# Kong Gateway vs OpenWA

> 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).

## Details

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

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