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Kong AI Gateway vs Okta for AI Agents

Kong AI Gateway

Gateway that governs LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent traffic

Okta for AI Agents

Okta offering that gives AI agents a first-class identity so organizations can discover, onboard, protect, and govern them

Short answer

Kong AI Gateway is a gateway for LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent traffic; Okta says Okta for AI Agents gives AI agents a first-class identity, registering them and letting admins define what each can access.⁠Source 1, Source 2, Source 3, Source 4, Source 5 Kong announced its gateway GA, with its Catalog inventory in beta; Okta announced its own GA, with Agent Gateway in preview.⁠Source 6, Source 7, Source 8, Source 9

By Blocks.ai teamLast checked

Where each one sits

Six layers of running AI agents at a company, and what each product’s own public sources say it covers.

These aren’t the same kind of product

Where they overlap
Both can decide who may call an agent (for Okta, agents added by hand), control access to MCP servers, and log agent events.⁠Source 2, Source 5, Source 6, Source 10, Source 11, Source 12, Source 13
Where they differ
Kong sits in the traffic path and also proxies LLM calls; Okta gives agents identities and credentials, can assign them owners, and issues their tokens.⁠Source 2, Source 3, Source 5, Source 8, Source 12, Source 14, Source 15, Source 16
Running both
Okta for AI Agents is a separate subscription.⁠Source 3, Source 17, Source 18 Kong’s Agent Gateway, which Kong says is built into Kong AI Gateway, is a different feature from Okta’s Agent Gateway (preview).⁠Source 19, Source 20
Public sources · checked 2 October 2026
  • Offered
  • Preview
  • Not publicly documented

Kong AI Gateway

  • Build agents: Not publicly documented
  • Host and run agents: Not publicly documented
  • Identity and access: OfferedPer-agent allow or deny lists⁠Source 10
  • Registry and governance: PreviewKonnect Catalog agents⁠Source 7
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: OfferedGateway for LLM, MCP, A2A⁠Source 1
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

Okta for AI Agents

  • Build agents: Not publicly documented
  • Host and run agents: Not publicly documented
  • Identity and access: OfferedAgent identity and credentials⁠Source 12
  • Registry and governance: OfferedUniversal Directory with human owners⁠Source 15
  • Traffic between agents, tools, and models: PreviewAgent Gateway for MCP tools⁠Source 20
  • Agents across organizations: Not publicly documented

At a glance

TopicKong AI GatewayOkta for AI Agents
What it isA gateway: LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent traffic flows through one data plane, with shared authentication, observability, and policy.⁠Source 1, Source 2Okta says it gives AI agents a first-class identity, registered in Universal Directory alongside workforce users.⁠Source 3, Source 15
Where it runsIn 2.x, Konnect manages the control plane and you run the data plane nodes.⁠Source 2 Kong says AI Gateway runs on premises, in any cloud, or in hybrid configurations.⁠Source 19In an Okta org subscribed to it.⁠Source 17 Agent Gateway, in preview, has an Okta-hosted URL.⁠Source 21
Agent registryIn 2.x, agents are added as entities scoped to one gateway instance.⁠Source 2, Source 10 Konnect Catalog’s organization-wide agent inventory is in beta, and Kong says not to use it in production.⁠Source 7Agents are registered by hand or imported from builder platforms, and admins see them all in one list.⁠Source 4
Pricing modelAI Management Plus from $25 a month plus usage; control planes are $200 a month hybrid, $500 Dedicated Cloud, or $25 serverless.⁠Source 22 Enterprise is custom, billed annually.⁠Source 22Okta says it is a separate subscription, listed as an add-on to Okta suite plans.⁠Source 3, Source 18 A list price is not publicly documented.
Generally availableVersion 2.0 as of 1 September 2026; version 2.2.0 was released on 30 September 2026.⁠Source 6, Source 23GA announced in a post dated 29 April 2026.⁠Source 8 Agent Gateway is in preview; Okta said its research release could be requested as of 22 July 2026.⁠Source 9

