# Kong Gateway vs nginx-ui

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

| | Kong Gateway | nginx-ui |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 74/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #3 of 12 in Web Servers |
| GitHub stars | 44 318 ✓ | 11 680 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +143 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 37 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v2.9.1 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 74/100 for nginx-ui, so it is the safer default.

nginx-ui ships more often: 37 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

If you want the quickest setup, nginx-ui is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.

## Details

- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)
- [nginx-ui](https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/kong-gateway-vs-nginx-ui