# Kong Gateway vs Mail-in-a-Box

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

| | Kong Gateway | Mail-in-a-Box |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 72/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #3 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 44 320 ✓ | 15 446 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +130 ✓ | +27 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 4 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ | v77 · 26 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | CC0-1.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 72/100 for Mail-in-a-Box, so it is the safer default.

Mail-in-a-Box ships more often: 4 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

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

## Details

- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)
- [Mail-in-a-Box](https://selfhost.directory/project/mail-in-a-box) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mail-in-a-box.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/kong-gateway-vs-mail-in-a-box