# Kong Gateway vs Tidal Echo

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

| | Kong Gateway | Tidal Echo |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 47/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #61 of 110 in Chat |
| GitHub stars | 44 319 ✓ | 329 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +129 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 ✓ | 0 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | — |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Lua | HTML |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 47/100 for Tidal Echo, so it is the safer default.

Kong Gateway ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Tidal Echo.

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

Kong Gateway is growing faster right now (+129 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Kong Gateway](https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/kong-gateway.md)
- [Tidal Echo](https://selfhost.directory/project/tidal-echo) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/tidal-echo.md)

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