Kong AI Gateway extends Kong's proven API management platform to LLM workloads. Bifrost is purpose-built for AI inference with ultra-low latency and zero-config deployment.

The core difference: Kong offers comprehensive API + AI management for organizations already using Kong. Bifrost delivers 11µs latency (vs Kong's variable latency) with zero vendor lock-in.

This comparison examines performance, deployment, pricing, and enterprise capabilities.

Performance: Latency and Throughput

Bifrost:

• 11µs latency overhead at 5,000 RPS
• Built in Go for predictable performance
• Sustained 5,000 requests/second per core
• Minimal memory footprint

# Install and run locally
npx -y @maximhq/bifrost

# Or use Docker
docker run -p 8080:8080 maximhq/bifrost

# Open the built-in web interface
open http://localhost:8080

curl -X POST http://localhost:8080/v1/chat/completions \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "model": "openai/gpt-4o-mini",
    "messages": [{"role": "user", "content": "Hello, Bifrost!"}]
  }'

Kong AI Gateway:

• Variable latency (depends on configuration and plugins)
• Kong's own benchmarks: 228% faster than Portkey, 859% faster than LiteLLM
• Built on NGINX + OpenResty (Lua-based)
• CPU-bound on token processing
• Resource-intensive data plane designed for tens of thousands of RPS

Benchmark context:

Kong's published benchmarks compare against Portkey and LiteLLM. They show Kong is 65% lower latency vs Portkey, 86% lower vs LiteLLM.

However, Kong doesn't publish absolute latency numbers. Performance depends heavily on:

• Plugin configuration (each plugin adds overhead)
• Lua vs native performance
• Database backing (Cassandra/Postgres vs DB-less mode)
• Token processing overhead

Bifrost's 11µs is absolute measurement at 5K RPS under sustained load.

Architecture Philosophy

Bifrost:

• Purpose-built for AI inference
• Lightweight, single-purpose gateway
• Zero-config Web UI
• Self-contained deployment

Setting Up - Bifrost

Get Bifrost running as an HTTP API gateway in 30 seconds with zero configuration. Perfect for any programming language.

docs.getbifrost.ai

Kong AI Gateway:

• General-purpose API gateway extended for AI
• Comprehensive platform (API + AI management)
• Plugin architecture (Lua-based extensibility)
• Requires database (Cassandra/Postgres) or DB-less mode
• Kubernetes Operator for K8s deployments

Resource requirements:

Kong's data plane is powerful but resource-intensive. Designed for high-throughput web traffic (tens of thousands of RPS).

For AI workloads (low RPS but high latency due to streaming tokens), Kong's architecture is often overkill. You pay for NGINX-level capacity when bottleneck is upstream LLM latency.

Bifrost optimizes for AI-specific patterns: streaming tokens, semantic caching, MCP tool execution.

Deployment Options

Bifrost:

# Instant setup
npx -y @maximhq/bifrost

# Docker
docker run -p 8080:8080 maximhq/bifrost

# Kubernetes
helm install bifrost bifrost/bifrost

• Self-hosted, in-VPC, on-premises
• Multi-cloud (AWS, GCP, Azure, Cloudflare, Vercel)
• Zero vendor lock-in

Kong AI Gateway:

• Kong Konnect (SaaS managed control plane + data plane)
• Self-hosted (Enterprise license required)
• Hybrid mode (cloud control plane, self-hosted data plane)
• DB-less mode for containerized deployments
• Kubernetes via Kong Ingress Controller

Deployment flexibility:

Both support self-hosted and managed options. Kong requires enterprise license for self-hosted production use. Bifrost is open-source (Apache 2.0).

