kgateway vs LiteSpeed Ingress Controller

kgateway8.8Visit LiteSpeed Ingress Controller8.0Visit

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

vs

LiteSpeed Ingress Controller #14 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers 8.0/10 15-day trial Free trial✓ 5 of 5 features Visit LiteSpeed

• kgateway fits best

  Gateway API teams needing security controls

• LiteSpeed Ingress Controller fits best

  Paid teams wanting comprehensive ingress controls

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Side by side

Feature	kgateway 8.8/10 Visit ↗	LiteSpeed Ingress Controller 8.0/10 Visit ↗
At a glance
Editor score	8.8	8.0
Ranking	#6 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers	#14 in Kubernetes Ingress Controllers
Best for	Gateway API teams needing security controls	Paid teams wanting comprehensive ingress controls
Pricing model	Free	Paid
Starting price	Free plan	$715/yr
Free plan	✓ (best)	—
Free trial	—	15 days
Deployment	Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Cloud
Support	Community, Docs	Email, Tickets, Community, Docs
Integrations	4 integrations	4 integrations
Built for	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise	Small business, Mid-market, Enterprise
Features kgateway 5/5 · LiteSpeed Ingress Controller 5/5
TLS automation	✓	✓
Canary routing	✓	✓
Rate limiting	✓	✓
Web application firewall	✓	✓
Auth policies	✓	✓
Specs
Ingress API model	Both	Both
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	Supports both Kubernetes Ingress resources and Gateway API resources Combines TLS automation, canary routing, WAF, throttling, and authentication Handles HTTP/2, HTTP/3, QUIC, and Kubernetes service load balancing
Cons	Self-hosted deployment requires a Kubernetes environment Integration coverage centers on a focused set of platforms No AI features are included	No permanent free plan is available Requires a self-hosted deployment on Linux Uses a licensed Web ADC engine rather than an open-source model
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 →	LiteSpeed Ingress Controller is a self-hosted Kubernetes application delivery controller and load balancer built on the LiteSpeed Web ADC engine. It is intended for teams running Kubernetes infrastructure that need licensed ingress… 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

• LiteSpeed Ingress Controller — where it wins

  • Supports both Kubernetes Ingress resources and Gateway API resources
  • Combines TLS automation, canary routing, WAF, throttling, and authentication
  • Handles HTTP/2, HTTP/3, QUIC, and Kubernetes service load balancing

  Where it doesn't

  • No permanent free plan is available
  • Requires a self-hosted deployment on Linux
  • Uses a licensed Web ADC engine rather than an open-source model

• kgateway8.8/10 · Free plan

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

  Visit kgatewayFull verdict →
• LiteSpeed Ingress Controller8.0/10 · 15-day trial

  A paid, self-hosted controller with broad Kubernetes traffic, security, and protocol controls.

  Visit LiteSpeedFull verdict →