Best MetalLB Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 tools from load balancing software ranked against MetalLB on the same published basis.
- 1MetalLB vs F5 BIG-IP APM
- 2MetalLB vs Loadbalancer.org Enterprise
- 3MetalLB vs VMware Workstation Pro
- 4MetalLB vs Progress Kemp LoadMaster
- 5MetalLB vs A10 Thunder ADC
- 6MetalLB vs AWS Elastic Load Balancing
- 7MetalLB vs Vultr Block Storage
- 8MetalLB vs HAProxy Community Edition
- 10MetalLB vs OpenELB
- 11MetalLB vs Radware Alteon
- 12MetalLB vs Citrix ADC (now NetScaler)
- 13MetalLB vs Google Cloud Load Balancing
- 14MetalLB vs HAProxy Enterprise
- 15MetalLB vs kube-vip
- 16MetalLB vs PureLB
- 17MetalLB vs Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer
- 18MetalLB vs DigitalOcean Load Balancers
- 19MetalLB vs Hetzner Cloud Volumes
- 20MetalLB vs Array APV
- 21MetalLB vs Cloudflare Load Balancing
MetalLB alternatives compared
| # | Tool | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | F5 BIG-IP APM | 7.7 | No | — | Android, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 2 | Loadbalancer.org Enterprise | 7.0 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 3 | VMware Workstation Pro | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 4 | Progress Kemp LoadMaster | 6.9 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 5 | A10 Thunder ADC | 6.8 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 6 | AWS Elastic Load Balancing | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | API, Web |
| 7 | Vultr Block Storage | 6.7 | No | $0.03/mo | API, Linux, Web, Windows |
| 8 | HAProxy Community Edition | 6.6 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 10 | OpenELB | 6.5 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 11 | Radware Alteon | 6.5 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 12 | Citrix ADC (now NetScaler) | 6.3 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 13 | Google Cloud Load Balancing | 6.2 | No | — | API, Web |
| 14 | HAProxy Enterprise | 6.2 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 15 | kube-vip | 6.2 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 16 | PureLB | 6.2 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 17 | Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer | 6.1 | No | $0.01/mo | Web |
| 18 | DigitalOcean Load Balancers | 6.0 | No | $12/mo | Web |
| 19 | Hetzner Cloud Volumes | 6.0 | No | — | Web |
| 20 | Array APV | 5.9 | No | — | Web, Linux |
| 21 | Cloudflare Load Balancing | 5.9 | No | $5/mo | Web |
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Questions about MetalLB alternatives
What is the best alternative to MetalLB?
F5 BIG-IP APM, number 1 in load balancing software with a score of 7.7 out of 10. The others here: Loadbalancer.org Enterprise, VMware Workstation Pro, Progress Kemp LoadMaster and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to MetalLB?
VMware Workstation Pro is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 3 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing.