Product/Project Ingress Nginx Kong Apache APISIX Azure App Gateway Ingress Nginx+ HAProxy Tech HAProxy (jcmoraisjr) Voyager Istio Ingress Contour Emissary-ingress (ex Ambassador) Gloo Traefik Skipper Citrix Ingress GKE Ingress ALB Ingress AKO KrakenD Tyk
1. General info
Based on nginx nginx nginx nginx + Azure App Gateway nginx haproxy haproxy haproxy envoy envoy envoy envoy traefik skipper Citrix ADC GLBC Elastic LB NSX Advanced LB (Avi) Lura Project (Linux foundation) Golang http server
Documentation https://kubernetes.github.io/ingress-nginx/ https://docs.konghq.com/kubernetes-ingress-controller/latest/ https://github.com/apache/apisix-ingress-controller/blob/master/README.md https://azure.github.io/application-gateway-kubernetes-ingress/ https://docs.nginx.com/nginx-ingress-controller/ https://github.com/haproxytech/kubernetes-ingress https://haproxy-ingress.github.io/docs/ https://voyagermesh.com/docs/v12.0.0/welcome/ https://istio.io/latest/docs/ https://projectcontour.io/docs/main/ https://www.getambassador.io/products/api-gateway/ https://docs.solo.io/gloo-edge/latest/ https://doc.traefik.io/traefik/ https://opensource.zalando.com/skipper/ https://developer-docs.citrix.com/projects/citrix-k8s-ingress-controller/en/latest/ https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/docs/concepts/ingress https://kubernetes-sigs.github.io/aws-load-balancer-controller/latest/ https://avinetworks.com/docs/ako/1.3/avi-kubernetes-operator/ https://www.krakend.io/docs/overview/ https://tyk.io/docs/
2. Protocols reference
HTTP/HTTPS ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
HTTP2 Comparison of Kubernetes Ingress controllers ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
HTTP3 (QUIC) Preview ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ Preview ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ Preview ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ Preview ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
gRPC ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️
TCP Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
TCP+TLS ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
UDP Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Websockets ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Proxy Protocol ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
3. Clients Leave a comment or drop us a line at research@learnk8s.io
Rate limiting (L4) ✔️ ✔️ Needs help Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Rate limiting (L7) ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
WAF License: ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Timeouts Apache 2.0 ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Safe-list/Block-list Last updated: ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Authentication August 21, 2023 ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Authorisation ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
4. Traffic routing Find more research at:
Host https://learnk8s.io/research ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Path ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Headers ✔️ Supported in Free version ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Querystring ✔️ Supported in Enterprise version ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Method ✖︎ Not supported ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
ClientIP Partial Partially supported ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Notes Needs help Not sure if it is supported
Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes
5. Upstream probes/resiliency
Healthchecks ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️
Retries ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✖︎ Needs help ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Circuit Breaker ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️
6.Load balancer strategies
Round robin ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Sticky sessions ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Least connections ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Ring hash ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Maglev ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
Exponential-Weighted-Moving-Average ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
Custom load balancing ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ Partial ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
Power of two random choices Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✔️
Global load balancing Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
External load balancing Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎
Notes
Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes Notes
7. Authentication
Basic auth ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎
External Auth ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️
Client certificate - mTLS ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
OAuth ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ Partial
OpenID ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎
JWT ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Partial ✔️ ✔️
LDAP ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
HMAC ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
SAML Needs help ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
8. Observability
Logging ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Metrics ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Tracing ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️
9. Kubernetes Integration
CRD ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Scope Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide Clusterwide and namespace Clusterwide, namespace & Multi cluster Clusterwide Clusterwide
Support for the Gateway API (Ingress v2) current v1alpha2 ✖︎ ✔️ Preview ✖︎ Preview Preview ✔️ Needs help Preview ✔️ Preview Preview ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ Preview ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
Integrates with service meshes ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ���️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎
10. Traffic shaping
Canary ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
Session Affinity ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Traffic Mirroring ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎
11. Interface
Dashboard ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ Needs help ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Billing and reporting ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
Developer portal ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✖︎ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️
12. Other
Hot reloading ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help ✔️ ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✔️ ✔️
LetsEncrypt Integration ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Transparent update of certificates Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
Wildcard certificate support ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✖︎ ✖︎
State sharing Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help Needs help ✔️ Needs help Needs help Needs help ✖︎ ✖︎