# Linkerd vs NGINX Service Mesh

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Linkerd

| Attribute | Linkerd | NGINX Service Mesh |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 63.8 (42% (low)) | 47.1 (48% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 56 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 19 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 11,481 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source service mesh for Kubernetes written in Rust that automatically provides mutual TLS encryption, traffic management, and built-in observability to applications. It emphasizes simplicity and performance compared to alternative meshes. | F5 NGINX delivers, secures, and scales apps, APIs, Kubernetes services, and AI workloads through a lightweight, high-performance solution designed for distributed, hybrid multi-cloud environments. Standardizes traffic routing, security, and observability across environments. |
| features.capabilities | `{"proxy":"linkerd2","data_plane":"sidecar","vm_support":true,"multicluster":true,"cncf_maturity":"graduated","automatic_mtls":true,"fault_injection":true,"traffic_splitting":true,"commercial_support":false,"gateway_api_support":true,"built_in_observability":true}` | `{"proxy":"envoy","multicluster":true,"commercial_support":true,"gateway_api_support":true,"built_in_observability":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 3 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Argo CD"},{"name":"Jaeger"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"Gateway API"}]` | `[{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud"},{"name":"Kubernetes"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://linkerd.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:39:49.641Z"}` | `{"type":"subscription","summary":"Subscription and flex consumption models available. Free trials offered.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.nginx.com/products/nginx-service-mesh/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T13:09:44.036Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | no |
| release.cadence_days | 7 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.8.4","date":"2026-08-25T16:16:21Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.8.3","date":"2026-08-21T17:26:19Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.8.2","date":"2026-08-14T19:27:42Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.8.1","date":"2026-08-03T21:00:33Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.7.2","date":"2026-07-24T16:42:14Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.7.1","date":"2026-07-21T20:32:34Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.6.3","date":"2026-06-18T17:47:14Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.6.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.6.2","date":"2026-06-16T00:35:04Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.6.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.6.1","date":"2026-06-05T17:36:19Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.5.5","date":"2026-05-29T21:36:16Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.5.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.5.4","date":"2026-05-29T15:40:39Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.5.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.5.3","date":"2026-05-21T10:41:32Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.5.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.5.2","date":"2026-05-15T15:19:54Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.5.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.5.1","date":"2026-05-01T17:48:25Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.4.4","date":"2026-04-24T12:43:14Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.4.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.4.3","date":"2026-04-15T18:23:54Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.4.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.4.2","date":"2026-04-09T20:29:00Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.4.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.4.1","date":"2026-04-02T21:09:50Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.4.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.3.3","date":"2026-03-19T18:57:49Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.3.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/linkerd/linkerd2/releases/tag/edge-26.3.2","date":"2026-03-12T13:06:38Z","type":"stable","version":"edge-26.3.2"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 8.2 | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Flinkerd%2Flinkerd2&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"MODERATE"}` | - |

## Capabilities (Service Mesh)

| Capability | Linkerd | NGINX Service Mesh |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Data plane | Sidecar | - |
| Proxy | linkerd2-proxy | Envoy |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Automatic mutual TLS | ✓ | - |
| SPIFFE / SPIRE identity | - | - |
| **Traffic** |  |  |
| Traffic splitting / canary | ✓ | - |
| Fault injection / resilience | ✓ | - |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Multi-cluster federation | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Portability** |  |  |
| VM support (beyond Kubernetes) | ✓ | - |
| **Observability** |  |  |
| Built-in observability | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| Gateway API / GAMMA support | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| WASM extensibility | - | - |
| **Compliance** |  |  |
| FIPS mode | - | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | Graduated | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Commercial support / enterprise edition | ✗ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:35:57.393Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*