Kong Gatewayvstidb
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | tidb | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 80/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #4 of 38 in Databases |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 40 685 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +104 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 2 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v8.5.8 · 27 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Lua | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 80/100 for tidb, so it is the safer default.
Kong Gateway ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for tidb.
If you want the quickest setup, Kong Gateway is easier to run; tidb needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway details →tidb details →