Kong Konnect is a SaaS-based API lifecycle management platform designed to simplify the operation of Kong Gateway instances by offering a scalable, highly-available architecture and an Enterprise-class feature set. It provides key benefits such as simplified operations through SaaS-hosted control planes called Runtime Groups with a 99.99% SLA, governance capabilities for managing multiple gateway deployments, and additional services like a Service Hub, API Portal, and API Analytics. Migrating from Kong's open-source gateway to Konnect involves three straightforward steps: extracting the existing configuration, syncing it to a Konnect Runtime Group, and registering the gateway with Konnect. This migration process allows users to rapidly achieve a production-ready, distributed API gateway while benefitting from enhanced governance and operational capabilities. Konnect also offers a free tier to support the open-source community, providing a fast and efficient way to deploy, secure, and manage APIs across various environments.