Side by side
Antrea vs Istio
Both stand on microsegmentation software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan Open source APILinuxSelf-hosted+1
Antrea combines Kubernetes networking with additional policy, federation and diagnostic capabilities. Its node requirements and lack of Windows traffic encryption are important constraints to check against a cluster’s needs.
Visit Antrea
Free plan LinuxMacSelf-hosted
Istio combines traffic management, security, and observability for distributed workloads, with sidecar and ambient deployment choices. Teams should account for its Kubernetes-based control plane and release support window.
Visit IstioThe facts
| Antrea | Istio | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Self-hosted, Windows | Linux, Mac, Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Free or on request |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | antrea.io | istio.io |
| On microsegmentation software | #1 of 31 | #4 of 31 |
Antrea: what it does well
- Free and open source under Apache License 2.0.
- Supports VXLAN and Geneve overlays or no overlay.
- Adds cluster-level, Node and tiered network policies.
- Offers multi-cluster federation and Services.
- Exports metrics to Prometheus.
What to know first
- Requires Open vSwitch on every Kubernetes node.
- Traffic encryption is unavailable on Windows nodes.
- Azure support is best-effort and no longer tested from version 2.5.
Istio: what it does well
- Free and open source.
- Supports HTTP, gRPC, WebSocket, and TCP traffic.
- Offers sidecar and ambient deployment modes.
- Provides workload identity and mutual TLS.
- Generates traffic metrics, logs, and traces.
What to know first
- The control plane runs on Kubernetes.
- Development builds have no support.
- Minor releases have a defined support window.