What each one is

Kong AI Gateway

Kong AI Gateway governs LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent (A2A) traffic through one data plane, with shared authentication, observability, and policy.⁠Source 1, Source 2 In 2.x, an agent is added as an AI Agent entity, which exposes it at a gateway endpoint and can carry policies.⁠Source 10, Source 24

Okta for AI Agents

Okta for AI Agents, sold as a separate Okta subscription, helps an organization discover, manage, and secure the AI agent lifecycle in its Okta org.⁠Source 3, Source 13, Source 18 Okta says agents sit in Universal Directory alongside workforce users, and admins set what each agent can access.⁠Source 5, Source 15

The differences that matter

  1. Where access is checked

    Kong AI Gateway

    In 2.x, data plane nodes you run evaluate traffic against the control plane’s policies and forward allowed traffic to upstream services, such as an agent.⁠Source 2, Source 10

    Okta for AI Agents

    For agent-to-agent calls, Okta checks configured rules and issues expiring, resource-scoped tokens; the calling agent sends its token to the agent it calls.⁠Source 16, Source 17

    Okta’s Agent Gateway, in preview, validates the agent and the user behind it on each MCP tool call made through it.⁠Source 9, Source 20

  2. Keeping track of agents

    Kong AI Gateway

    AI Agent entities are scoped to one gateway instance; Konnect Catalog’s organization-wide agent inventory is in beta, not for production use.⁠Source 2, Source 7

    Okta for AI Agents

    Agents can be registered by hand or imported from builder platforms, and can be given human owners.⁠Source 4, Source 12

    In Okta’s docs, agent discovery comes from Okta Identity Security Posture Management (ISPM), which the full SKU includes.⁠Source 15, Source 25 An owner field on Kong’s AI Agent entity is not publicly documented.

  3. Beyond calls between agents

    Kong AI Gateway

    Kong also proxies calls to major LLM providers through one API, and can turn REST APIs into MCP tools.⁠Source 2, Source 14

    Okta for AI Agents

    Okta’s docs say access requests and certifications for agents and their linked apps use Okta Identity Governance, an add-on.⁠Source 18, Source 26

    Okta’s docs say access requests and access certifications for agents and their linked apps use Okta Identity Governance, which Okta’s pricing page lists as an add-on.⁠Source 18, Source 26

For security teams

What a security review asks, answered from each vendor’s public documentation.

TopicKong AI GatewayOkta for AI Agents
Network exposureIn 2.x, data plane nodes you run proxy to each agent’s URL and authenticate to the control plane over mTLS.⁠Source 2, Source 10Whether an agent needs an inbound endpoint is not publicly documented. Agent Gateway, in preview, has an Okta-hosted URL.⁠Source 21
IdentityAgents can require callers to use an API key or OpenID Connect, including through Azure AD or Google.⁠Source 10, Source 27Manually added agents identify with a client secret, key pair, or metadata document; agent-to-agent tokens are resource-scoped and expire.⁠Source 12, Source 16
Access changes and revocationEach agent has an enabled switch; Request Termination or deny lists block callers.⁠Source 10, Source 28, Source 29 Nodes keep their last config without Konnect.⁠Source 2Okta says deactivating an agent immediately blocks new sessions.⁠Source 30 Removing a resource connection denies future access requests to that resource.⁠Source 31
Audit trailKong says you can keep tamper-evident audit trails of every A2A call, including caller identity and outcomes.⁠Source 19Agent events land in Okta’s System Log, and log streaming sends them to Amazon EventBridge or Splunk Cloud.⁠Source 13, Source 32
Compliance2.2+ FIPS mode: FIPS 140-3 algorithms only, not NIST-validated.⁠Source 33 Kong Inc. lists ISO 27001 and SOC 2 (report under NDA).⁠Source 34Okta says its Core SKU is GA for FedRAMP and HIPAA environments and Okta holds SOC 2 and ISO 27001.⁠Source 35, Source 36

Full comparison

18 criteria in five groups. Every cell links to its source, or says no public source answers it.

