# Kong Gateway vs next-ai-draw-io

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

| | Kong Gateway | next-ai-draw-io |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 79/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #2 of 12 in Diagramming |
| GitHub stars | 44 318 ✓ | 36 470 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +435 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 11 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.5.0 · 10 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 79/100 for next-ai-draw-io, so it is the safer default.

next-ai-draw-io ships more often: 11 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

If you want the quickest setup, next-ai-draw-io is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.

next-ai-draw-io is growing faster right now (+435 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)
- [next-ai-draw-io](https://selfhost.directory/project/next-ai-draw-io) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/next-ai-draw-io.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/kong-gateway-vs-next-ai-draw-io