Pricing

Bifrost:

• Open source (Apache 2.0 License)
• Zero markup on provider costs
• Self-hosted = infrastructure costs only
• Enterprise support available

Kong AI Gateway:

• Per-service licensing: Pay for every backend service gateway sits in front of
• If routing to OpenAI, Azure, Anthropic, local Llama = 4 distinct services
• Add-on modules (AI Rate Limiting Advanced, specialized analytics) require higher-tier licenses
• Enterprise pricing typically >$50,000 annually for mid-sized deployments
• Experimentation tax: Adding new model endpoints can trigger license upgrade

Cost structure:

Kong's pricing reflects general-purpose API management platform origins. AI teams often pay for capabilities they never use (gRPC, SOAP, GraphQL support).

Bifrost charges zero markup. You pay only provider API costs + infrastructure.

Hidden costs with Kong:

• Per-service licensing accumulates quickly with multi-provider AI deployments
• Plugin upgrades may require tier changes
• Operational overhead managing Lua-based plugins
• Database infrastructure (if not DB-less mode)

Caching

Bifrost:

• Semantic caching (vector similarity search)
• Dual-layer: exact hash + semantic similarity
• Configurable threshold (0.8-0.95)
• Weaviate vector store integration
• 40-60% cost reduction typical

Kong AI Gateway:

• Semantic caching plugin (introduced in v3.8)
• Kong's own benchmarks: 150-255% faster than vanilla OpenAI
• Performance improvements: 3-4x faster, some cases exceed 10x
• Reduces both latency and LLM processing costs

Caching approach:

Both support semantic caching. Kong's benchmarks show significant speedup vs direct provider access. Bifrost's semantic caching uses vector similarity to match variations.

Load Balancing

Bifrost:

• Adaptive load balancing based on:
  • Real-time latency measurements
  • Error rates and success patterns
  • Throughput limits and rate limiting
  • Provider health status
• Weighted routing with automatic failover
• P2P clustering for high availability
• Gossip protocol for cluster consistency

Kong AI Gateway:

• Six load balancing algorithms:
  • Round-robin
  • Lowest-latency
  • Usage-based
  • Consistent hashing
  • Semantic matching (routes to model best fine-tuned for prompt)
• Built-in retries and fallback
• Circuit breakers and health checks
• Dynamic model selection based on real-time performance and prompt relevance

Load balancing intelligence:

Kong's semantic routing is unique: routes to model best suited for specific incoming prompt without knowing model in advance.

Bifrost's adaptive balancing uses real-time metrics to optimize across providers.

Rate Limiting

Bifrost:

• Per-virtual-key rate limiting
• Granular controls (per-team, per-customer, per-project)
• Budget enforcement at multiple levels
• Token and cost tracking

Kong AI Gateway:

• Token-based throttling (not just request-based)
• Can limit prompt tokens, response tokens, or total tokens
• Quotas per user, application, or time period
• Prevents runaway usage by single user/feature

Rate limiting approach:

Kong's token-based throttling is more sophisticated than request-based limits. Prevents cost overruns from verbose prompts.

Bifrost combines token limits with hierarchical budget enforcement.

MCP Support

Bifrost:

• Native MCP support (Model Context Protocol)
• MCP client (connect to external servers)
• MCP server (expose tools to Claude Desktop)
• Agent mode with configurable auto-execution
• Code mode for TypeScript orchestration
• Tool filtering per-request/per-virtual-key

Kong AI Gateway:

• MCP support announced in v3.11 (2025)
• Centralized MCP server management
• Production-grade performance and policy enforcement
• Multi-modal and agentic use cases

Both support MCP. Kong added MCP in latest release (v3.11). Bifrost has had native MCP since launch.

Observability

Bifrost:

• Built-in dashboard with real-time logs
• Native Prometheus metrics at /metrics
• OpenTelemetry distributed tracing
• Token and cost analytics
• Request/response inspection

Kong AI Gateway:

• Kong Konnect Advanced Analytics: Pre-built dashboards
• Token usage, latency, and cost tracking
• OpenTelemetry support for distributed tracing
• Visual traffic maps showing request flows
• Integrates with existing observability stack (Prometheus, Datadog, etc.)
• Langfuse, Datadog, Braintrust integration

Observability depth:

Both provide comprehensive observability. Kong integrates with broader Kong ecosystem and third-party platforms. Bifrost focuses on native Prometheus/OpenTelemetry for infrastructure integration.

