Progress Kemp LoadMaster vs PureLB
Progress Kemp LoadMaster
progress.com
PureLB
purelb.ioSide by side
| Figure | Progress Kemp LoadMaster | PureLB |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | — |
| Free plan | — | — |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 0 |
| Spec score · Load Balancing Software | 7.5 (#8) | 6.8 (#18) |
| Intended users | Progress describes the LoadMaster product family as serving businesses of all sizes and managed service providers. | PureLB is designed for operators running Kubernetes clusters on bare-metal Linux nodes who need external reachability for LoadBalancer services. |
| Purpose | LoadMaster is an application delivery controller and server load balancer that manages user traffic and applications. | PureLB provides Kubernetes LoadBalancer services for bare-metal deployments by allocating IP addresses from configured pools and announcing them through Linux networking or optional BGP. |
| Security | The integrated WAF provides protections including OWASP Top Ten coverage, SQL injection protection, cross-site scripting mitigation, and denial of service mitigation. | The allocator runs as non-root UID 65534 with a read-only filesystem, while the node agent and k8gobgp run as root with networking capabilities and host networking. |
Plans
Progress Kemp LoadMaster
- Temporary LoadMaster trial licenseFree
- Permanent LoadMaster licensePriced on request
In their own words
Progress Kemp LoadMaster
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.
PureLB
PureLB is a Kubernetes Service LoadBalancer for bare-metal Linux clusters. It allocates external IP addresses from configured pools and announces them through Linux networking, with optional BGP for remote addresses. ServiceGroups use exactly one pool type: local, remote, or Netbox. Local addresses are attached to host interfaces, and a Kubernetes Lease election chooses which node announces each address; another node can take over if that node fails. Remote addresses are placed on a dummy interface on every node and advertised through BGP, allowing an upstream router to distribute traffic with ECMP. Pools can contain IPv4, IPv6, or both for dual-stack deployments. Kubernetes Custom Resource Definitions configure pools and node agents. Installation uses kubectl manifests or Helm, with Helm recommended for production. PureLB requires a Kubernetes cluster with an operational CNI and Linux nodes. It is free, open source, Apache 2.0 licensed, and self-hosted. Prometheus metrics are exposed on port 7472 at /metrics. NetBox integration is documented but currently unsupported and may not work with recent versions.