Side by side
agentgateway vs BFE Ingress Controller
Both stand on kubernetes ingress controllers. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
agentgateway brings routing, security, observability, and spend controls for model and agent traffic into a self-hosted gateway. Its free plan and multiple deployment options are useful for teams prepared to operate it themselves.
Visit agentgateway
Choose BFE if you need a free, self-hosted Layer 7 load balancer with content-based routing and tenant isolation. Its balancing and observability features make it suited to deployments that need those controls. Look elsewhere if you require HTTP/3 support now or a deployment model other than self-hosted.
Visit BFE Ingress ControllerThe facts
| agentgateway | BFE Ingress Controller | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Web, Windows | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | agentgateway.dev | bfe-networks.net |
| On kubernetes ingress controllers | #1 of 28 | #2 of 28 |
agentgateway: what it does well
- Free open-source gateway with binary, Docker, or Kubernetes deployment.
- OpenAI-compatible routing includes multiple named model providers.
- MCP discovery, scoped calls, audit trails, and A2A routing.
- Spend caps and usage dashboards support cost controls.
- TLS and mTLS, auth policies, and rate limiting.
What to know first
- Self-hosted deployment is required.
- Commercial support is listed through a partner.
BFE Ingress Controller: what it does well
- Open-source under the Apache 2.0 License.
- Supports HTTP, HTTP/2, WebSocket, gRPC, and FastCGI.
- Provides global, distributed, and zone-aware load balancing.
- Tenant configurations are isolated from other tenants.
- Includes metrics, logs, and distributed tracing.
What to know first
- HTTP/3 is planned rather than listed as supported.
- Deployment is self-hosted.
Alternatives to agentgateway Alternatives to BFE Ingress Controller The whole list