Comparison · Self-hosted vs Self-hosted

Fence vs Kong Gateway

Kong Gateway is $250/mo (Plus). Fence is a self-hosted alternative at $4.99/mo. Here's when each makes sense.

At a glance

	Fence	Kong Gateway
Hosting	Self-hosted, your infra	Open source core, but advanced features need Enterprise license
Data location	Your server, your disk	Your server (if self-hosted)
Free tier	10 keys, 2 members, 2 vaults	Paid only
Pro pricing	$4.99/mo	$250/mo (Plus)
Dependencies	None (single binary + SQLite)	Docker, Postgres, etc.
Setup time	~30 seconds	15-30 minutes (self-host)
Dashboard	Built-in at /ui	Web UI
License	BSL 1.1	Open source

When to use Fence

Pick Fence when you want simplicity and ownership.

$4.99/mo vs $250/mo for managed API key features
Single binary — no Lua, Postgres, or Cassandra
Focused on API key management, not full gateway
Simpler to operate

Fence is a single Go binary with embedded SQLite. Install it with one command, and you are running in under a minute. Your data stays on your server.

curl -fsSL https://stockyard.dev/fence/install.sh | sh

Install Fence Fence docs

When Kong Gateway fits better

Kong Gateway makes sense when you need more.

Full API gateway with traffic management
Plugin ecosystem (rate limiting, auth, caching)
Service mesh capabilities
Industry standard for large-scale API management

Kong is a full API gateway — traffic routing, load balancing, authentication, and plugin management. If you need all of that, Kong is the industry standard. If you specifically need API key management (issue, rotate, track usage), Fence does that one thing as a single binary.

How to choose

Choosing between Fence and Kong Gateway is less about which tool is better and more about what kind of infrastructure you want to maintain. Kong Gateway at $250/mo (Plus) handles hosting, backups, and uptime for you. Fence at $4.99/mo shifts that responsibility to you — but also shifts the control. If you already run servers, Fence adds negligible operational burden. If you do not, Kong Gateway removes it entirely.

Technical differences

The operational difference is significant. Kong Gateway requires you to trust their infrastructure, their security practices, and their business continuity. Fence requires you to run a process and keep the data directory backed up. If your server dies, restore the binary and the SQLite file to a new server. The entire recovery procedure fits in a single paragraph because there is nothing else involved.

Both Fence and Kong Gateway offer self-hosted options, but the operational requirements differ. Open source core, but advanced features need Enterprise license Fence is a single binary with embedded SQLite — no containers, no external databases, no orchestration. The practical difference: Fence runs on a $5 VPS with no configuration. Self-hosting Kong Gateway typically requires a more substantial infrastructure investment.

Switching from Kong Gateway

Moving from Kong Gateway does not have to be all-or-nothing. Some teams run Fence for new data while keeping Kong Gateway as a read-only archive of historical records. The API makes it straightforward to build a sync script if you need both systems to reflect the same data during a transition period.

FAQ

Is Fence a Kong alternative?

Kong is a full API gateway. Fence focuses specifically on API key management. If you need traffic routing and plugins, Kong is necessary. If you just need key management, Fence is simpler.

Does Fence do traffic routing?

No. Fence manages API keys. For traffic routing and load balancing, use Kong, Traefik, or Nginx.

Get started

Self-hosted API key vault in 30 seconds.

Single binary. Free to start. $4.99/mo for Pro.

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