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The Showdown

Kongvsapisix

Why pay monthly fees for Kong when you can self-host apisix for free? Let's look at the facts.

Kong

The Expensive Option

  • Closed Source (Black box)
  • Expensive monthly fees per user
  • Data stored on their servers
WINNER

apisix

The Freedom Choice

  • 100% Open Source Code
  • Free forever (Self-hosted)
  • You own your data completely
Get apisix Now
Interactive Calculator

Calculate Your "SaaS Tax"

SaaS pricing is designed to scale with your success. See how much wealth transfers from your bank account to Kong's shareholders.

10 people
150100200+
$

*Estimated standard pricing for Kong. Adjust if needed.

Estimated Annual Waste
$1,440
Monthly Burn Rate$120
5-Year Projection$7,200
Cost with Self-Hosted$0
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Calculations based on 10 users at $12/mo.

Detailed Breakdown

0
Often requires reload or DB sync
Dynamic hot-reloading via etcd
1
Variable based on plugin overhead
Ultra-low latency Lua core
2
Requires external plugins
Native AI proxying and LLM support