Kong Gatewayvsvault
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Kong Gateway | vault | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 82/100 | 78/100 |
| Rank in category | #1 of 39 in API Gateway | #1 of 12 in Secrets Management |
| GitHub stars | 44 319 | 36 449 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +129 | +158 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 10 |
| Latest release | 3.9.4 · 12 Oct 2026 | v2.2.1 · 22 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Other |
| Main language | Lua | Go |
Which one should you pick?
Kong Gateway scores 82/100 against 78/100 for vault, so it is the safer default.
vault ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Kong Gateway.
If you want the quickest setup, Kong Gateway is easier to run; vault needs more configuration.
Kong Gateway details →vault details →