# Kong Gateway vs Unison

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

| | Kong Gateway | Unison |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 ✓ | 65/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #2 of 15 in File Sync |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 ✓ | 5 557 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 ✓ | +64 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 ✓ | 2 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.54.0 · 1 May 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Lua | OCaml |

## Which one should you pick?

Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 65/100 for Unison, so it is the safer default.

Kong Gateway ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for Unison.

## Details

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

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