NGINX Gateway Fabric vs Traefik Proxy
NGINX Gateway Fabric
docs.nginx.com
Traefik Proxy
traefik.ioSide by side
| Figure | NGINX Gateway Fabric | Traefik Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | 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 | 7.4 (#16) | 8.2 (#6) |
| Integrations | The documentation describes monitoring with Prometheus and Grafana and tracing with OpenTelemetry collectors, including Jaeger examples. | The project identifies Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, Consul, Etcd, Rancher and Amazon ECS among its supported infrastructure integrations. |
| Purpose | NGINX Gateway Fabric implements the Kubernetes Gateway API using NGINX as the data plane for load balancing, reverse proxying, and API gateway use cases. | Traefik is an open-source reverse proxy and ingress controller for deploying services and APIs. |
| Support | The support page directs users to GitHub issues and the NGINX Community Forum, and says users can contact F5 Sales for dedicated support or NGINX Plus features. | Traefik Labs offers commercial support with expert assistance available 24/7/365. |
Plans
NGINX Gateway Fabric
- NGINX Gateway Fabric (NGINX Open Source data plane)Free
Traefik Proxy
- Traefik ProxyFree
- Traefik Proxy Open SourceFree
- Traefik Hub API GatewayPriced on request
- Traefik Hub API ManagementPriced on request
In their own words
NGINX Gateway Fabric
NGINX Gateway Fabric is a self-hosted Kubernetes implementation of the Gateway API, using NGINX as its data plane for load balancing, reverse proxying, and API gateway use cases. Its control plane translates Gateway API resources into NGINX configuration. Supported resource coverage includes GatewayClass, Gateway, HTTPRoute, GRPCRoute, ReferenceGrant, TLSRoute, TCPRoute, UDPRoute, and BackendTLSPolicy, though the support level varies by resource. Traffic features include HTTP and TLS routing, redirects, rewrites, request mirroring, session persistence, and rate limiting. Security documentation covers HTTPS with cert-manager, mutual TLS, basic authentication, OpenID Connect, external authentication, and JWT authentication. Monitoring examples use Prometheus and Grafana; tracing uses OpenTelemetry collectors, including Jaeger examples. The free NGINX Open Source data-plane plan costs nothing. Installation is available through Helm from an OCI registry or from source, with Gateway API resources installed beforehand. Version 2.7.2 requires Kubernetes 1.32 or later; documented images are available for amd64 and arm64. Support is directed to GitHub issues and the NGINX Community Forum.
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.