Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer vs Envoy Proxy

Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer9.0Visit Envoy Proxy8.5Visit

Higher score Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer #3 in Load Balancer Services 9.0/10 Paid ✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Alibaba Cloud

vs

Envoy Proxy #7 in Load Balancer Services 8.5/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 1 of 3 features Visit Envoy

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer fits best

  Cost-conscious Alibaba Cloud deployments

• Envoy Proxy fits best

  Engineers needing powerful open-source proxying

Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.

Side by side

Feature	Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer 9.0/10 Visit ↗	Envoy Proxy 8.5/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.5
Ranking	#3 in Load Balancer Services	#7 in Load Balancer Services
Best for	Cost-conscious Alibaba Cloud deployments	Engineers needing powerful open-source proxying
Pricing model	Paid	Free
Starting price	$0.007/unit usage-based	Free plan
Free plan	—	✓ (best)
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Cloud	Self-hosted
Platforms	Web	Windows, macOS, Linux
Support	Tickets, Live chat, Phone, Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer 1/3 · Envoy Proxy 1/3
TLS termination	✓	✓
Sticky sessions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
DNS traffic steering	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Specs
Balancing layers	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Global regions	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Backend target limit	Not checked yet	Not checked yet
Our review
Pros	Supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, QUIC, and gRPC Combines health checks, multi-zone recovery, and automatic scaling Integrates with ECS, WAF, ACK, CEN, CDN, and Global Accelerator	Broad HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC and WebSocket support Advanced load balancing with retries, circuit breaking and health detection Static or dynamic xDS configuration with built-in observability
Cons	No free plan or dedicated CLB free trial Separate ALB, NLB, and CLB billing can complicate cost planning Public instances may add transfer, IP, and usage-based LCU fees	Self-managed deployment puts operations and maintenance on your team No vendor-hosted SaaS model or paid service tiers Cache documentation notes the cache filter is work-in-progress in some versions
Our verdict	Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer is a managed service for distributing client traffic across backend servers. Its ALB, NLB, and CLB components cover application-layer and network-layer delivery, making it suitable for Alibaba Cloud… Read the review →	Envoy Proxy is open-source Layer 7 proxy software for modern service-oriented architectures. It can run as an edge proxy, service-mesh data plane or sidecar alongside application servers. Engineers can use it for HTTP routing and… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer — where it wins

  • Supports TCP, UDP, HTTP, HTTPS, QUIC, and gRPC
  • Combines health checks, multi-zone recovery, and automatic scaling
  • Integrates with ECS, WAF, ACK, CEN, CDN, and Global Accelerator

  Where it doesn't

  • No free plan or dedicated CLB free trial
  • Separate ALB, NLB, and CLB billing can complicate cost planning
  • Public instances may add transfer, IP, and usage-based LCU fees

• Envoy Proxy — where it wins

  • Broad HTTP, HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC and WebSocket support
  • Advanced load balancing with retries, circuit breaking and health detection
  • Static or dynamic xDS configuration with built-in observability

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-managed deployment puts operations and maintenance on your team
  • No vendor-hosted SaaS model or paid service tiers
  • Cache documentation notes the cache filter is work-in-progress in some versions

• Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer9.0/10 · Paid

  A broad managed balancing service with a clear ALB entry price and Alibaba Cloud integrations.

  Visit Alibaba CloudFull verdict →
• Envoy Proxy8.5/10 · Free plan

  A capable self-hosted Layer 7 proxy for teams that want control over traffic management.

  Visit EnvoyFull verdict →