Contour vs kgateway

Contour9.0Visit kgateway8.8Visit

Higher score Contour #4 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers 9.0/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 4 of 5 features Visit Contour

vs

kgateway #6 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers 8.8/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 5 of 5 features Visit kgateway

• Contour fits best

  Teams wanting Envoy with flexible APIs

• kgateway fits best

  Gateway API teams needing security controls

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Side by side

Feature	Contour 9.0/10 Visit ↗	kgateway 8.8/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	9.0	8.8
Ranking	#4 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers	#6 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers
Best for	Teams wanting Envoy with flexible APIs	Gateway API teams needing security controls
Pricing model	Free	Free
Starting price	Free plan	Free plan
Free plan	✓	✓
Free trial	—	—
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Support	Community, Docs	Community, Docs
Integrations	3 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features Contour 4/5 · kgateway 5/5
TLS automation	✓	✓
Canary routing	✓	✓
Rate limiting	✓	✓
Web application firewall	Not checked yet	✓ (best)
Auth policies	✓	✓
Specs
Ingress API model	Both	Both
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Our review
Pros	Supports both Kubernetes Ingress and Gateway API Adds canary routing, rate limiting, TLS, and external authorization Envoy provides reverse-proxy and load-balancing capabilities	Free open-source Gateway API implementation Weighted routing, canary splitting, and rate limiting Authentication, TLS automation, and WAF support
Cons	Requires self-hosted Kubernetes deployment and operations Some TLS automation depends on cert-manager integration External authorization requires a separate authorization service	Self-hosted deployment requires a Kubernetes environment Integration coverage centers on a focused set of platforms No AI features are included
Our verdict	Contour is an open-source Kubernetes ingress controller for cluster administrators and application developers operating self-hosted Kubernetes environments. It provides a control plane for Envoy and supports Kubernetes Ingress v1, the… Read the review →	kgateway is an open-source Kubernetes-native ingress controller and API gateway for teams managing service, API, serverless, or legacy application traffic in Kubernetes. It implements the Kubernetes Gateway API and uses Envoy as its proxy… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• Contour — where it wins

  • Supports both Kubernetes Ingress and Gateway API
  • Adds canary routing, rate limiting, TLS, and external authorization
  • Envoy provides reverse-proxy and load-balancing capabilities

  Where it doesn't

  • Requires self-hosted Kubernetes deployment and operations
  • Some TLS automation depends on cert-manager integration
  • External authorization requires a separate authorization service

• kgateway — where it wins

  • Free open-source Gateway API implementation
  • Weighted routing, canary splitting, and rate limiting
  • Authentication, TLS automation, and WAF support

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires a Kubernetes environment
  • Integration coverage centers on a focused set of platforms
  • No AI features are included

• Contour9.0/10 · Free plan

  A flexible self-hosted choice for teams that want Envoy, Ingress, and Gateway API support.

  Visit ContourFull verdict →
• kgateway8.8/10 · Free plan

  A focused open-source Gateway API gateway for teams needing routing, security, and traffic controls.

  Visit kgatewayFull verdict →