creation, publishing, lifecycle management, security, and analytics which allows comprehensive control over the APIs.
  • Open Source
    WSO2 API Manager is open-source, which allows for higher transparency, community support, and the ability to modify the source code to fit specific needs.
  • Extensibility and Customizability
    The platform is highly extensible and customizable, allowing users to tailor the API management solution to their specific requirements by adding custom handlers, extensions, and even integrating with other tools.
  • Robust Security
    WSO2 API Manager provides strong security measures including OAuth 2.0, JWT, and integrated Key Management, ensuring that APIs are secure and access is controlled effectively.
  • Integration Capabilities
    It has strong integration capabilities with WSO2's Integration, Identity & Access Management, and Event Streaming paradigms, enabling seamless integration with other systems and platforms.
  • Scalability
    WSO2 API Manager is built to scale, offering support for high availability and horizontal scaling, making it suitable for both small and large enterprises.

Possible disadvantages of WSO2 API Manager

  • Complexity
    The extensive feature set can make WSO2 API Manager complex to configure and manage, especially for new users who may find the learning curve steep.
  • Documentation
    While extensive, some users find the documentation to be inconsistent or lacking details in certain areas, which can make troubleshooting and advanced configuration challenging.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running WSO2 API Manager can be resource-intensive in terms of memory and CPU, which might require significant infrastructure investment, especially for large-scale deployments.
  • Support Costs
    Although the platform itself is open-source, enterprise support comes at a cost. Organizations may need to invest in commercial support packages to ensure reliable and timely assistance.
  • UI/UX
    The user interface, while functional, might not be as intuitive or modern as some competitors, potentially leading to a less streamlined user experience.
  • Performance Tuning
    Performance tuning and optimization can be complex and might require specialized knowledge to achieve optimal performance for high-throughput scenarios.

Analysis of WSO2 API Manager

Overall verdict

  • WSO2 API Manager is considered a good choice for organizations seeking an open-source and feature-rich API management solution. Its ability to handle complex API requirements makes it suitable for both small and large-scale implementations.

Why this product is good

  • WSO2 API Manager is a widely recognized open-source API management solution that offers a comprehensive set of features. It provides robust capabilities for API creation, publishing, lifecycle management, security, throttling, and monitoring. The platform is highly customizable and can integrate seamlessly with other WSO2 products and a variety of third-party systems. Its usability, scalability, and support for both on-premises and cloud deployments make it a popular choice among enterprises.

Recommended for

    Businesses and organizations that require a flexible and scalable API management solution. It is especially recommended for those who need an open-source platform that supports extensive customization and integration capabilities. Additionally, enterprises that plan to leverage microservices or require hybrid or multi-cloud deployments may benefit significantly from WSO2 API Manager.

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Kong Enterprise and WSO2 API Manager)
API Tools
18 18%
82% 82
APIs
16 16%
84% 84
Data Integration
100 100%
0% 0
API Management
15 15%
85% 85

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Kong Enterprise should be more popular than WSO2 API Manager. It has been mentiond 5 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Kong Enterprise mentions (5)

  • 10 Backend Terms Every Frontend Developer Should Know
    Kong is a popular open-source API gateway used by backend developers. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Introduction to TypeSpec
    Getting back to Emitters. In addition to the OpenAPI we saw in action, there are options for generating specifications in JSON Schema and Protobuf. But more importantly, it is possible to create new emitters for generating codes, SDKs, other documentation formats, etc. For example, we could have an Emitter that reads the specification in TypeSpec and generates configurations for some API Gateway... - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Choosing the Right API Gateway: Pricing Models for Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Kong, and Apache APISIX
    Cost is a critical factor in any technology. For FinOps practitioners, adept in cloud financial management optimization, selecting the right API gateway entails balancing functionality and budget. This article delves into the pricing models of four prominent API gateway solutions: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Kong, and APISIX. We'll dissect their pricing structures, free tier offerings, and essential cost factors... - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Malicious API requests, what were they trying to achieve?
    Then, throw an API gateway on top of that. Like Kong that reads from an API spec. Rate limit, Https://konghq.com/products/kong-gateway. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Using k8s-apiserver as AAA server for microservices?
    With all that said, K8s is not really meant to function as an API gateway to arbitrary services. You should look into API gateways such as NGINX, Kong or others, service meshes as others have already pointed out, or have a look at the K8s Gateway API the SIG is currently working on. The last one is in the early stages of adoption, but it could provide you with a nice way to do an API Gateway right in K8s. Source: over 2 years ago

WSO2 API Manager mentions (2)

  • API Management for Asynchronous APIs: What You Need to Know
    WSO2 is a full-fledged API management platform that handles both traditional and event-driven architectures. It offers powerful analytics and monitoring tools, making it ideal for managing complex asynchronous APIs. - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • Add authentication to your Express app with Asgardeo
    When you are writing code for a project, at some point you're gonna have to come across user logins. To perform user specific tasks, to save user data and to do various kinds of stuff, user accounts is a mandatory feature in any system. But building a fully fledged login system is not so easy: especially having the flexibility to incorporate many kinds of login options (Email and password, Social Logins, Magic... - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Kong Enterprise and WSO2 API Manager, you can also consider the following products

AXYS AI - The Enterprise Data Orchestration Platform for AI Enablement. Turn Your Data into APIs & AI-Powered Answers, with No-Code. Connect Your Stack. Ask Anything. Build Applications, Query Insights, and Scale AI with AXYS.

Postman - The Collaboration Platform for API Development

Glean.co - Personalized learning for educational video lessons

Apigee - Intelligent and complete API platform

Workato - Experts agree - we're the leader. Forrester Research names Workato a Leader in iPaaS for Dynamic Integration. Get the report. Gartner recognizes Workato as a “Cool Vendor in Social Software and Collaboration”.

Gravitee.io - Gravitee.io is a flexible, lightweight and an open source API management solution.