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API management · November 2026 Edition

Kong Gateway vs Postman

Nine of fourteen models named Kong Gateway first on the direct prompt; zero named Postman. Kong Gateway was named by fourteen of the fourteen models and Postman by twelve and Kong Gateway carries 73 labels and Postman 28, so the shares are not directly comparable.

Kong Gateway

endorsed leader

Named in three categories this edition.

Postman

accepted challenger

Named in four categories this edition.

First-choice share47%7%Of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, 0 to 100.
Negative rate12%11%Negative labels as a share of the product's labels, 0 to 100.
Rank in category#1#5A position in a field of 11; printed, not drawn.
Labels7328A count; the two differ.
The two percentage rows are drawn on one 0 to 100 track, Kong Gateway reading right to left. Rank and label count are printed, not drawn.Azure API Management was named alongside these two in twelve of the fourteen direct answers. Kong Gateway vs Tyk · Kong Gateway vs Zuplo · Kong Gateway vs Azure API Management

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; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the API management page.

By framing

How many of the fourteen models made each the first choice, per way of asking, and how many argued against it.
Kong GatewayFirst choices, of fourteen modelsPostman
Direct90
Paraphrase831 against Postman
Comparative30
Budget-constrained911 against Kong Gateway
Scale-constrained201 against Kong Gateway
Negative107 against Kong Gateway · 2 against Postman
Bars are first choices, 0 to 14 each sideModels that argued againstA model can name both, so the two sides of a row do not sum to fourteen.

Across every category in the November 2026 Edition, Kong Gateway and Postman were named in the same answer eighty-two times, of the 444 answers naming Kong Gateway and the 131 naming Postman. In those answers Postman took the first choice thirteen times and Kong Gateway twenty-eight.

Every model, every framing

The eighty-four answers behind the chart above, one cell each: where Kong Gateway and Postman stood in it.
ModelDirectParaphraseComparativeBudget-constrainedScale-constrainedNegative
Claude Haiku 4.5
GPT-5.4 mini
Gemini 3.5 Flash
Perplexity Sonar
Grok 4.20
Mistral Small
DeepSeek V4 Flash
Llama 4 Maverick
Qwen 3.7 Flash
Kimi K2
GLM 4.7 FlashX
MiniMax M2.5
GPT-6 Luna
Muse Glimmer 30B
Kong Gateway Postman first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Kong Gateway on the left and Postman on the right.

The direct prompt

The plain question, one answer per model, grouped by where Kong Gateway and Postman stood in it.

Kong Gateway first, Postman not the choice

9 of 14 modelsPostman was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.
GPT-5.4 miniKong Gateway alternatives: Apigee, Azure API Management, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform, Tyk
Gemini 3.5 FlashKong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Gravitee, Tyk
Mistral SmallKong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Tyk
DeepSeek V4 FlashKong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Tyk
Llama 4 MaverickKong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Tyk
Qwen 3.7 FlashKong Gateway alternatives: Amazon API Gateway, Azure API Management, Tyk
Kimi K2Kong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Tyk
MiniMax M2.5Azure API Management, Kong Gateway alternatives: Apigee, Gravitee, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
Muse Glimmer 30BKong Gateway alternatives: Azure API Management, Tyk

Neither was the first choice, one was named

4 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.
Perplexity SonarTyk alternatives: Apigee, Axway Amplify API Management, Azure API Management, Kong Gateway
Grok 4.20Gravitee alternatives: Apigee, Kong Gateway, MuleSoft Anypoint Platform
GLM 4.7 FlashXAzure API Management alternatives: Kong Gateway
GPT-6 LunaTyk alternatives: Apigee, Azure API Management, Kong Gateway

Neither was named

1 of 14 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.
Claude Haiku 4.5no first choice

Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment and they are never added together. The figures above are the mid-market standing, which is the one the category orders by.
Small business
Kong Gateway leads by ten points.
Kong Gateway27%#1 of 12
Postman18%#3 of 12
The full small business standing →
Mid-marketThe figures above
Kong Gateway leads by forty-one points.
Kong Gateway47%#1 of 11
Postman7%#5 of 11
The full mid-market standing →
Enterprise
Kong Gateway leads by two points.
Kong Gateway2%#7 of 11
Postman0%#10 of 11
The full enterprise standing →

What the models said about Kong Gateway

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of four in this category shown.

“Avoid AWS API Gateway, Kong, and Tyk—none include native monetisation.” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Be cautious if you need strong multi-tenant isolation, a rich AI/analytics feature set, or very low-touch onboarding.” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“My top recommendation: If you need a full managed API management platform on a tight budget, Kong Konnect at $25/month offers the best balance of features, reliability, and cost.” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · first choice
“Kong (specifically its open-source version or Konnect free tier) is widely regarded as one of the best API management platforms for companies with limited budgets.” Grok 4.20 · budget prompt · first choice

What the models said about Postman

Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Five of six in this category shown.

“Don't choose Postman as your API management platform—it's a development tool, not a management layer” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · hard negative
“Users often face slow performance with Postman, especially when dealing with large projects” Muse Glimmer 30B · negative prompt · soft negative
“For most small businesses, Postman offers the best balance of features, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness.” MiniMax M2.5 · budget prompt · first choice
“Postman and Stoplight are excellent choices for API lifecycle and developer portal needs” Mistral Small · paraphrase prompt · first choice
“I recommend a combination of Postman + ReadMe.” Grok 4.20 · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Also compared

Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.