Cancel
You must select at least 2 products to compare!
Kong Logo
14,560 views|10,993 comparisons
Tyk Logo
2,679 views|2,075 comparisons
Comparison Buyer's Guide
Executive Summary
Updated on Jul 30, 2023

We compared Kong Enterprise and Tyk based on our users reviews in five parameters. After reading the collected data, you can find our conclusion below:

  • Ease of Deployment

    Users found the installation process for Kong Enterprise to be straightforward and efficient, typically taking about 15 to 20 minutes. However, a few individuals encountered difficulties with Lua script and professional support. In contrast, Tyk had a fast and uncomplicated setup, although it necessitated some configuration work prior to deployment.

  • Features

    Kong Enterprise offers distinctive network services, authentication and authorization features, and customizable Lua scripts. In contrast, Tyk is commended for its functionality, design, and user-friendly UX/UI. Nevertheless, it has constraints in the cloud version and is still in its early stages.

  • Room for Improvement

    Kong Enterprise could enhance its pricing, automatic data API creation, customization for integration, solutions for east-west communications, scaling up process, and developer portal. Meanwhile, Tyk has potential for improvement in terms of flexibility, customization options, programming capabilities, custom headers, and documentation generation for APIs.

  • Pricing

    Kong Enterprise's setup cost is determined by factors like scale, licenses, and usage. It is more expensive than comparable options, but there is a free community version. In contrast, Tyk's pricing and licensing differ based on the version chosen. The licensed version incurs a fee, while the open-source version is cost-free.

  • Service and Support

    Customers appreciate Kong Enterprise's customer service for the availability and helpfulness of their technical team, especially when it comes to Lua plugin installation. On the other hand, Tyk's customer service is efficient and timely, with helpful communication. However, it falls short in terms of providing support for multiple programming languages.

Comparison Results

When comparing Kong Enterprise and Tyk, the installation process for both products is generally smooth and easy. Kong Enterprise has an advantage in initial setup with its plugin-based network services and excellent plugin support. Tyk is praised for its functionality and design, with a user-friendly UX and UI. Kong Enterprise offers more customization options with Lua script, while Tyk lacks flexibility in its cloud version. Pricing for Kong Enterprise is influenced by factors such as scale and licenses, while Tyk offers an open-source version without licensing costs. Both products have good customer service, although Tyk may need improvement in supporting multiple programming languages.

To learn more, read our detailed Kong Enterprise vs. Tyk Report (Updated: March 2024).
763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The solution provides good performance.""The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it seamlessly supports a vast number of tools.""Kong Enterprise has excellent plugin support.""There are a few features that I like about Kong when it comes to authentication and authorization. Specifically, being able to use Kong for role-based access control (RBAC), and then further being able to integrate the RBAC mechanism with our enterprise directory, was very useful.""The most valuable feature of Kong Enterprise is its capability to integrate with various security tools.""I like everything about it. It provides the security we need.""The tool's scalability is good...The solution's technical support is good.""In our buying companies' perspective, it was easier to use compared to other platforms. The markets were pretty familiar with the solutions."

More Kong Enterprise Pros →

"You can set up workflows and write limited pieces of logic.""The scalability is very good. That was a key factor in the selection, like how it could be pushed to high volume and scalability, which seemed to be very good.""The portal for developers that this solution provides has great functionality.""It is a good product for API management.""The most valuable feature is the load balancing with the circuit-breaker function.""The feature I find most valuable is that this solution allows us to manage our security."

More Tyk Pros →

Cons
"We are facing issues with the solution's features like reports and traffic analysis.""We would like to see an automatic data API when we have a table in the database.""The product's price is an area of concern where improvements are required.""The OS upgrades are not as frequent as they should be and they are bulky.""There should be an easier way to integrate with other solutions, even though it's the same API solution layer. Comparability will be a good improvement.""Because it is open-source, it should be less expensive than others.""They could focus more on pricing.""Kong is meant for north-south communications, so it will be interesting to see what solutions they can come up with in the realms of east-west communications, service-to-service communications, and Zero Trust architecture. I believe that if they can provide for these areas, then they will be able to solve the overall integration and security concerns for microservices architecture in general."

More Kong Enterprise Cons →

"Sometimes when new features are released, they are not immediately stable.""We ran it for a while, but then we decided to move away from Tyk, because Tyk's cloud version, the SaaS version, has a significant limitation of limited flexibility, so you can't program very much.""I would like to see some additional features like having some extensions for .NET core because we use it for our back-end language.""In terms of our usage, the main area of concern is that they tend to build enhancements slightly ahead of the considerations for what those enhancements and extensions are. So it could be slightly better communication with the customer base that would be my main issue with them.""We would like a better tool for generating documentation for the APIs to be developed.""It is a young product and does not have the kind of brand recognition that would make it a more popular solution with our clients."

