--- title: "Atomic-Chat vs kong" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat-vs-kong-kong" tools: ["atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat", "kong-kong"] --- # Atomic-Chat vs kong *GraphCanon updated Aug 25, 2026* ## Verdict Pick Atomic-Chat if atomic-Chat is a local AI app and inference engine for agents that runs open-weight LLMs privately offline; pick kong if kong is Lua-based and Apache-2.0 licensed for API and AI gateway purposes. [Atomic-Chat](https://atomic.chat) reports 1.4k GitHub stars, 157 forks, and 36 open issues, last pushed Aug 24, 2026. [kong](https://konghq.com/install/) has 44k stars, 5.2k forks, and 190 open issues, last pushed Aug 16, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [Atomic-Chat's repository](https://github.com/AtomicBot-ai/Atomic-Chat) and [kong's repository](https://github.com/Kong/kong). | | [Atomic-Chat](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat.md) | [kong](/tools/kong-kong.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | Local AI app and inference engine for agents | The API and AI Gateway | | Stars | 1,363 | 44,035 | | Forks | 157 | 5,206 | | Open issues | 36 | 190 | | Language | TypeScript | Lua | | Adopt for | Atomic-Chat is a local AI app and inference engine for agents that runs open-weight LLMs privately offline. | Kong is Lua-based and Apache-2.0 licensed for API and AI gateway purposes. | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Other | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Developer Tools, Inference & Serving | Developer Tools | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [Atomic-Chat](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat.md) | [kong](/tools/kong-kong.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Very active (96%) | Active (82%) | | Days since push | 0d | 9d | | Open issues (now) | 36 | 190 | | Stars delta | +205 (30d) | +177 (30d) | | Open issues delta | -8 (30d) | +23 (30d) | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/kong-kong/trust.md) | ## Decision facts: Atomic-Chat - **Hosting:** self hosted - **Requirements:** Atomic-Chat requires TypeScript for development.; Ensure you have the necessary hardware and setup to run open-weight LLM models locally. - **Adopt for:** Atomic-Chat is a local AI app and inference engine for agents that runs open-weight LLMs privately offline. ## Decision facts: kong - **Adopt for:** Kong is Lua-based and Apache-2.0 licensed for API and AI gateway purposes. ## Choose when ### Choose Atomic-Chat if… - Atomic-Chat is primarily TypeScript; kong is Lua. - License: Atomic-Chat is Other, kong is Apache-2.0. - Requirements: Atomic-Chat requires TypeScript for development.; Ensure you have the necessary hardware and setup to run open-weight LLM models locally.. - Tags unique to Atomic-Chat: ai-agent, local-first, open-source. - Also covers Inference & Serving. - When you need to run large language models (LLMs) locally with full privacy and no internet connectivity required. ### Choose kong if… - kong is primarily Lua; Atomic-Chat is TypeScript. - License: kong is Apache-2.0, Atomic-Chat is Other. - Tags unique to kong: ai-gateway, api-gateway, cloud-native, kubernetes. - requires Lua scripting ## When NOT to use Atomic-Chat - Avoid Atomic-Chat when you need cloud-based AI services that offer automatic updates and maintenance, as it focuses on local offline deployment. - Do not choose this tool if your project does not require deep-seek capabilities or self-hosted solutions but prefers more mainstream LLMs like Qwen. ## When NOT to use kong - prefers non-Lua languages - seeks competitor-native AI capabilities ## Common questions ### What is the difference between Atomic-Chat and kong? Atomic-Chat: Local AI app and inference engine for agents. kong: The API and AI Gateway. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose Atomic-Chat over kong? Choose Atomic-Chat over kong when Atomic-Chat is primarily TypeScript; kong is Lua; License: Atomic-Chat is Other, kong is Apache-2.0; Requirements: Atomic-Chat requires TypeScript for development.; Ensure you have the necessary hardware and setup to run open-weight LLM models locally.; Tags unique to Atomic-Chat: ai-agent, local-first, open-source; Also covers Inference & Serving; When you need to run large language models (LLMs) locally with full privacy and no internet connectivity required. ### When should I choose kong over Atomic-Chat? Choose kong over Atomic-Chat when kong is primarily Lua; Atomic-Chat is TypeScript; License: kong is Apache-2.0, Atomic-Chat is Other; Tags unique to kong: ai-gateway, api-gateway, cloud-native, kubernetes; requires Lua scripting. ### When should I avoid Atomic-Chat? Avoid Atomic-Chat when you need cloud-based AI services that offer automatic updates and maintenance, as it focuses on local offline deployment. Do not choose this tool if your project does not require deep-seek capabilities or self-hosted solutions but prefers more mainstream LLMs like Qwen. ### When should I avoid kong? prefers non-Lua languages seeks competitor-native AI capabilities ### Is Atomic-Chat or kong more popular on GitHub? kong has more GitHub stars (44,035 vs 1,363). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are Atomic-Chat and kong open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (Atomic-Chat: Other, kong: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to Atomic-Chat or kong? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [Atomic-Chat alternatives](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat/alternatives) and [kong alternatives](/tools/kong-kong/alternatives) ([Atomic-Chat markdown twin](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat/alternatives.md), [kong markdown twin](/tools/kong-kong/alternatives.md)), ranked by typed relationship edges rather than popularity votes. ### Is there a machine-readable version of this comparison? Yes. The markdown twin at [this comparison](/compare/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat-vs-kong-kong.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, Atomic-Chat or kong? Atomic-Chat: Very active. kong: Active. Compare maintenance labels, days since push, and release cadence in the trust section below - stars alone do not measure maintenance. ### Where are the full trust reports for Atomic-Chat and kong? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [Atomic-Chat trust report](/tools/atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat/trust); [kong trust report](/tools/kong-kong/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=atomicbot-ai-atomic-chat) - LLM index: [/llms.txt](/llms.txt) - Full corpus: [/llms-full.txt](/llms-full.txt) _GraphCanon - The knowledge graph for AI development. https://www.graphcanon.com/_