Kong GatewayvsMailu
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | Mailu | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 69/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #8 of 106 in Email |
| GitHub stars | 44 320 | 7 592 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +130 | +70 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 22 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | 2024.06.67 · 23 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Lua | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 69/100 for Mailu, so it is the safer default.
Mailu ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
Kong Gateway details →Mailu details →