Kong GatewayvsOrca
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | Orca | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 91/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #1 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 108 815 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +8 908 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 15 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v1.4.243 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Orca scores 91/100 against 82/100 for Kong Gateway, so it is the safer default.
Orca ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, Orca is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
Orca is growing faster right now (+8 908 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →Orca details →