Kong GatewayvsLathe
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | Lathe | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 52/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #7 of 30 in Education |
| GitHub stars | 44 318 | 1 708 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +132 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 6 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v0.5.0 · 20 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Lua | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 52/100 for Lathe, so it is the safer default.
Lathe ships more often: 6 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, Lathe is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway is growing faster right now (+132 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →Lathe details →