Kong alternative
A Kong AI Gateway Alternative Without the API Platform
Kong’s Plus plan for AI starts from $25 a month plus usage, with a million requests included and five models before each extra one costs $100 a month (October 2026). Kong is built for companies that already run an API platform. We are built for the ones that do not.
With Cascadia you get
- No control plane to run
- No plugins to choose
- Every request logged
- Caching included
- Fallback when a provider fails
- A written monthly report
Cascadia vs Kong at a Glance
Three Questions That Decide It
Do You Already Run Kong for Other APIs?
Do You Have Your Own Monitoring Stack?
How Many AI Applications Do You Run?
Side by Side
| Kong | Cascadia | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | –From $25 a month plus usage | $79 a month per organization |
| Models | –Five included, then $100 a month each | The providers you already use |
| Caching | –Semantic cache is a paid plugin on Plus | Included |
| Failover | Built in across providers | Handled, with retries |
| Guardrails | Several, including PII redaction | –Content Guardrails, $49 a month extra |
| Deployment | Konnect-managed or self-hosted | –Run for you |
| Observability | –Exporters and OpenTelemetry | 90 days of logs and a written report |
| Who runs it | ×Your engineers | We do |
Price
Models
Caching
Failover
Guardrails
Deployment
Observability
Who Runs It
What Ships in the Standard Plan Here
Kong gives you a highly capable gateway, a plugin catalog, and a choice of Konnect-managed or self-hosted deployment. Choosing the plugins, sizing the gateways, and wiring the metrics into something you read stays with your engineers.
- No control plane, plugin, or gateway node for you to run
- The gateway put in front of the providers you already use
- Every request logged with the prompt, reply, model, and cost
- Caching included, so the same answer is paid for once
- Spend caps and rate limits agreed per application
- Fallback and retries when a provider goes down
- Ninety days of history you can search
- A written monthly report, broken down by application
- Your provider keys and your logs stay yours
- One price of $79 a month per organization
Where Cascadia Goes Further
Kong is a platform you build on. We are the finished thing, run for you.
No Plugin Shopping
On Kong’s Plus plan, paid plugins are add-ons, and semantic caching and advanced rate limiting sit in the enterprise plugin list (October 2026). Caching and caps are part of ours from the start.
One Figure on the Invoice
Kong Plus prices requests, models, and control planes separately. Ours is $79 a month per organization, and that is the whole line.
A Report Instead of an Exporter
Kong tracks token usage and latency through audit logs, metrics exporters, and OpenTelemetry, which is right for a team with its own monitoring. We send a written report each month instead.
Nobody Learns a New Platform
Kong is worth learning if you will use all of it. If you only need AI calls logged and capped, the only change at your end is the endpoint your applications call.
Who This Comparison Is For
Teams Already Running Kong
If Kong already fronts your APIs, adding its AI features is the natural step, and either Konnect or a self-hosted deployment will fit around what you have.
Teams with Their Own Observability Stack
Kong’s OpenTelemetry support means AI traffic can land in the same dashboards as everything else. For a team that lives in those dashboards, that is a real advantage.
Businesses with a Few AI Applications
A handful of applications calling a couple of providers rarely justifies an API platform. A managed gateway does the part you need.
Choose Kong if
- Kong already fronts your other APIs
- You want AI traffic in your own monitoring
- You need self-hosted deployment
Choose Cascadia if
- You only need AI calls logged and capped
- Nobody wants to run an API platform
- You want one price and a monthly report
Moving from Kong in Four Steps
If Kong also serves your other APIs, it stays. Only the AI traffic moves, and only once the new path has been tested.
- 1
We Map Your AI Routes and Plugins
Which models and providers are proxied, which AI plugins are on, and what the token and cost figures look like in a normal month.
- 2
We Agree Caps and Caching with You
Spend caps, rate limits, and caching are set on a call, using your current plugin settings as the starting point.
- 3
AI Traffic Moves to the New Endpoint
Applications calling AI providers point at our gateway. The rest of your Kong setup is untouched.
- 4
The Monthly Report Replaces the Dashboards
The first full picture arrives within a week. After that, a written report each month covers spend by application and what changed.
What Clients Say About Working with Cascadia
“I’ve always dreaded website management, but Cascadia has done an incredible job with my WordPress site, making it one less thing for me to worry about.”
“I’ve worked with Cascadia for several years now. They are always ready to help in any way I ask and can implement my ideas with ease. A company that values their clients!”
“Cascadia has been great to work with! We recently needed some updates, and Cascadia was quick to get them completed! We highly recommend Cascadia Web Services.”
“Cascadia is very responsive and we’re happy with them as our primary IT vendor.”
“They do great work, been using for years. Prompt responses to requests.”
Ready to Move Your AI Traffic from Kong?
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Kong AI Gateway Alternative Questions
Straight answers about platforms, plugins, and switching only the AI traffic.
See AI GatewayStill have a question?
What is a Kong AI Gateway alternative?
Any other gateway in front of your AI providers. That includes enterprise platforms such as TrueFoundry, developer tools such as Portkey and LiteLLM, and managed services like ours, where nothing runs on your side.
How is Cascadia different from Kong?
Kong is a general API gateway with strong AI features, run by your engineers either through Konnect or on your own infrastructure. We run a gateway for AI calls only, set up and reported on by us, for $79 a month per organization.
Is Kong cheaper?
The entry price is lower. Plus starts from $25 a month plus usage, with a million requests and five models included (October 2026). Extra models are $100 a month each, extra million-request blocks $200, and paid plugins are add-ons, so the total depends heavily on your setup.
Does Kong do things you do not?
Yes, many. It is a full API gateway, with guardrail integrations, PII redaction, prompt guards, self-hosted deployment, and OpenTelemetry export. If you need those, Kong is the better fit.
Do we have to stop using Kong?
No. If Kong fronts your other APIs, it can carry on doing that. Only the calls to AI providers need to go through our gateway.
Do my applications need code changes?
Only the endpoint they use for AI calls. Your provider keys stay yours, and you can point back whenever you choose.
Where does my data go?
Prompts and responses pass through the infrastructure the gateway runs on. We explain what that means before anything is switched on, and if it rules us out we tell you. Kong can be self-hosted if prompts must stay in your network.
How long are logs kept?
Ninety days, with the prompt, reply, model, cost, and the application responsible.
How quickly does setup start?
Within two business days, with the first full picture inside a week.
Ready to hand the AI traffic over?
$79 a month per organization, caching and caps included, 90 days of logs, and a written report every month. Your Kong setup can stay exactly where it is for everything else.