Kong AI Gateway and Okta for AI Agents compared on 18 criteria
Kong AI GatewayOkta for AI Agents
What it is
What it is and who it’s forOne gateway for LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent (A2A) traffic.⁠Source 1, Source 2 Kong’s docs say it secures, governs, and observes AI-native systems.⁠Source 14Helps an organization discover, manage, and secure the AI agent lifecycle in its Okta org, giving agents a first-class identity.⁠Source 3, Source 13
MaturityVersion 2.0 announced generally available on 1 September 2026; 2.2.0 released 30 September 2026.⁠Source 6, Source 23 Konnect Catalog’s agent inventory is in beta.⁠Source 7GA announced in a post dated 29 April 2026.⁠Source 8 Agent Gateway is in preview; Okta said its research release could be requested as of 22 July 2026.⁠Source 9
Control
Agent registry and discoveryIn 2.x, agents are added as AI Agent entities, of type A2A or HTTP, scoped to one gateway instance.⁠Source 2, Source 10 Konnect Catalog’s agent inventory is in beta.⁠Source 7Agents are registered by hand or imported from builder platforms; admins see them in one list.⁠Source 4
Identity and access controlAn agent can require API key or OpenID Connect authentication and an allow or deny list, enforced before traffic reaches it.⁠Source 10An agent added by hand identifies with a client secret, key pair, or metadata document; admins list which apps, services, and agents may call it.⁠Source 12
Ownership, policy, and revocationAgent policies include input validation, logging, and rate limits.⁠Source 10 Kong’s AI PII Sanitizer scrubs requests to AI models: a Plus add-on, included on Enterprise.⁠Source 22, Source 37Agents added by hand: optional owners, up to five individuals.⁠Source 12 Okta says admins can deactivate an agent or connection, and set which agents may call others.⁠Source 9, Source 30, Source 31
Audit log and observabilityA2A audit logs record task IDs, method calls, latencies, and errors, and telemetry can flow to Konnect analytics, logging plugins, and OpenTelemetry.⁠Source 10, Source 11Agent events land in Okta’s System Log, streamable to EventBridge or Splunk Cloud.⁠Source 13, Source 32 Okta says it logs the delegation chain of agent-to-agent calls.⁠Source 38
Connection
How agents connectIn 2.x, data plane nodes you run forward allowed traffic to upstream services, such as an agent’s URL.⁠Source 2, Source 10 The control plane is never in that path.⁠Source 2Okta issues tokens; a calling agent sends its token to the agent it calls.⁠Source 16, Source 17 Agent Gateway, in preview, can be an agent’s remote MCP server endpoint.⁠Source 21
Agents across organizationsNot publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)Not publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)
Protocol supportDetects A2A requests over JSON-RPC and REST.⁠Source 10 An MCP server entity can proxy MCP servers or turn REST APIs into MCP tools; four MCP revisions are accepted.⁠Source 2, Source 39MCP servers can be agent resources.⁠Source 5 Agent-to-agent calls use Cross App Access token exchange.⁠Source 17 Okta for AI Agents’ docs don’t mention the A2A protocol.
Frameworks, models, and clouds supportedKong says it governs A2A traffic without changing how agents are built.⁠Source 19 Agents that don’t speak A2A can be proxied as plain HTTP.⁠Source 10Okta says it manages agents from any vendor.⁠Source 9 Its docs cover in-house agents built with code such as Python or LangChain.⁠Source 40
Operations
Deployment options and data residency2.x: a Konnect-managed control plane in a region you choose, data plane nodes you run.⁠Source 2, Source 41 Kong also sells Kong-managed Dedicated Cloud and serverless gateways.⁠Source 22, Source 42, Source 43A subscription on an Okta org.⁠Source 17 Okta says the Core SKU registers agents inside the org’s regulated cell.⁠Source 35 Agent Gateway, in preview, has an Okta-hosted URL.⁠Source 21
Compliance attestationsFrom 2.2, FIPS mode uses only FIPS 140-3 approved algorithms; not submitted for NIST validation.⁠Source 33 Kong lists ISO 27001, SOC 2, and PCI DSS for Kong Inc.⁠Source 34Okta says its Core SKU is GA for FedRAMP and HIPAA environments, and the full SKU for HIPAA.⁠Source 15, Source 35 Okta says the company holds SOC 2 and ISO 27001 certifications.⁠Source 36
Support and SLAKonnect targets 99.9% availability; Dedicated Cloud Gateways list a 99.99% SLA, serverless gateways none.⁠Source 22 Enterprise support SLAs: 30 min to 2 hours.⁠Source 22Okta suites include online support 24 hours a day, five days a week.⁠Source 18 Premier Success Plans are sold separately.⁠Source 18
Time and effort to get runningA quickstart script creates a Konnect control plane and a local Docker data plane.⁠Source 14 You then add each agent as an AI Agent entity and attach policies.⁠Source 24Needs an Okta org subscribed to the product.⁠Source 17 Okta lists prebuilt integrations with Salesforce Agentforce, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore, and ServiceNow AI Platform.⁠Source 8
Pricing model and public pricesPlus: from $25 a month plus usage; per control plane, $200 hybrid, $500 Dedicated Cloud, $25 serverless.⁠Source 22 Enterprise: custom, billed annually.⁠Source 22Okta says it is a separate subscription, listed as an add-on to Okta suite plans.⁠Source 3, Source 18 A list price is not publicly documented.
Building
Agent building toolsKong says it can generate MCP tools and servers from Kong-managed APIs.⁠Source 1 Tools for building agents in Kong AI Gateway are not publicly documented.Not publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)
Model accessConnects to major LLM providers through one API, including OpenAI, Anthropic, Gemini, Amazon Bedrock, and Mistral.⁠Source 14, Source 44Not publicly documented (checked 2 October 2026)
Integrations and ecosystemA Policies Hub of AI Gateway policies and integrations.⁠Source 28 An AI Vault can use AWS, GCP, Azure, or HashiCorp Vault as a secrets backend.⁠Source 2Can import agents from platforms such as Salesforce Agentforce.⁠Source 45 Okta lists Slack among apps with out-of-the-box Cross App Access support.⁠Source 3