Guardrails and Security

Bifrost:

• Virtual keys with granular permissions
• Budget limits (per-team, per-customer, per-project, per-provider)
• RBAC (role-based access control)
• SSO (Google, GitHub)
• SAML/OIDC support
• HashiCorp Vault integration
• Custom policy enforcement

Kong AI Gateway:

• AI Prompt Guard plugin (regex-based)
• AI Semantic Prompt Guard plugin (semantic intent blocking)
• Content filtering and moderation
• PII sanitization
• Enterprise security (authentication, authorization, mTLS, API key rotation)
• Policy controls on requests and responses

Security approach:

Kong's semantic prompt guard blocks intent/meaning regardless of specific keywords. More sophisticated than regex.

Bifrost provides enterprise governance with RBAC, SSO, hierarchical budgets.

Enterprise Features

Bifrost:

• P2P clustering for high availability
• Adaptive load balancing with gossip protocol
• Cross-node synchronization
• Vault support for key rotation
• In-VPC and on-premises deployment
• Custom plugins
• Native Maxim AI evaluation platform integration

Kong AI Gateway:

• Unified API + AI management
• Comprehensive plugin marketplace
• Federation capabilities for multi-team governance
• Enterprise SSO and RBAC
• Custom Lua plugin development
• Kong Mesh integration for service mesh
• Multi-cloud deployment

Enterprise positioning:

Kong provides unified platform for API and AI management. Best for organizations already using Kong for API infrastructure.

Bifrost focuses purely on AI gateway capabilities without general API management overhead.

When to Choose Bifrost

Choose Bifrost if you:

• Need ultra-low latency (11µs vs variable Kong latency)
• Want zero vendor lock-in (open-source Apache 2.0)
• Require self-hosted deployment without enterprise licensing
• Need semantic caching from day one
• Want zero-config setup (Web UI, no Lua programming)
• Prioritize lightweight deployment (no database required)
• Need MCP gateway with comprehensive tool support

Bifrost excels for:

• Teams wanting AI-specific gateway without API management overhead
• Organizations avoiding per-service licensing costs
• Deployments requiring sub-100µs latency
• Self-hosted infrastructure with full data control

When to Choose Kong

Choose Kong AI Gateway if you:

• Already use Kong for API management
• Want unified API + AI platform
• Need Kong's comprehensive plugin ecosystem
• Require token-based rate limiting sophistication
• Value Kong's proven enterprise platform
• Want semantic routing (route by prompt content)
• Need extensive third-party integrations (Langfuse, Datadog, etc.)

Kong excels for:

• Organizations already invested in Kong ecosystem
• Teams wanting unified control plane for APIs and AI
• Enterprise deployments requiring sophisticated plugin capabilities
• Multi-team governance with federation

Feature Comparison

The Decision

Performance-critical applications: Bifrost's 11µs latency eliminates gateway overhead. Kong's variable latency depends on plugin configuration.

Unified API + AI platform: Kong provides comprehensive API management alongside AI gateway. Single platform for all traffic.

Cost optimization: Bifrost has zero markup and no licensing fees. Kong's per-service licensing adds up with multi-provider deployments.

Enterprise governance: Both offer strong governance. Kong leverages broader plugin ecosystem. Bifrost provides focused AI-specific controls.

Deployment simplicity: Bifrost offers zero-config Web UI setup. Kong requires configuration expertise (Lua plugins, database setup).

Ecosystem integration: Kong integrates with extensive third-party platforms. Bifrost focuses on Prometheus/OpenTelemetry standards.

Get Started

Bifrost:

npx -y @maximhq/bifrost

Visit https://getmax.im/bifrost-home

Kong AI Gateway:

Start with Kong Konnect trial or explore self-hosted options at Kong's website

Links:

Bifrost Docs: https://getmax.im/docspage

Bifrost GitHub: https://git.new/bifrost

Kong AI Gateway: https://developer.konghq.com/ai-gateway/