Best MetalLB Alternatives in 2026
Updated
20 platforms from load balancing software ranked against MetalLB on the same published basis.
- 1MetalLB vs AWS Elastic Load Balancing
- 2MetalLB vs F5 BIG-IP APM
- 3MetalLB vs Loadbalancer.org Enterprise
- 4MetalLB vs A10 Thunder ADC
- 5MetalLB vs Citrix ADC (now NetScaler)
- 6MetalLB vs HAProxy Enterprise
- 7MetalLB vs Progress Kemp LoadMaster
- 8MetalLB vs Radware Alteon
- 9MetalLB vs Vultr Block Storage
- 10MetalLB vs Google Cloud Load Balancing
- 11MetalLB vs VMware Workstation Pro
- 12MetalLB vs HAProxy Community Edition
- 14MetalLB vs OpenELB
- 15MetalLB vs kube-vip
- 16MetalLB vs PureLB
- 17MetalLB vs Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer
- 18MetalLB vs Hetzner Cloud Volumes
- 19MetalLB vs Array APV
- 20MetalLB vs Cloudflare Load Balancing
- 21MetalLB vs DigitalOcean Load Balancers
MetalLB alternatives compared
| # | Platform | Score | Free plan | From | Runs on |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | AWS Elastic Load Balancing | 7.3 | Free plan | Free | API, Web |
| 2 | F5 BIG-IP APM | 6.8 | No | — | Android, API, iOS, Linux, Mac, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 3 | Loadbalancer.org Enterprise | 6.8 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 4 | A10 Thunder ADC | 6.7 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 5 | Citrix ADC (now NetScaler) | 6.7 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 6 | HAProxy Enterprise | 6.7 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted |
| 7 | Progress Kemp LoadMaster | 6.7 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web, Windows |
| 8 | Radware Alteon | 6.7 | No | — | API, Linux, self-hosted, Web |
| 9 | Vultr Block Storage | 6.7 | No | $0.03/mo | API, Linux, Web, Windows |
| 10 | Google Cloud Load Balancing | 6.6 | No | — | API, Web |
| 11 | VMware Workstation Pro | 5.9 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted, Windows |
| 12 | HAProxy Community Edition | 5.8 | Free plan | Free | Linux, self-hosted |
| 14 | OpenELB | 5.5 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 15 | kube-vip | 5.3 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 16 | PureLB | 5.3 | No | — | Linux, self-hosted |
| 17 | Alibaba Cloud Server Load Balancer | 5.2 | No | $0.01/mo | Web |
| 18 | Hetzner Cloud Volumes | 5.2 | No | — | Web |
| 19 | Array APV | 5.1 | No | — | Web, Linux |
| 20 | Cloudflare Load Balancing | 5.1 | No | $5/mo | Web |
| 21 | DigitalOcean Load Balancers | 5.1 | No | $12/mo | Web |
The sponsored alternative slot on this page is labelled and never changes the order above.
Questions about MetalLB alternatives
What is the best alternative to MetalLB?
AWS Elastic Load Balancing, number 1 in load balancing software with a score of 7.3 out of 10. The others here: F5 BIG-IP APM, Loadbalancer.org Enterprise, A10 Thunder ADC and 16 more.
What is the best free alternative to MetalLB?
AWS Elastic Load Balancing is the best-ranked alternative with a free plan. 3 of the 20 alternatives here publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
How are these alternatives ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, open and connectable first: a public API, open-source code, the depth of its documentation and a free tier to try it on. Model lists are sorted by the figure in their title, exactly as each provider publishes it. Paid placements never change a rank.