kgateway vs Envoy Gateway

kgateway8.8Visit Envoy Gateway8.6Visit

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

vs

Envoy Gateway #8 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers 8.6/10 Free plan Free plan✓ 0 of 5 features Visit Envoy Gateway

• kgateway fits best

  Gateway API teams needing security controls

• Envoy Gateway fits best

  Gateway API-first Kubernetes teams

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	kgateway 8.8/10 Visit ↗	Envoy Gateway 8.6/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.8	8.6
Ranking	#6 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers	#8 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers
Best for	Gateway API teams needing security controls	Gateway API-first Kubernetes teams
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	4 integrations	2 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Mid-market, Enterprise
Features kgateway 5/5 · Envoy Gateway 0/5
TLS automation	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Canary routing	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Rate limiting	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Web application firewall	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Auth policies	✓ (best)	Not checked yet
Specs
Ingress API model	Both	Not checked yet
Deployment model	Self-hosted	Self-hosted
Our review
Pros	Free open-source Gateway API implementation Weighted routing, canary splitting, and rate limiting Authentication, TLS automation, and WAF support	Routes HTTP, gRPC, TLS, TCP, and UDP traffic Supports JWT, API key, Basic Auth, OIDC, and mutual TLS Combines rate limiting, transformations, retries, and traffic splitting
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires a Kubernetes environment Integration coverage centers on a focused set of platforms No AI features are included	Self-hosted deployment requires teams to manage the environment Its documented ecosystem centers on Kubernetes Gateway API and Envoy Proxy Configuration spans Gateway API resources and Envoy Gateway custom resources
Our verdict	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 →	Envoy Gateway is an open-source API gateway and reverse-proxy control plane for managing Envoy Proxy in Kubernetes or standalone gateway environments. It is aimed at platform teams and engineers responsible for APIs, ingress traffic,… Read the review →

Strengths and trade-offs

• 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

• Envoy Gateway — where it wins

  • Routes HTTP, gRPC, TLS, TCP, and UDP traffic
  • Supports JWT, API key, Basic Auth, OIDC, and mutual TLS
  • Combines rate limiting, transformations, retries, and traffic splitting

  Where it doesn't

  • Self-hosted deployment requires teams to manage the environment
  • Its documented ecosystem centers on Kubernetes Gateway API and Envoy Proxy
  • Configuration spans Gateway API resources and Envoy Gateway custom resources

• kgateway8.8/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit kgatewayFull verdict →
• Envoy Gateway8.6/10 · Free plan

  A broad, Gateway API-first control plane for self-hosted Kubernetes traffic management.

  Visit Envoy GatewayFull verdict →