--- title: "kong vs moby" type: "comparison" canonical_url: "https://www.graphcanon.com/compare/kong-kong-vs-moby-moby" tools: ["kong-kong", "moby-moby"] --- # kong vs moby *GraphCanon updated Jul 11, 2026* ## Verdict Pick kong when kong is primarily Lua; moby is Go; pick moby when moby is primarily Go; kong is Lua. [kong](https://konghq.com/install/) reports 44k GitHub stars, 5.2k forks, and 155 open issues, last pushed Jul 1, 2026. [moby](https://mobyproject.org/) has 72k stars, 19k forks, and 3.8k open issues, last pushed Jul 10, 2026. Figures are from public GitHub metadata via [kong's repository](https://github.com/Kong/kong) and [moby's repository](https://github.com/moby/moby). | | [kong](/tools/kong-kong.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Tagline | 🦍 The API and AI Gateway | The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems | | Stars | 43,768 | 71,899 | | Forks | 5,173 | 19,126 | | Open issues | 155 | 3,821 | | Language | Lua | Go | | Adopt for | - | - | | Persona | - | - | | Runtime | - | - | | License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 | | Categories | Developer Tools, LLM Frameworks | Developer Tools, Inference & Serving, LLM Frameworks | ## Trust and health _Sourced signals - not a safety guarantee. No winner column._ | | [kong](/tools/kong-kong.md) | [moby](/tools/moby-moby.md) | | --- | --- | --- | | Maintenance | Active (82%) | Very active (96%) | | Days since push | 10d | 1d | | Open issues (now) | 155 | 3.8k | | Security scan | No MCP manifest | No criticals | | Full report | [trust report](/tools/kong-kong/trust.md) | [trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust.md) | ## Choose when ### Choose kong if… - kong is primarily Lua; moby is Go. - Tags unique to kong: ai, ai-gateway, api-gateway, api-management. - Leaner open-issue backlog (155). ### Choose moby if… - moby is primarily Go; kong is Lua. - Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang. - Also covers Inference & Serving. - moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ## When NOT to use kong - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ## When NOT to use moby - Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. - Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. - LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ## Common questions ### What is the difference between kong and moby? kong: 🦍 The API and AI Gateway. moby: The Moby Project - a collaborative project for the container ecosystem to assemble container-based systems. See the comparison table for live GitHub stats and shared categories. ### When should I choose kong over moby? Choose kong over moby when kong is primarily Lua; moby is Go; Tags unique to kong: ai, ai-gateway, api-gateway, api-management; Leaner open-issue backlog (155). ### When should I choose moby over kong? Choose moby over kong when moby is primarily Go; kong is Lua; Tags unique to moby: containers, docker, go, golang; Also covers Inference & Serving; moby ships Docker support for self-hosted deployment. ### When should I avoid kong? Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ### When should I avoid moby? Developer Tools: A gateway is overkill when you're pinned to a single provider and model. Inference & Serving: Self-hosting rarely beats a hosted API on cost until you have steady, high-volume traffic. LLM Frameworks: Avoid a framework for a single prompt-and-retrieve call; the abstraction can cost more than it saves. ### Is kong or moby more popular on GitHub? moby has more GitHub stars (71,899 vs 43,768). Stars measure visibility, not whether either tool fits your constraints. ### Are kong and moby open source? Yes - both are open-source projects on GitHub (kong: Apache-2.0, moby: Apache-2.0). ### Where can I find alternatives to kong or moby? GraphCanon lists graph-backed alternatives at [kong alternatives](/tools/kong-kong/alternatives) and [moby alternatives](/tools/moby-moby/alternatives) ([kong markdown twin](/tools/kong-kong/alternatives.md), [moby markdown twin](/tools/moby-moby/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/kong-kong-vs-moby-moby.md) mirrors this page for agents and LLM crawlers, with the same stats table and FAQ answers. ### Which is better maintained, kong or moby? kong: Active. moby: Very 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 kong and moby? GraphCanon publishes per-repo trust reports with dated maintenance, provenance, and scan summaries: [kong trust report](/tools/kong-kong/trust); [moby trust report](/tools/moby-moby/trust). --- **Machine-readable endpoints** - JSON: [`/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=kong-kong`](/api/graphcanon/graph?tool=kong-kong) - 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/_