Side by side

Caddy Gateway vs kgateway

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.

Caddy Gateway

Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted

Choose Caddy Gateway if you already run Kubernetes and want a controller for Caddy using Gateway API resources. Look elsewhere if you need Kubernetes Ingress support, or need a project that is not described as work in progress.

Visit Caddy Gateway

kgateway

Free plan LinuxSelf-hosted

kgateway combines ingress and API gateway controls with a broad set of documented traffic, security, and resilience features. Its self-hosted Kubernetes deployment is central to how teams use it.

Visit kgateway

The facts

	Caddy Gateway	kgateway
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	API, Linux, Self-hosted	Linux, Self-hosted
Lowest paid plan	Not published	Free or on request
Plans published	None	1
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	github.com	kgateway.dev
On kubernetes ingress controllers	#9 of 28	#13 of 28

Caddy Gateway: what it does well

Dynamically updates Caddy configuration through its Admin API without downtime.
One controller deployment can manage multiple Caddy deployments.
Supports a range of Gateway API route and policy resources.
Free under the Apache License, Version 2.0.
Release assets are available for Linux amd64 and arm64.

What to know first

The project describes itself as work in progress.
Users must provide and run their own Caddy instance.
Kubernetes Ingress resources are unsupported, with no support planned.
The cluster must have Gateway API v1.4.0 CRDs installed.

kgateway: what it does well

Free, self-hosted project.
Supports multiple traffic-management capabilities.
Documents TLS, authentication, and access controls.
Installs with Helm or Argo CD.

What to know first

Requires a Kubernetes cluster.
AI, MCP, and LLM connectivity is directed to another project.

Alternatives to Caddy Gateway Alternatives to kgateway The whole list