Kong GatewayvsValkey
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | Valkey | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 81/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #3 of 38 in Databases |
| GitHub stars | 44 314 | 27 546 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +128 | +264 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 22 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | 9.0.7 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes |
| License | Apache-2.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Main language | Lua | C |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 81/100 for Valkey, so it is the safer default.
Valkey ships more often: 22 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, Valkey is easier to run; Kong Gateway needs more configuration.
Valkey is growing faster right now (+264 stars in 30 days).
Kong Gateway details →Valkey details →