# Linkerd vs Open Service Mesh

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Linkerd

| Attribute | Linkerd | Open Service Mesh |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 63.8 (42% (low)) | 38.8 (54% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 56 | 0 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 19 | 15 |
| adoption.github_stars | 11,481 | 2,551 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"self_hosted":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. | Manages traffic, enforces access policies, and provides operational visibility for microservices running in Kubernetes clusters. Emphasizes simplicity in installation and maintenance through standardized configuration interfaces. |
| 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","fips_mode":true,"data_plane":"sidecar","automatic_mtls":true,"traffic_splitting":true,"built_in_observability":true}` |
| integrations.count | 6 | 8 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Prometheus"},{"name":"Grafana"},{"name":"Argo CD"},{"name":"Jaeger"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"Gateway API"}]` | `[{"name":"Envoy"},{"name":"Linkerd"},{"name":"Istio"},{"name":"Consul"},{"name":"Kuma"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"SMI specification"},{"name":"external certificate management systems"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| 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":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://openservicemesh.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-16T21:31:56.824Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 7 | 12 |
| 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"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.4","date":"2023-04-20T21:24:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.4","date":"2023-04-20T21:15:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.3","date":"2022-12-14T23:49:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.2","date":"2022-10-21T19:08:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.3","date":"2022-10-20T21:42:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.1","date":"2022-09-07T00:12:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.2","date":"2022-09-06T23:42:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.0","date":"2022-07-20T21:58:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.2.0-rc.1","date":"2022-07-12T19:43:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.2.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.1","date":"2022-05-10T16:14:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.1-rc.1","date":"2022-05-04T21:17:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.1-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.0","date":"2022-04-14T19:48:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.1.0-rc.1","date":"2022-04-04T21:57:23Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.1.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.0.0","date":"2022-02-01T19:20:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.0.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.4","date":"2022-01-19T22:38:08Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.3","date":"2022-01-10T19:20:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.2","date":"2021-11-15T17:26:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v0.11.1","date":"2021-10-20T20:37:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.11.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v0.11.1-rc.1","date":"2021-10-15T23:22:02Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v0.11.1-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openservicemesh/osm/releases/tag/v1.0.0-rc.1","date":"2021-10-13T18:17:50Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.0.0-rc.1"}]` |
| security.scorecard | 8.2 | 4.8 |
| 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"}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fopenservicemesh%2Fosm&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Service Mesh)

| Capability | Linkerd | Open Service Mesh |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Data plane | Sidecar | 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 2026-09-01T15:20:17.789Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*