Compare Fusio to Kong

🔍 Overview

Feature Fusio Kong
Type Full API management platform High-performance API gateway
Language PHP Lua / NGINX
Open Source ✅ Yes (Apache 2.0) ✅ Yes (Apache 2.0 + Enterprise)
Admin Interface ✅ Web-based backend ❌ Only with Enterprise Dashboard
OAuth2 Support ✅ Built-in ⚠️ Via plugin (OpenID Connect plugin)
API Documentation ✅ Auto-generated (OpenAPI) ⚠️ Manual or plugin
API Actions ✅ CRUD, RPC, Webhook, Code-based ❌ Limited to plugin flow
Target Audience Developers needing full API backend DevOps teams needing performant proxy
Extensibility ✅ PHP or JS actions ✅ Lua plugins

🎯 Key Differences

Fusio: A Complete API Management Platform

Fusio provides an all-in-one API management solution that includes:

  • Admin UI to manage endpoints, scopes, users, and apps
  • Built-in OAuth2 server for authentication and token management
  • Auto-generated OpenAPI documentation
  • Support for direct database APIs, RPC, or custom logic
  • Developer-focused workflow, ideal for building backend APIs from scratch

Best for: Developers and teams who want full control over their API lifecycle, from definition to deployment.

Kong: A High-Performance API Gateway

Kong is built for speed and scale. As a lightweight gateway, it excels at:

  • Proxying high-throughput API traffic
  • Enabling plugins for security, rate limiting, logging, and more
  • Operating in cloud-native environments (Kubernetes, AWS, etc.)
  • Scaling to enterprise traffic needs

However, it requires additional setup for features like an admin dashboard, OAuth2, and documentation.

Best for: Teams needing a powerful, high-performance proxy layer with plugin flexibility.

✅ When to Choose Fusio

Choose Fusio if you need:

  • A complete backend API solution with admin UI and database integration
  • Open-source control and extensibility with PHP or JavaScript
  • Built-in OAuth2 and developer-friendly workflows
  • Fast setup for CRUD, REST, and webhook APIs

Ideal for:

  • Startups and product teams
  • Internal tools and data APIs
  • Full-stack PHP developers
✅ When to Choose Kong

Choose Kong if you need:

  • A fast, production-grade API gateway
  • A scalable service mesh or proxy solution
  • Plugin-driven functionality (security, auth, logging)
  • A cloud-native, DevOps-focused gateway

Ideal for:

  • Large-scale distributed systems
  • Teams using Kubernetes or service meshes
  • Enterprises prioritizing speed and reliability

💡 Final Thoughts

Both Fusio and Kong are powerful, but designed for different needs.

  • Fusio is ideal if you’re building APIs from the ground up and want full lifecycle management.
  • Kong is best when you already have APIs and need a gateway to secure, monitor, and route traffic at scale.

Want to try Fusio? Get started with a demo or read the documentation.

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