# Kong Gateway vs polar

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

| | Kong Gateway | polar |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 71/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #1 of 13 in Billing |
| GitHub stars | 44 323 ✓ | 10 437 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +133 | +158 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 ✓ | 1 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | @polar-sh/cli@3.0.0 · 16 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 71/100 for polar, so it is the safer default.

Kong Gateway ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for polar.

If you want the quickest setup, Kong Gateway is easier to run; polar needs more configuration.

## Details

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

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