# KIC Helm charts don't upgrade Gateway above version 3.9 **URL:** \ **Category:** Questions\ **Tags:** kubernetes\ **Created:** [March 12, 2026, 11:14am UTC](https://discuss.konghq.com/t/kic-helm-charts-dont-upgrade-gateway-above-version-3-9/13895 "2026-03-12T11:14:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MColombo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MColombo](https://discuss.konghq.com/u/MColombo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 11:14am UTC](https://discuss.konghq.com/t/kic-helm-charts-dont-upgrade-gateway-above-version-3-9/13895/1 "2026-03-12T11:14:47Z")
We use Kong Ingress Controller installed in our k8s clusters following the standard documentation here [How to: Install Kong Ingress Controller | Kong Docs](https://developer.konghq.com/kubernetes-ingress-controller/install/) However I noticed that the latest Helm chart for “kong/ingress” will continue installing the ingress gateway to version 3.9 (latest is I believe 3.13). I would like to understand how we can upgrade to a version that uses a new version of the Ingress gateway, to avoid ending up in a situation where the product doesn’t get any new security patches and upgrades. Should we just increase the version of the gateway image in the values file? What would then be the compatibility matrix with the ingress controller? On a side note, I noticed in some hidden corner of the KIC documentation that new feature requests should be addressed to the Kong Operator rather than KIC directly. Is KIC being abandoned? Should we move to the Kong Operator, and if that is the case will it allow installing gateway above version 3.9? If switching to Kong Operator is the correct thing to do, is there a way to do it with no interruption, or will we need to remove the old KIC installation first and then add the Operator one? Thanks all in advance for any intel you can provide M ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Davies](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex036/user_avatar/discuss.konghq.com/justin_davies/32/5117_2.png) [@Justin\_Davies](https://discuss.konghq.com/u/Justin_Davies)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2026, 3:13pm UTC](https://discuss.konghq.com/t/kic-helm-charts-dont-upgrade-gateway-above-version-3-9/13895/2 "2026-03-12T15:13:09Z")
Hi there, Thanks for your question. You are correct that you can change the Gateway image version in the helm values. For Gateway 3.10 and above, you will need to make sure you have a license installed if you do not already. Regarding the KIC and Gateway support matrix you can see them here: [Kong Ingress Controller version support policy | Kong Docs](https://developer.konghq.com/kubernetes-ingress-controller/support/) All new development and feature will now be landing on Kong Operator, but we will still continue to support KIC (see the version support policy above for the timelines). We have documentation on the KIC to Kong Operator migration here: > **[Migrating from Kong Ingress Controller to Kong Operator 2.0.0 - Kong Operator...](https://developer.konghq.com/operator/migrate/migrate-kic-to-ko/)** > > Complete migration guide from Kong Ingress Controller (KIC) to Kong Operator (KO) 2.0.0. Many thanks, Justin ---
**Author:** ![MColombo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@MColombo](https://discuss.konghq.com/u/MColombo)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2026, 9:59am UTC](https://discuss.konghq.com/t/kic-helm-charts-dont-upgrade-gateway-above-version-3-9/13895/3 "2026-03-13T09:59:34Z")
Thanks a lot Justin for the rapid and very clear answer. We will decide how to proceed. Incidentally, thanks for mentioning the license factor for versions 3.10 onwards. I completely missed that. I did a bit of spelunking but aside from a couple of quick forum posts, I did not find anything regarding that… do you happen to know whether there is any announcement, blog post or anything from Kong explaining that after version 3.9 a license is required? As a TL;DR I would expect that therefore the last truly OSS version of Kong Gateway is 3.9 (and I presume also the last freely available version, correct?) That is a pity but I guess so it goes 🙂 Thanks again Mattia ---
**Author:** ![nwtapmrdic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/dec6dc/32.png) [@nwtapmrdic](https://discuss.konghq.com/u/nwtapmrdic)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2026, 10:20pm UTC](https://discuss.konghq.com/t/kic-helm-charts-dont-upgrade-gateway-above-version-3-9/13895/5 "2026-03-15T22:20:35Z")
Thanks a lot Justin for the rapid and very clear answer. We will decide how to proceed.