# MetalLB vs NGINX

| Attribute | MetalLB | NGINX |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 48.4 (15% (low)) | 47.2 (7% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 12 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 142 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 8,333 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Provides network load balancing functionality for bare metal Kubernetes deployments that lack built-in cloud provider integrations, addressing the limitation that standard Kubernetes load balancers only work with cloud platforms. | An open-source HTTP web server and reverse proxy that handles traffic routing, content caching, load balancing, and TCP/UDP proxying. It powers core web infrastructure and Kubernetes deployments. |
| features.capabilities | - | `{"layer":"both","open_source":true,"waf_bundled":false,"pricing_model":"open-source-self-host","deployment_form":"software/self-host","http2_http3_support":true,"k8s_ingress_or_gateway_api":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 2 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"OpenShift Container Platform"},{"name":"Gateway API"},{"name":"F5 WAF","native":false,"category":"security","direction":"bidirectional"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | - | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source, free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://metallb.universe.tf","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T12:16:50.423Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source. Commercial support and NGINX Plus (30-day trial) available through F5, Inc.","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://nginx.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T13:44:38.584Z","freeTrialDays":30}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.16.1","date":"2026-05-27T21:12:45Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.16.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.16.0","date":"2026-05-20T16:32:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.16.0","date":"2026-05-20T15:12:13Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.15.3","date":"2025-12-04T15:48:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.15.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.15.3","date":"2025-12-04T15:20:55Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.15.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.15.2","date":"2025-06-04T11:19:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.15.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.15.2","date":"2025-06-04T10:50:26Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.15.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.15.1","date":"2025-06-04T09:03:36Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.15.0","date":"2025-06-03T13:33:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.15.0","date":"2025-06-03T12:43:28Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.14.9","date":"2024-12-17T15:55:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.14.9","date":"2024-12-17T14:58:18Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.14.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.14.8","date":"2024-07-23T12:51:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.14.8","date":"2024-07-23T12:42:10Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.14.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.14.7","date":"2024-07-16T20:09:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.14.6","date":"2024-07-16T12:07:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.14.7","date":"2024-07-16T20:07:58Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.14.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.14.6","date":"2024-07-16T11:19:16Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.14.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/v0.14.5","date":"2024-04-19T20:07:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/metallb/metallb/releases/tag/metallb-chart-0.14.5","date":"2024-04-19T14:44:26Z","type":"stable","version":"metallb-chart-0.14.5"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.3 | - |
| security.trust_center | - | http://nginx.org/en/security_advisories.html |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=go.universe.tf%2Fmetallb&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Load Balancers)

| Capability | MetalLB | NGINX |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Layer | - | Both |
| Deployment form | - | Software/self host |
| Tls termination | - | - |
| Http2 http3 support | - | ✓ |
| Gslb multi region | - | - |
| K8s ingress or gateway API | - | ✓ |
| WAF bundled | - | ✗ |
| Autoscaling integration | - | - |
| Health check depth | - | - |
| Session persistence | - | - |
| Fips 140 validated | - | - |
| Open source | - | ✓ |
| Pricing model | - | Open source self host |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:39:11.703Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*