Postman vs Kong
Side-by-side from the Top 11 rankings of The 11 Best API Testing Tools (2026) and The 11 Best API Management Tools and Platforms (2026). Last verified July 14, 2026.
The short answer
Kong ranks higher on Top 11 (#1 vs #1) for Backend engineers, QA automation teams, and platform teams validating REST, GraphQL, gRPC, and SOAP APIs / Engineering teams and platform architects building, securing, and monitoring APIs. Top choice for raw performance and extensibility, especially in Kubernetes environments.
At a glance
| Postman | Kong | |
|---|---|---|
| Top 11 rank | #1 / The 11 Best API Testing Tools (2026) | #1 / The 11 Best API Management Tools and Platforms (2026) |
| Score (out of 9.4) | 9.2 | 9.3 |
| Best for | All-round team API testing | High-performance, extensible K8s gateway |
| Pricing | $$ (Free tier, teams ~$14-$29/user/mo) | $$$$ (Starts free, enterprise >$2,500/mo) |
| HQ | San Francisco, USA | San Francisco, USA |
| Founded | 2014 | 2017 |
Postman
The most complete option for teams that need authoring, automation, and CI in one place.
www.postman.com/Kong
Top choice for raw performance and extensibility, especially in Kubernetes environments.
konghq.com/See full entry in The 11 Best API Management Tools and Platforms (2026)
Methodology and scoring weights live at /methodology. No vendor pays for placement — see about.