kgateway vs Traefik Proxy
kgateway
kgateway.dev
Traefik Proxy
traefik.ioSide by side
| Figure | kgateway | Traefik Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Kubernetes Ingress Controllers | 7.0 (#22) | 8.2 (#6) |
| Founded | 2018 | 2016 |
| Integrations | Documented integrations include Istio, AWS load balancers, Argo Rollouts, ExternalDNS, cert-manager, and OpenTelemetry. | The project identifies Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, Consul, Etcd, Rancher and Amazon ECS among its supported infrastructure integrations. |
| Purpose | Kgateway is a Kubernetes-native ingress controller and API gateway control plane that configures an Envoy data plane using the Kubernetes Gateway API. | Traefik is an open-source reverse proxy and ingress controller for deploying services and APIs. |
| Security | Documented security features include TLS and mTLS, external authentication, API keys, JWT, OAuth2/OIDC, IP access control, and rate limiting. | Traefik provides automatic HTTPS, Let’s Encrypt support, custom certificates, authentication, and Web Application Firewall support. |
| Support | Solo offers free community support through its Gloo Community and public GitHub repository. | Traefik Labs offers commercial support with expert assistance available 24/7/365. |
Plans
Traefik Proxy
- Traefik ProxyFree
- Traefik Proxy Open SourceFree
- Traefik Hub API GatewayPriced on request
- Traefik Hub API ManagementPriced on request
In their own words
Traefik Proxy
Traefik Proxy is a free, open-source reverse proxy and ingress controller for deploying services and APIs. It discovers services and adjusts routing dynamically, supporting HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, TCP, UDP, WebSockets, and gRPC. Traffic controls include Layer 4 and Layer 7 routing, mirroring, blue-green and canary deployments, stickiness, and active health checks. Security options include automatic HTTPS, Let’s Encrypt, custom certificates, authentication, and Web Application Firewall support. Integrations span Kubernetes, Docker, Docker Swarm, Red Hat OpenShift, Rancher, Amazon ECS, Consul, and key-value stores. It supports deployment on environments including Kubernetes distributions, virtual machines, bare metal, Docker Swarm, and HashiCorp Nomad. Observability includes OpenTelemetry, a built-in dashboard, distributed tracing, and metrics integrations. WebAssembly plugins and a public plugin catalog provide extension options. Traefik Proxy is self-hosted and listed for Linux, macOS, and Windows. The plan is free; Traefik Labs also offers commercial support with expert assistance available 24/7/365.