# Kong Gateway vs Amazon API Gateway: which do AI models recommend for API gateways, October 2026

IT AI Recommendation Index, October 2026 Edition, API gateways. Ten of fourteen models named Kong Gateway first on the direct prompt; two named Amazon API Gateway. Page: https://it-ai-index.com/developer/api-gateways/kong-gateway-vs-amazon-api-gateway/

| | First-choice share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels | Models naming it |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kong Gateway | 53% | #1 of 11 | 14% | 70 | 14 of 14 |
| Amazon API Gateway | 9% | #3 of 11 | 21% | 61 | 13 of 14 |

## The direct prompt, model by model

- Claude Haiku 4.5: both first (first choices: Amazon API Gateway, Kong Gateway)
- GPT-5.4 mini: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management)
- Perplexity Sonar: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Cleo Integration Cloud)
- Grok 4.1 Fast: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Tyk, Zuplo)
- DeepSeek V4 Flash: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo)
- Kimi K2: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Azure API Management)
- GLM 4.7 FlashX: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Tyk, Zuplo)
- MiniMax M2.5: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Azure API Management, NGINX, Red Hat 3scale)
- GPT-6 Luna: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee, Azure API Management)
- Muse Glimmer 30B: kong gateway first (first choices: Kong Gateway, Tyk) (alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management)
- Qwen 3.7 Flash: amazon api gateway first (first choices: Amazon API Gateway, Apigee) (alternatives: Kong Gateway, Tyk)
- Gemini 3.5 Flash: neither first, one named (first choices: Tyk) (alternatives: Gravitee, Kong Gateway, Zuplo)
- Mistral Small: neither named (first choices: Zuplo) (alternatives: Apigee, Axway API Gateway)
- Llama 4 Maverick: neither named

## What the models said about Kong Gateway

- "Don’t start a new deployment on this version. Kong says it entered end-of-life in July 2026" (GPT-6 Luna, negative prompt, hard negative)
- "Its flexibility is useful, but self-managed deployments mean more operational responsibility; hybrid setups also require attention to plugin and version compatibility." (GPT-6 Luna, comparative prompt, soft negative)
- "Kong Gateway is usually the best default choice if you need a general-purpose API gateway with strong extensibility and flexibility." (Perplexity Sonar, direct prompt, first choice)
- "Shortlist: Kong (extensible, scalable), AWS API Gateway (if AWS-heavy), Zuplo (fast DX, edge-native), Tyk (open-source friendly)." (Grok 4.1 Fast, scale prompt, first choice)

## What the models said about Amazon API Gateway

- "avoid per-call pricing models (like AWS API Gateway at $1–$3.50 per million calls)" (DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt, hard negative)
- "Kong (especially with enterprise support) or AWS API Gateway are solid choices, as they balance power, scalability, and cost" (Claude Haiku 4.5, direct prompt, first choice)
- "If your infrastructure is already on AWS, this is usually the default starting point." (Qwen 3.7 Flash, direct prompt, first choice)
- "If you want no infrastructure overhead, go with Zuplo or AWS API Gateway" (Claude Haiku 4.5, budget prompt, first choice)

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company; rank is within the category. Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category. Published under CC BY 4.0; the output is the models' output, and nothing here is a recommendation by the index.