Solo.io

A Modern Alternative to Linkerd

Get the traffic management depth and multi-cluster reach Linkerd doesn't offer, with the sidecar and ambient mode flexibility to migrate on your own timeline, all backed by Solo Enterprise for Istio, built by the leading contributor to the Istio project.

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Service mesh capability comparison

Istio leads in 7 of 8 categories

Istio Linkerd Data Plane Options Control Plane Functions Security & Compliance Network Integrations Performance & Reliability Observability & Operations Enterprise Support Open Source Community

Source: Solo.io Service Mesh Buyer’s Guide, page 10.

Best-in-class
Strong
Adequate
Limited
None

Istio at scale

Real benchmark and cost results from production Istio deployments

An infographic titled "mTLS IN MINUTES" highlighting the speed and ease of securing a network. It features a large headline: "5 min: mTLS + Observability for Every Pod." Four key metrics are displayed: 0 Code Changes, 0 Sidecars Needed, 100% Traffic Encrypted, and L4 Telemetry Included. A footer at the bottom includes a tag icon and the instruction: "Just label your namespace. That's it.COST SAVINGS ANALYSIS" comparing Sidecar and Ambient mesh architectures. It claims a 30-50% lower cost for Ambient Mesh, citing a reduction from $500/pod/year (Sidecar) to $50/pod/year (Ambient), resulting in $450 savings per pod. The footer concludes: "No sidecar = no sidecar costs.An infographic titled "SCALE BENCHMARK RESULTS" showcasing the performance metrics of a networking control plane. The headline achievement is supporting 100M Pods Across 2,000 Clusters. Four key metrics are highlighted: 2,000 Clusters Connected, 2K/sec Pod Changes, <100ms Propagation Time, and ~10% CPU Usage. A footer note adds: "Control plane fits on a Raspberry Pi."

Why Teams Choose Us

“Linkerd is simple to run, but we’ve outgrown its traffic management and multi-protocol support.”

Istio’s richer routing, fault injection, and traffic-splitting model gives platform teams the control Linkerd’s minimal proxy model doesn’t, without giving up a Kubernetes-native operating model.

“Linkerd doesn’t offer a sidecarless mode, and per-pod proxies are adding up across our clusters.”

Solo’s builds support Istio’s ambient mode alongside sidecars, so you can cut per-pod proxy overhead without waiting on your service mesh vendor to build sidecarless support.

“We need FIPS compliance and multi-cluster management, and Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd feels like a narrower roadmap.”

Solo Enterprise for Istio centralizes multi-cluster configuration and policy and offers FIPS-compliant builds, backed by the team that leads Istio’s upstream development.

Customer proof

"We’re here to give engineers the confidence to move fast, safely. Solo Enterprise for Istio helped us get there."

- Confluent

Trust & compliance

SOC 2

SOC 2

Certification supports security and procurement review for regulated Kubernetes environments

OSS roots

OSS roots

Build on Envoy, Istio, Cilium, and Gateway API foundations for open source service mesh adoption.

CNCF maintainer status

CNCF maintainer status

keeps Solo.io engineers close to the projects shaping cloud native mesh standards.

FIPS builds

FIPS builds

provide FIPS 140-2 validated options for service mesh security requirements.

Published SLAs

Published SLAs

Define support expectations for enterprise service mesh operations.

Customer references

Customer references

include production outcomes from teams running large-scale Kubernetes networking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Solo Enterprise for Istio?

Solo Enterprise for Istio is Solo.io’s hardened, supported distribution of Istio, built by the project’s leading contributor. It adds production support, extended CVE coverage, and enterprise features on top of upstream Istio.

Do you support Istio’s ambient mode, or just sidecars?

Both. Solo’s builds support sidecar and ambient mode side by side, so you can migrate workloads to ambient mesh gradually rather than switching your entire mesh at once.

How do you handle Istio multi-cluster deployments?

Solo Enterprise for Istio centralizes configuration, policy, and observability across multiple clusters and clouds, so platform teams manage one consistent mesh instead of a separate Istio install per cluster.

Solo Enterprise for Istio vs. Linkerd: what’s the difference?

Linkerd is a lightweight, Rust-based sidecar proxy built for simplicity, and it's a solid choice for teams that only need mTLS and basic traffic shaping. Istio covers more ground: richer L7 routing, broader protocol support, WASM extensibility, and both sidecar and ambient deployment modes, all hardened and supported by Solo Enterprise for Istio.

What does Istio enterprise support cost?

Cost depends on your cluster count, traffic, and support tier. A demo is the fastest way to get a number scoped to your environment rather than a generic estimate.

See How Solo Enterprise for Istio Compares to Linkerd

Request a demo to see how a hardened, enterprise-supported Istio distribution stacks up against Linkerd for your clusters, security requirements, and migration plans.

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