bookwyrmvsKong Gateway
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| bookwyrm | Kong Gateway | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 58/100 | 82/100 |
| Rank in category | #26 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #1 of 39 in API Gateway |
| GitHub stars | 2 807 | 44 319 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +21 | +129 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 11 | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.9.3 · 9 Sept 2026 | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Python | Lua |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 58/100 for bookwyrm, so it is the safer default.
bookwyrm ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, Kong Gateway is easier to run; bookwyrm needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway is growing faster right now (+129 stars in 30 days).
bookwyrm details →Kong Gateway details →