Kong
Up to $100,000 in Kong Konnect credits
Save up to $100,000
Developer & ITCloud-native API gateway and service connectivity platform.
Who can claim it
Pre-seed to Series A startups with under $10M raised, in production or launching within 6 months. Credits last 12 months, then 50% off Konnect Plus for 24 months. Kong reviews each application.
Questions
What do I get from the Kong for Startups program?
Kong offers up to $100,000 in Konnect Plus credits, valid for 12 months from when they land in your Konnect organization. Most early-stage startups receive between $25K and $100K upfront. After that you pay 50% of Konnect Plus list pricing for 24 months. Unused credits do not roll over.
How much does Kong Konnect Plus cost beyond the base price?
Kong's pricing page lists 1 million API requests a month as included and $200 a month for each additional 1 million, up to 10 million. A serverless control plane is $25 a month, a hybrid control plane $200, and extra published APIs cost $20 or $10 a month each depending on how many you have.
Who is eligible for Kong for Startups?
Kong says early-stage AI and API startups, typically pre-seed through Series A with under $10M in total funding, in production or launching within 6 months. Y Combinator companies are pre-qualified, and existing Kong customers can apply. Kong makes final decisions based on program capacity and applicant fit.
How long does approval take and how do I apply?
Open this deal's claim link as a Premium member, then use the application form on Kong's startup program page. It takes about 5 minutes. Kong typically replies within 5 business days, and credits land in your Konnect organization within 24 hours of acceptance.
Can Kong run without a database?
Yes. DB-less mode takes a declarative YAML or JSON file, keeps entities in memory and makes the Admin API read-only. Plugins that store data in a database, such as cluster-mode rate limiting, do not fully work in that mode.
Does Kong support rate limiting?
Yes. The Rate Limiting plugin supports second, minute, hour, day, month and year windows and returns HTTP 429 when a limit is exceeded. It offers local, cluster and redis counter policies. The cluster policy is not supported in hybrid mode or on Konnect.