Kong alternatives (2026)
These are the api gateways brands AI engines name when buyers ask. Ranked by how often ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot actually cite them over the last 90 days — not by reviews or paid placement. For reference, Kong is named in 100% of the 5 answers we checked.
Top Kong alternatives by AI citation share
Usage-based pricing · Unlimited API gateways · Developer portal included · Enhanced success plan
Starting price: $20 (Standard API Proxy, per 1M API calls)
Pay-as-you-go pricing · Multiple subscription tiers · API Analytics · Advanced API Security
Starting price: $1.00/million
Pay-as-you-go pricing · One million free API calls · No minimum fees · No upfront commitments
Starting price: $1,250/month
Unlimited Users · Unlimited APIs under Management · Production Gateways available · Gold Support
Starting price: $25/month
Fully managed API gateway · 100K requests/month free · Pay per request pricing · Edge-native and multi-cloud access
How this list is built
We put the buyer questions people actually ask in api gateways to five AI engines on a recurring schedule and record which brands get named. The ranking above is the share of those answers naming each brand over the last 90 days. No paid placement, no review scores.