TokenZero vs Kong AI Gateway
Kong AI Gateway is plugins on the Kong API gateway for multi-provider routing, prompt guarding, token metering and semantic caching. The matrix below says what each product is and how it bills; the only numbers are TokenZero's own measurements and prices.
TokenZero and Kong AI Gateway differ in kind: Kong AI Gateway is API gateway AI plugins; TokenZero is a BYOK gateway whose engines reduce the provider bill and sign a receipt per call. Measured overhead is 1.52 ms p50; the cascade holds a 99.8% parity floor.
· Source: Kong AI Gateway documentation at https://developer.konghq.com/ai-gateway/ read 2026-10-26; TokenZero overhead from /benchmarks; prices from table 2026-10-26
At a glance
- Compared with
- Kong AI Gateway (API gateway AI plugins)
- TokenZero overhead
- 1.52 ms p50 / 3.42 ms p95 (measured, /benchmarks)
- BYOK
- TokenZero: always · Kong AI Gateway: yes
- Receipts
- TokenZero: signed per call · Kong AI Gateway: none
- Billing
- TokenZero: 15% of verified savings · Kong AI Gateway: open-source plugins; Konnect and enterprise plans
- Reference saving (gpt-6.1-sol, 100k calls)
- $285/month from prefix caching (computed)
- Net after 15% fee
- $242/month (computed)
- Parity floor
- 99.8%
- Free tier
- $500/month routed
- Vendor page read
- 2026-10-26
TokenZero vs Kong AI Gateway: what each one is (vendor page read 2026-10-26)
| Dimension | TokenZero | Kong AI Gateway |
|---|---|---|
| Category | BYOK savings gateway | API gateway AI plugins |
| Hosting | hosted | self-hosted or Konnect |
| Bring your own key | always; keys pass through and are never stored | yes |
| Open source | CLI, MCP server, audit core and GitHub Action Apache-2.0; gateway hosted | Apache-2.0 core plugins |
| How it bills | free up to $500/month routed; then 15% of verified savings, 3x-ROI-or-$0, capped plans | open-source plugins; Konnect and enterprise plans |
| Caching | prompt-cache formatting + exact and semantic response cache | semantic cache plugin |
| Routing | cascade to the cheaper sibling inside one provider, 99.8% parity floor, advisory by default | load balancing and semantic routing plugins |
| Savings receipts | Ed25519-signed per call, hash-chained, public key published | none |
| Gateway overhead | 1.52 ms p50 / 3.42 ms p95 (measured, /benchmarks) | not measured by TokenZero |
| Data retention | metadata only; ZDR mode available | see vendor docs |
| Net saving, 100k gpt-6.1-sol calls/month (prefix caching only) | $242 after fee | — |
What you keep when you move from Kong AI Gateway
Kong itself: TokenZero is an upstream you route to.
- Cost engines rather than policy enforcement; Kong keeps doing auth and policy for your clients.
- Per-request signed receipts a CFO can verify.
- Hosted, free up to the monthly free tier.
The change
OPENAI_BASE_URL=https://tokenzero.sh/v1
ANTHROPIC_BASE_URL=https://tokenzero.sh
# keep your provider keys exactly as they areThen npx -y @tokenzero/cli doctor to confirm the gateway, signer and pricing table, and see the switch guide.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between TokenZero and Kong AI Gateway?
Kong AI Gateway is plugins on the Kong API gateway for multi-provider routing, prompt guarding, token metering and semantic caching. TokenZero is a BYOK gateway: you keep Kong itself: TokenZero is an upstream you route to, and every call comes back with a signed receipt. Cost engines rather than policy enforcement; Kong keeps doing auth and policy for your clients.
What does switching from Kong AI Gateway to TokenZero save?
It depends on your prompts; on the reference workload (100,000 calls of 2,000 input with a 1,500-token static prefix and 300 output on gpt-6.1-sol, table 2026-10-26) prefix caching alone cuts $700 to $415 a month, $285 saved and $242 net after the 15% fee; exact-cache hits and cascade routing add to that. The receipts show the real figure.
Can I keep Kong AI Gateway and add TokenZero?
Usually yes: chain them by pointing Kong AI Gateway's upstream at https://tokenzero.sh (or TokenZero's X-TokenZero-Upstream at Kong AI Gateway); the receipt still prices the request at list and records what the gateway did.
How is the 15% fee computed?
On verified savings only: list-price baseline minus provider-reported actual cost, per signed receipt. A cycle whose savings are below 3x the fee is billed $0; Pro Cap and Scale Cap add monthly ceilings. The first $500 of routed spend each month is free.