Can I use Kong and Unkey together?

While both are in the API Gateway category, some teams use both for different workloads. Check each vendor's free tier limits to see if they complement your stack.

Compare Kong and Unkey free tiers side by side. Pricing, limits, change history, and risk assessment for developers.

Kong vs Unkey

Q: Is Kong or Unkey more stable?

Kong has 0 recorded changes. Unkey has 2 recorded changes and is rated stable. The page we cite for Kong states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-08. We are not comparing the two pricing histories.

Side-by-side free tier comparison. Catalogue dates here run to 2026-10-18.

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Verdict

Unkey offers a free tier ("Free"). We are not publishing a free-tier verdict for Kong. The page we cite for Kong states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-08. We are not comparing the two pricing histories.

A verdict here is not a fixed property of the vendor. A one-off pricing event demotes a vendor while its recorded date falls in the last 180 days and then lapses on its own, with nothing about the vendor having changed; a standing condition — a free tier withdrawn and not restored, a product retired — does not lapse with time. A badge carrying a date states the record it rests on; a badge with no date rests on no record in force.

Kong profile → Unkey profile →

Kong

Risk

CategoryAPI Gateway

TierOSS

Verified2026-07-28

Last read2026-10-08

Changes0 recorded

Kong Gateway is an open-source API, LLM and MCP gateway under Apache 2.0. It is self-hosted with no request or usage limits and includes the Kong Manager web UI. Kong Konnect is a separate hosted platform with a free trial and per-gateway paid plans.The page we cite for this offer states no amount, tier or rate we can read when we last looked, on 2026-10-08, so we cannot confirm these terms today.

Unkey

Riskstable

CategoryAPI Gateway

TierFree

Verified2026-10-18

Last read2026-11-08

Changes2 recorded

API key management. The "Free" plan is priced at 0 USD / mo and lists "1k API keys", "150K valid requests / mo", "7-day logs retention", "30-day audit log retention" and "Unlimited APIs".

Pricing Change History

Kong

No recorded pricing changes for Kong.

Unkey

increased effective 2026-11-05 low impact

On November 5, 2026, Unkey's pricing page raised the Free API plan's log retention from 1 day to 7 days and its audit log retention from 3 days to 30 days. Pro went from 7 and 14 days to 90 days of each. Unkey's commit is titled "Fix API Management log retention on the pricing page" and reads: "Free is 7 days of logs and 30 days of audit logs (was 1 / 3 days)." Keys, requests and the $0 price are unchanged. Source ↗

reduced discovered 2026-08-28 · effective date unknown medium impact

No longer in force (2026-11-05). Log retention on the free plan narrowed from 7 days to 1, and audit log retention from 30 days to 3. Keys, requests and APIs are unchanged and the plan is still priced at nothing. Reversed 2026-11-05: Unkey's pricing page again gives the Free API plan 7 days of log retention and 30 days of audit log retention. Unkey's commit of 2026-11-05 reads: "Free is 7 days of logs and 30 days of audit logs (was 1 / 3 days)." Source ↗

Watch Both Vendors for Pricing Changes

We do not push notifications. Every change we record is readable the moment it lands, and the JSON answer carries an ETag — send it back as If-None-Match and an unchanged answer costs one 304.

curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=Kong
curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=Kong
curl https://agentdeals.dev/api/changes?vendor=Unkey
curl https://agentdeals.dev/pricing-changes/feed.xml?vendor=Unkey

API docs →

Kong vs Unkey

Verdict

Kong

Unkey

Pricing Change History

Kong

Unkey

Watch Both Vendors for Pricing Changes

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