Kong GatewayvsOpenWA
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | OpenWA | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 44 311 | 16 328 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +125 | +322 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 3 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.
If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
OpenWA is growing faster right now (+322 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →OpenWA details →