OpenRouter vs Kong

Both are infra-native FDE seats — routing and gateway work instead of building agents. OpenRouter is the startup-default LLM router with a reported Stripe deal pending; Kong is the API-gateway incumbent with a posted band and a full remote ladder.

	OpenRouter	Kong
Open roles	1	1
Comp on board	Undisclosed	$200K–$300K (Glassdoor employer-provided, Staff/Sr. Staff levels)
FDE type	Solutions engineering	Solutions engineering
Travel	Medium	Medium
Comp	Undisclosed	Competitive
Stage	Late-stage	Late-stage
Our take	Infra-native FDE at the default LLM router — routing, fallback and cost work instead of agent-building, with a reported Stripe acquisition hanging over the equity story.	The API-gateway incumbent runs a full FDE ladder — Kubernetes, Terraform and migrations, not prompts — with a posted $200K–$300K band and US-remote seats.

Bottom line

Choose Kong for disclosed pay ($200K–$300K), US-remote seats and a Staff-level ladder built on Kubernetes and migrations. Choose OpenRouter to sit at the center of LLM traffic in the Bay Area, but get the equity terms in writing before the acquisition closes.