Hoppscotch Community Edition vs Kong

Two self-hosted Software Development - API Management apps, compared on the facts we track: GitHub popularity and activity, license, language, Docker images and a rough hosting estimate.

Side by side

	Hoppscotch Community Edition	Kong
Description	Fast and beautiful API request builder.	Microservice API Gateway and Platform.
GitHub stars	80,800	44,379
Forks	6.2k	5.2k
Open issues (incl. PRs)	898	230
Commits (12 months)	273	32
Last activity	2026-11-04	2026-10-19
Latest release	2026.10.1 (2026-11-05)	3.9.4 (2026-10-12)
Maintenance health	Active	Active
License	MIT	Apache-2.0
Language / platform	Nodejs, Docker	Lua, Docker, K8S, deb
Docker Hub image	–	–
Docker pulls	–	–
Est. server size	~1 GB, 1 vCPU	~1 GB, 1 vCPU
Est. hosting from	$5/mo	$5/mo
Categories	Software Development - API Management	Software Development - API Management
Links	Website · Source	Website · Source

What the numbers say

Hoppscotch Community Edition is more popular on GitHub: 80.8k stars vs 44.4k for Kong.
Hoppscotch Community Edition had more commits in the last 12 months (273 vs 32).
Hoppscotch Community Edition has more recent repository activity (2026-11-04 vs 2026-10-19).
Hoppscotch Community Edition published a release more recently (2026.10.1 on 2026-11-05; Kong's latest is 3.9.4 on 2026-10-12).
Hoppscotch Community Edition is licensed under MIT, Kong under Apache-2.0.
Hoppscotch Community Edition is written in Nodejs; Kong in Lua.
Deployment options listed upstream: Hoppscotch Community Edition: Docker; Kong: Docker, K8S, deb.

Summary: Hoppscotch Community Edition leads on GitHub popularity, commit activity and recent activity. The right choice depends on the features you need — read both project descriptions and docs.

This summary is generated from GitHub, Docker Hub and awesome-selfhosted data as of 2026-11-15. It does not rate features or quality.

Frequently asked questions

Is Hoppscotch Community Edition or Kong more popular?

Hoppscotch Community Edition has more GitHub stars (80,800 vs 44,379 for Kong, as of 2026-11-15). Stars measure interest, not quality.

Which is more actively maintained, Hoppscotch Community Edition or Kong?

Hoppscotch Community Edition had more commits over the last 12 months (273 vs 32). The last recorded activity was 2026-11-04 for Hoppscotch Community Edition and 2026-10-19 for Kong. Releases in the past year: Hoppscotch Community Edition 10+, Kong 3. Our health labels: Hoppscotch Community Edition is “Active”, Kong is “Active”.

What licenses do Hoppscotch Community Edition and Kong use?

Hoppscotch Community Edition: MIT. Kong: Apache-2.0.

Can I run Hoppscotch Community Edition and Kong with Docker?

We did not detect a Docker Hub image for either app. The upstream listing mentions Docker as a deployment option for Hoppscotch Community Edition and Kong. Check each project's documentation for install options.