OpenELB vs Progress Kemp LoadMaster

OpenELB exposes Kubernetes LoadBalancer services externally in bare-metal, edge, and virtualization environments. It assigns service addresses from Eip-managed IP pools and supports BGP, Layer 2, and VIP load-balancing modes. BGP mode uses GoBGP to publish routes to peer routers and supports ECMP, while BgpConf and BgpPeer custom resources configure BGP properties. Layer 2 mode requires infrastructure that permits anonymous ARP/NDP packets. VIP mode uses VRRP for high availability. OpenELB can be installed with kubectl manifests or Helm 3 in Kubernetes 1.15 or later, and guides are listed for Kubernetes, K3s, and KubeSphere. The project currently supports IPv4 only and is not a managed service. Layer 2 and VIP modes forward through one active node, so failover can briefly interrupt services and bandwidth is limited by that node. BGP requires a router supporting BGP and ECMP. OpenELB uses Apache License 2.0.

Progress Kemp LoadMaster is an application delivery controller and server load balancer for managing application and user traffic. Its routing and delivery features include Layer 4 and Layer 7 balancing, persistence, health checks, SSL acceleration and offloading, and rule-based content switching. An integrated WAF covers protections such as OWASP Top Ten risks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and denial of service; other access controls include reverse proxy, single sign-on, pre-authentication, dual-factor authentication, IPS, and SSL bridging. GEO policies can direct clients to datacenters by location or proximity and support failover and failback. Progress offers hardware, virtual, and cloud forms, with on-premises and cloud deployment options. Cloud licenses can be pay-per-use, charged only for usage consumed, or perpetual BYOL. The temporary trial costs nothing for 30 days on the VLM-MAX model with Enterprise Plus Support, including ESP, WAF, and GEO. When that license expires, LoadMaster ceases to function; some features may also be lost if a permanent license has a different support tier.