# Kong Gateway vs Stirling-PDF

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

| | Kong Gateway | Stirling-PDF |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 87/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #1 of 46 in Document Management |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 95 252 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +2 339 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 25 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v3.2.2 · 24 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Lua | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Stirling-PDF scores 87/100 against 82/100 for Kong Gateway, so it is the safer default.

Stirling-PDF ships more often: 25 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.

Stirling-PDF is growing faster right now (+2 339 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)
- [Stirling-PDF](https://selfhost.directory/project/stirling-pdf) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/stirling-pdf.md)

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