# Kong Gateway vs PaddleOCR

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

| | Kong Gateway | PaddleOCR |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 85/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #1 of 4 in OCR |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 91 859 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +418 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 8 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ | v3.7.0 · 11 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

PaddleOCR scores 85/100 against 82/100 for Kong Gateway, so it is the safer default.

PaddleOCR ships more often: 8 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

PaddleOCR is growing faster right now (+418 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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