# coredns vs Kong Gateway

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | coredns | Kong Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 76/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #5 of 41 in DNS | #1 of 39 in API Gateway |
| GitHub stars | 14 398 | 44 320 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +55 | +130 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 10 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v1.15.0 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Lua |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 76/100 for coredns, so it is the safer default.

coredns ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

Kong Gateway is growing faster right now (+130 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [coredns](https://selfhost.directory/project/coredns) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/coredns.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/coredns-vs-kong-gateway