Which to choose

Choose Kong AI Gateway if

  • You want one gateway for LLM, MCP, and agent-to-agent traffic, with shared authentication, observability, and policy.⁠Source 1, Source 2
  • You want to require authentication for an agent and enforce an allow or deny list before traffic reaches it.⁠Source 10
  • You want the data plane on your own nodes: in 2.x, Kong’s control plane is never in the path of your traffic.⁠Source 2
  • Your agents call several LLM providers, and you want one API to switch or combine them.⁠Source 14, Source 44

Choose Okta for AI Agents if

  • You want agents registered in Universal Directory, which Okta says puts them alongside workforce users, with owners you can assign.⁠Source 12, Source 15
  • You want agents from builder platforms such as Salesforce Agentforce and AWS Bedrock imported into one directory.⁠Source 4, Source 45
  • You want to cut a single resource connection, and certify agents’ access through Okta Identity Governance, an add-on.⁠Source 18, Source 26, Source 31
  • You want policies that, Okta says, name exactly which agents may call other agents, with resource-scoped tokens that expire.⁠Source 9, Source 16

Questions buyers ask

Do Kong AI Gateway and Okta for AI Agents support MCP and A2A?

Kong detects A2A requests over JSON-RPC and REST, and its MCP server entity can proxy MCP servers or turn REST APIs into MCP tools.⁠Source 2, Source 10 Okta can grant access to MCP-protected resources.⁠Source 5 Okta for AI Agents’ docs don’t mention the A2A protocol.

How is each one priced?

On Kong’s Plus plan, AI Management starts at $25 a month plus usage, and a hybrid AI gateway control plane is $200 a month; Enterprise is custom.⁠Source 22 Okta says Okta for AI Agents is a separate subscription.⁠Source 3 Its list price is not publicly documented.

Are Kong’s Agent Gateway and Okta’s Agent Gateway the same thing?

Kong says its Agent Gateway, built into Kong AI Gateway, governs A2A traffic.⁠Source 19 Okta’s Agent Gateway, a different feature in preview, puts tools from several remote MCP servers behind one Okta-secured endpoint and checks each tool call.⁠Source 20

Can either one connect agents across organizations?

Bringing in agents that another organization owns, with access that organization controls, is not publicly documented for either one. Kong proxies traffic to an agent at its upstream URL.⁠Source 10 Okta’s docs describe managing agents in the customer’s own org.⁠Source 13

How we compare

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Sources

50 public sources, each with the date we checked it. Every one opens in a new tab.