More Tyk Cons →

Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "The licensing fees are paid yearly."
  • "The price is really reasonable compared to that of alternative solutions."
  • "There are many factors that influence the price of Kong Enterprise, such as scale, licenses, and usage."
  • "I don't have any information on licensing costs currently."
  • "There is a need to pay towards the licensing charges...In some areas, the functionalities are available free of charge."
  • "Kong Enterprise's pricing is at par compared to the other technologies."
  • "Kong Enterprise is cheaper than Apigee. I rate its pricing as four out of ten."
  • More Kong Enterprise Pricing and Cost Advice →

  • "The price is low compared to other products of a similar type."
  • "There are different versions and plans available depending on the requirements, so there is flexibility in terms of the pricing."
  • "It had a free version, which suited many of our needs, but not all, but we were happy to go ahead with the licensed version as well, which is the paid version."
  • "We are using the open-source version of this product, so there are no licensing costs for its use."
  • "The cost curve is far smoother, both in terms of volume and the number of calls it's running on, compared to most competitors. So it's a tad more expensive at the very low end, but the curve is nothing like Apigee or some of the others."
  • More Tyk Pricing and Cost Advice →

    report
    Use our free recommendation engine to learn which API Management solutions are best for your needs.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.
    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The Mulesoft Anypoint API Manager was designed with its users in mind. Though it is a reasonably complex piece of software, it is easy to install and upgrade. While there are different things that one… more »
    Top Answer:The most valuable feature of Kong Enterprise is its capability to integrate with various security tools.
    Top Answer:The technical support team's response time needs to be improved. Kong Enterprise should improve its resiliency when it comes to the active DR setup.
    Top Answer:The scalability is very good. That was a key factor in the selection, like how it could be pushed to high volume and scalability, which seemed to be very good.
    Top Answer:The pricing is actually quite competitive. In Azure environments, it gets beaten by Microsoft API Gateway, but on the other hand, it offers some features that Microsoft lacks. So it really comes down… more »
    Top Answer:In terms of our usage, the main area of concern is that they tend to build enhancements slightly ahead of the considerations for what those enhancements and extensions are. So it could be slightly… more »
    Ranking
    6th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    14,560
    Comparisons
    10,993
    Reviews
    10
    Average Words per Review
    413
    Rating
    7.8
    16th
    out of 64 in API Management
    Views
    2,679
    Comparisons
    2,075
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    524
    Rating
    8.0
    Comparisons
    Learn More
    Tyk
    Video Not Available
    Overview

    Kong delivers a next generation API platform built for modern architectures. With a lightnight-fast, lightweight, and flexible core, Kong delivers sub-millisecond latency across all your services. Kong's is deployment-, vendor-, and pattern-agnostic, allowing you to run your services how you want, where you want, and with who you want - from baremetal to cloud, monolith to microservices, service mesh, and beyond.

    Tyk is an open source API Gateway that is fast and scalable, an API management platform featuring an API gateway, analytics, developer portal and dashboard. Available in three flavours to best suit your architecture and governance. We offer full cloud or on-premises options, and the best of both worlds with our unique hybrid model. www.tyk.io
    Sample Customers
    Cargill, Zillow, Ferrari, WeWork, Healthcare.gov, Yahoo! Japan, Giphy, SkyScanner
    Trip Advisor, Juniper Networks, AT&T
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm36%
    Computer Software Company29%
    Comms Service Provider14%
    Insurance Company14%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm21%
    Computer Software Company14%
    Manufacturing Company7%
    Insurance Company6%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Computer Software Company21%
    Financial Services Firm18%
    Government6%
    Retailer6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Large Enterprise78%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business17%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise70%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business27%
    Midsize Enterprise14%
    Large Enterprise59%
    Buyer's Guide
    Kong Enterprise vs. Tyk
    March 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about Kong Enterprise vs. Tyk and other solutions. Updated: March 2024.
    763,955 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    Kong Enterprise is ranked 6th in API Management with 12 reviews while Tyk is ranked 16th in API Management with 2 reviews. Kong Enterprise is rated 7.8, while Tyk is rated 7.6. The top reviewer of Kong Enterprise writes "Provides role-based access control and can be easily customized with Lua script". On the other hand, the top reviewer of Tyk writes "Fastest to get up and running and fewer idiosyncrasies than competitors". Kong Enterprise is most compared with Microsoft Azure API Management, WSO2 API Manager, Apigee, MuleSoft Anypoint API Manager and Gravitee, whereas Tyk is most compared with Apache APISIX, Traefik Enterprise, Apigee, Microsoft Azure API Management and Gravitee. See our Kong Enterprise vs. Tyk report.

    See our list of best API Management vendors.

    We monitor all API Management reviews to prevent fraudulent reviews and keep review quality high. We do not post reviews by company employees or direct competitors. We validate each review for authenticity via cross-reference with LinkedIn, and personal follow-up with the reviewer when necessary.