Kong GatewayvsThumbor
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | Thumbor | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 72/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #2 of 13 in Image Processing |
| GitHub stars | 44 320 | 10 528 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +130 | +6 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 1 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | 7.8.0 · 30 May 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 72/100 for Thumbor, so it is the safer default.
Kong Gateway ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for Thumbor.
If you want the quickest setup, Thumbor is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway is growing faster right now (+130 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →Thumbor details →