# Kong Gateway vs Valkey

> 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).

## Details

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

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