The Best Alternative to NGINX Ingress
Kgateway is a Kubernetes-native API gateway built on Envoy and the Kubernetes Gateway API standard, a modern replacement for NGINX Ingress instead of another set of annotations bolted onto it. Compare it with NGINX before you choose.
Capability comparison
Kgateway leads in 6 of 7 categories
Why Teams Choose Us
“Our NGINX Ingress annotations have become an unreadable pile of vendor-specific workarounds.”
Kgateway implements the Kubernetes Gateway API standard natively, replacing sprawling annotation blocks with a portable, role-oriented configuration model.
“NGINX Ingress was never really built to be a full API gateway.”
Kgateway is a full-featured API gateway built on Envoy, with authentication, rate limiting, and traffic management NGINX Ingress wasn’t designed to provide out of the box.
“We want a smooth migration path off NGINX Ingress, not a rip-and-replace project.”
Solo’s ingress2gateway tool converts existing Ingress resources into Kubernetes Gateway API configuration, so platform teams can migrate to kgateway incrementally.
Customer proof
"Solo.io helps Grainger keep the world working by powering innovation at scale."
4,000+ releases/year
Trust & compliance
SOC 2
Certification supports security and procurement review for regulated Kubernetes environments
OSS roots
Build on Envoy, Istio, Cilium, and Gateway API foundations for open source service mesh adoption.
CNCF maintainer status
keeps Solo.io engineers close to the projects shaping cloud native mesh standards.
FIPS builds
provide FIPS 140-2 validated options for service mesh security requirements.
Published SLAs
Define support expectations for enterprise service mesh operations.
Customer references
include production outcomes from teams running large-scale Kubernetes networking.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can kgateway replace NGINX Ingress?
Can kgateway replace NGINX Ingress?
Yes. Solo's ingress2gateway tool converts existing NGINX Ingress resources into Kubernetes Gateway API configuration, so platform teams can migrate to kgateway without hand-rewriting every route.
What's the difference between NGINX Ingress and a real API gateway?
What's the difference between NGINX Ingress and a real API gateway?
NGINX Ingress was built to route basic HTTP traffic into a cluster, and gets extended with annotations to do more. Kgateway is a full API gateway built on Envoy and the Kubernetes Gateway API, with authentication, rate limiting, and traffic policy built in natively rather than bolted on.
Is kgateway open source, like NGINX?
Is kgateway open source, like NGINX?
Yes. Kgateway is open source and CNCF-hosted, free to run on your own, with enterprise support and advanced policy available on top when you need production SLAs.
How does kgateway's architecture compare to NGINX-based gateways?
How does kgateway's architecture compare to NGINX-based gateways?
Kgateway is built from the ground up on Envoy and the Kubernetes Gateway API standard, rather than an NGINX core extended with a scripting layer. See the full category-by-category comparison above.
What does it cost to run kgateway versus staying on NGINX Ingress?
What does it cost to run kgateway versus staying on NGINX Ingress?
NGINX Ingress itself is free, but the annotation sprawl and missing gateway features add engineering cost over time. Kgateway is open source at its core too, with enterprise support available when you need it. A demo is the fastest way to get a comparison scoped to your environment.
See How Kgateway Compares to NGINX Ingress
Request a demo to see kgateway scoped to your environment, or compare it with NGINX and other API gateway companies in the Buyer's Guide first.
