# bookwyrm vs Kong 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 | 2 808 | 44 321 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +22 | +131 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 12 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.9.4 · 29 Oct 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: 12 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 (+131 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [bookwyrm](https://selfhost.directory/project/bookwyrm) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/bookwyrm.md)
- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/bookwyrm-vs-kong-gateway