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Envoy Proxy

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Open-source edge and service proxy, a CNCF graduated project, used as a data plane for service meshes and API gateways.

Free, no paid tier Visit Website
Tracked since 2026

The Bottom Line

Price
Free, no paid tier. Compare plans

Key facts

  • Open-source edge and service proxy, a CNCF graduated project
  • Data plane for service meshes and API gateways
  • HTTP/2, HTTP/3, gRPC, TLS, rate limiting and extensibility through Wasm

Pros

  • Open source and a CNCF graduated project
  • Used as the data plane by service meshes and gateways built on top of it
  • Rich traffic management and security features in one proxy

Cons

  • It is a proxy, not a full API management product: developer portals, key management and billing come from the products built on it
  • Configuration through dynamic APIs and YAML has a learning curve for teams new to it
  • Envoy's site does not state a license or a commercial support plan

What is Envoy Proxy?

Envoy is an open-source edge and service proxy, described on envoyproxy.io as "designed for cloud-native and AI-native applications". It is a high-performance C++ distributed proxy originally built at Lyft. It runs alongside applications and can serve as a standalone proxy or as a universal data plane for service mesh architectures. Envoy is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation graduated project. Its site lists HTTP/2, HTTP/3 and gRPC support, load balancing with retries, circuit breaking and global rate limiting, dynamic configuration APIs, TLS termination and mutual TLS, JWT authentication and RBAC, deep observability, and extensibility through Wasm, Lua, Go, Rust dynamic modules or external processing. Streaming handling of LLM traffic and token-aware rate limiting are offered through Envoy AI Gateway. Envoy is a proxy that other products build on; it is not a hosted API management product. This record covers the Envoy proxy project at envoyproxy.io, not the workplace visitor management product at envoy.com.

Key Features

  • HTTP/2, HTTP/3 and gRPC support for incoming and outgoing connections
  • Load balancing with automatic retries, circuit breaking, global rate limiting and request shadowing
  • Dynamic configuration APIs for routing, clusters and policy
  • TLS termination and origination, mutual TLS, SNI, JWT authentication, RBAC and external authorization
  • L7 observability and distributed tracing
  • Extensibility through Wasm, Lua, Go, Rust dynamic modules or external processing
  • Envoy AI Gateway for streaming LLM traffic with token-aware rate limiting

Pricing Plans

Pricing checked Oct 21, 2026. Source: envoyproxy.io, read Oct 21, 2026

Envoy Proxy plans and prices, checked October 2026
Plan Price Details
Open source

$0

  • Free to use; no price is listed on envoyproxy.io

Is Envoy Proxy worth the price?

Great value

Envoy Proxy's open source pricing at $0 is extremely generous, as it provides a production-grade edge and service proxy without any licensing fees.

This is far cheaper than most commercial API gateways or service mesh data planes, which often charge per node or per request. Best for teams that want full control and no vendor lock-in.

Full Envoy Proxy pricing: every plan, hidden costs and alternatives

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Envoy Proxy FAQ

Is Envoy free?

Envoy is an open-source project and its site lists no price. Commercial gateways and meshes built on Envoy are sold separately.

Is Envoy an API gateway?

Envoy is an edge and service proxy. Teams use it directly as a gateway or through products built on it, and the proxy itself does not include API management features such as developer portals.

Is this the same as envoy.com?

No. This record covers the Envoy proxy project at envoyproxy.io. envoy.com is a workplace visitor management product.

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