Side by side
Skupper vs Submariner
Both stand on container networking software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxMac+2
Choose Skupper when you want an open-source way to connect application services across sites over existing IP networks. Look elsewhere if your stateful workloads require Skupper itself to orchestrate failover in a specific redirection order.
Visit Skupper Free plan Self-hosted
Submariner provides a free, self-hosted way to link Kubernetes services across clusters, with several tunnel choices and service discovery. Teams should account for network administration and the experimental status of external connectivity and Load Balancer mode.
Visit SubmarinerThe facts
| Skupper | Submariner | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Not published |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Mac, Self-hosted, Windows | Self-hosted |
| Lowest paid plan | Not published | Not published |
| Plans published | None | None |
| Maker | Not published | Not published |
| Website | skupper.io | submariner.io |
| On container networking software | #16 of 28 | #20 of 28 |
Skupper: what it does well
- Connects services across network boundaries without VPNs or special firewall rules.
- Uses mutual TLS and certificates unique to each router.
- Balances new TCP connections across workloads at distinct sites.
- Supports weighted distribution and priority-based routing strategies.
- Offers CLI and declarative YAML management.
What to know first
- Stateful applications needing ordered traffic redirection require separate orchestration.
- Cluster-scoped Kubernetes installation requires cluster-admin access.
Submariner: what it does well
- Cross-cluster Layer 3 connectivity
- Lighthouse provides multi-cluster DNS discovery
- Supports IPsec, WireGuard, and VXLAN
- Active/passive gateway high availability
- Open source and self-hosted
What to know first
- Requires administrative firewall configuration
- External endpoint access is experimental
- Load Balancer mode is experimental
- Overlapping CIDRs need optional Globalnet
Alternatives to Skupper Alternatives to Submariner The whole list