# harness vs Kong

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

| | harness | Kong |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 80/100 | 81/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 28 in CI/CD | #1 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 38 748 | 44 317 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +321 ✓ | +131 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 6 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v2.28.2 · 20 Apr 2026 | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Go | Lua |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong scores 81/100 against 80/100 for harness, so it is the safer default.

harness ships more often: 6 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong.

If you want the quickest setup, harness is easier to run; Kong needs more configuration.

harness is growing faster right now (+321 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

## Related comparisons

- [Kong vs Traefik](https://selfhost.directory/compare/kong-vs-traefik)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/harness-vs-kong