Kong Gatewayvspaperclip
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | paperclip | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 88/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #4 of 125 in AI |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 108 237 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +26 873 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 10 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v2026.1012.0 · 12 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
paperclip scores 88/100 against 82/100 for Kong Gateway, so it is the safer default.
paperclip ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
paperclip is growing faster right now (+26 873 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →paperclip details →