Pomerium vs Traefik Proxy
Pomerium
pomerium.com
Traefik Proxy
traefik.ioSide by side
| Figure | Pomerium | Traefik Proxy |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $7/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 4 |
| Spec score · Reverse Proxy Software | 8.9 (#3) | 8.3 (#10) |
| Documentation depth | Documentation includes fundamentals courses, deployment guides, configuration reference, API reference, integrations and troubleshooting material. | Documentation includes personas, core concepts, getting-started guides, provider configuration, API/dashboard reference and product comparison material. |
| Extensibility | Official integrations include a Terraform provider, Kubernetes Ingress Controller, CLI/Desktop clients and Go and JavaScript SDKs. | Traefik supports WebAssembly plugins and provides a public plugin catalog. |
| Founded | Pomerium's company history records its founding in 2019 by Bobby, who wrote the original code. | 2016 |
| Integrations | Listed integrations include Grafana, Kubernetes, Okta, Cloud Run, Docker, Google Kubernetes Engine, FleetDM, BambooHR, Auth0, Azure Active Directory, GitHub, GitLab, Google Workspace, OneLogin, OpenID Connect, and Ping Identity. | The project identifies Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, Consul, Etcd, Rancher and Amazon ECS among its supported infrastructure integrations. |
| Kubernetes support | The Ingress Controller provisions routes from Kubernetes Ingress resources and sets policy through annotations. | The Kubernetes quick start supports Helm installation, IngressRoute CRDs, standard Ingress resources and Gateway API routing. |
| Limit: learning curve | G2 reviewers mention a steep learning curve and complexity for newcomers configuring the many available options. | G2 and Capterra reviewers say the flexibility creates a learning curve and makes initial configuration difficult. |
| Protocols | The product site lists HTTP, MCP, SSH, gRPC, TCP and UDP access patterns. | Traefik Proxy supports WebSockets, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, TCP, UDP and gRPC traffic. |
| Public API | The Pomerium API manages configuration resources including keys, policies, routes, service accounts and settings. | The API exposes read endpoints for routers, services, middlewares, entrypoints, configuration data, health information and version details. |
| Rating on G2 | 4.8 out of 5 from 12 reviews. | 4.6 out of 5 from 35 reviews |
| Support | The pricing page lists community forum, email support, dedicated Slack channel, phone support, and dedicated customer success manager options. | Traefik Labs offers commercial support with expert assistance available 24/7/365. |
| What it does | Pomerium is an identity-aware reverse proxy that provides application and service access without a traditional VPN or client software. | Traefik Proxy is an open-source application proxy that automatically discovers services and routes requests across cloud, on-premises and bare-metal environments. |
Plans
Pomerium
- Personal FreeFree
- Business$7 a month
- Zero PersonalFree
- Zero PersonalFree
- Zero Business$7 a month
- Zero Business (annual)$7 a month
- Zero Business (monthly)$9 a month
- EnterprisePriced on request
- EnterprisePriced on request
Traefik Proxy
- Traefik ProxyFree
- Traefik Proxy Open SourceFree
- Traefik Hub API GatewayPriced on request
- Traefik Hub API ManagementPriced on request
In their own words
Pomerium
Pomerium is an open-source identity-aware proxy for controlling access to internal applications, servers, services, and workloads without requiring VPN client software. It checks identity, device state, and request context before granting access, and authenticates through identity providers that support OpenID Connect. Listed access scenarios include HTTP, MCP, SSH, gRPC, TCP, and UDP; supported app protocols also include HTTPS, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, and WebSocket. Pomerium removes its authentication cookies before forwarding requests upstream, and sensitive databroker data is encrypted at rest. Downstream TLS has a minimum of TLS 1.2. Deployment options include Linux and macOS binaries, packages, Docker images, source builds, and desktop clients for Windows, macOS, and Linux. The free Personal plan lists 10 users, 10 routes, five policies, and two service accounts. Business costs $7.00 per month, billed annually, and lists limits of 1,000 users, 100 routes, 100 policies, and 20 service accounts. A free trial is also listed.
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.