  1. Source 1: Kong AI Gateway product page Kong · checked Back:abcdefg

  2. Source 2: AI Gateway architecture - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:abcdefghijklmnopqrstuv

  3. Source 3: Okta brings first-class identity to AI agents with Agent SSO Okta · checked Back:abcdefghij

  4. Source 4: Add and register AI agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcde

  5. Source 5: AI agent resource connections (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdef

  6. Source 6: Kong AI Gateway 2.0 Is Now GA - And It's Already Moving Faster Kong · checked Back:abcd

  7. Source 7: Agents in Catalog - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:abcdef

  8. Source 8: Okta for AI Agents is now generally available Okta · checked Back:abcde

  9. Source 9: Okta announces new innovations to secure AI agents at runtime and automate ongoing agent governance Okta · checked Back:abcdefg

  10. Source 10: AI Agents - Kong AI Gateway docs Kong · checked Back:abcdefghijklmnopqr

  11. Source 11: Route A2A traffic through AI Gateway - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  12. Source 12: Add AI agents manually (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdefgh

  13. Source 13: Okta for AI Agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcdef

  14. Source 14: Kong AI Gateway | Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:abcdef

  15. Source 15: Okta for AI Agents (product page) Okta · checked Back:abcdefg

  16. Source 16: Agent-to-agent connections (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcde

  17. Source 17: Set up AI agent token exchange (Okta Developer) Okta · checked Back:abcdefg

  18. Source 18: Plans & pricing (Okta) Okta · checked Back:abcdefghi

  19. Source 19: The Agent Gateway for Secure, Observable Agent-to-Agent Communication (Kong) Kong · checked Back:abcde

  20. Source 20: Agent Gateway (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcd

  21. Source 21: Add an Agent Gateway (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abcd

  22. Source 22: Kong Pricing & Plans Kong · checked Back:abcdefghi

  23. Source 23: Kong AI Gateway changelog - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  24. Source 24: Route A2A agent traffic through AI Gateway - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  25. Source 25: Discover and assess AI agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back to text

  26. Source 26: Govern access to AI agents (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abc

  27. Source 27: AI Auth Strategies - Kong AI Gateway docs Kong · checked Back to text

  28. Source 28: Kong AI Gateway Policies - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  29. Source 29: Request Termination - Configuration Reference - Policy | Kong Docs Kong · checked Back to text

  30. Source 30: New Okta for AI Agents innovations increase visibility into agent behavior, secure connections at runtime, and enforce continuous agent governance Okta · checked Back:ab

  31. Source 31: Connect AI agents to resources (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:abc

  32. Source 32: Log streaming (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:ab

  33. Source 33: FIPS 140-3 compliance in AI Gateway - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  34. Source 34: Trust Center - Kong Inc. Kong · checked Back:ab

  35. Source 35: Okta is the first independent and neutral identity platform to bring AI agent governance to highly regulated environments Okta · checked Back:abc

  36. Source 36: Okta Security Trust Center | Powered by SafeBase Okta · checked Back:ab

  37. Source 37: AI PII Sanitizer - Policy | Kong Docs Kong · checked Back to text

  38. Source 38: Securing your multi-agent workflows with Agent-to-Agent Connections Okta · checked Back to text

  39. Source 39: MCP version support - Kong AI Gateway docs Kong · checked Back to text

  40. Source 40: Apps that support AI agent imports (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back to text

  41. Source 41: Geographic regions - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back to text

  42. Source 42: Dedicated Cloud Gateways - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back to text

  43. Source 43: Serverless Gateways - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back to text

  44. Source 44: AI Gateway providers - Kong Docs Kong · checked Back:ab

  45. Source 45: AI agent imports (Okta Help Center) Okta · checked Back:ab

  46. Source 46: Your company's private network Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  47. Source 47: Network requirements Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  48. Source 48: Solutions: Agent sprawl Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  49. Source 49: Solutions: Partner networks Blocks.ai · checked Back to text

  50. Source 50: Pricing Blocks.ai · checked Back to text