Kong GatewayvsPanWatch
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | PanWatch | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #3 of 9 in Fintech |
| GitHub stars | 44 318 | 2 269 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +132 | +118 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 12 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | 0.20.0 · 23 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Lua | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 62/100 for PanWatch, so it is the safer default.
PanWatch ships more often: 12 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, PanWatch is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway details →PanWatch details →