MetalLB

6.6easy start · #7 of 26
in Load Balancing Software

Free to practise onyes
Free trialnot on record
Well documentedyes
Runs where you worknot on record

Runs on Linux, self-hosted.

MetalLB is ranked #7 of 26 in load balancing software on The Geeks Club. It runs on Linux, Self-hosted. There is a free plan.

MetalLB plans and pricing

All plans

MetalLB Free No paid plans listed; open source project for Kubernetes load balancing metallb.io · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on load balancing software

Managed service: No
Layer 4 routing: Yes

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The record

Purpose: MetalLB provides a network load balancer for Kubernetes clusters that do not run on a cloud provider.
Address allocation: It assigns and unassigns service IPs from address pools configured by the operator.
Announcement modes: It announces service addresses using ARP, NDP, or BGP, depending on the selected mode.
Layer 2: In layer 2 mode, one cluster machine announces a service IP using ARP for IPv4 or NDP for IPv6.
BGP: BGP mode peers cluster machines with nearby routers and can distribute traffic across multiple nodes.
BGP backend: The recommended FRR-K8s mode supports BFD, IPv6, and merging additional FRR configuration.
Install options: MetalLB can be installed using Kubernetes manifests, Kustomize, or Helm; an Operator is also available on OperatorHub.
Configuration: MetalLB remains idle until configured with resources such as IPAddressPool in its deployment namespace.
Requirements: The project lists Kubernetes 1.13.0 or later, a compatible cluster network, and IPv4 addresses as requirements.
Cloud compatibility: MetalLB is generally incompatible with cloud providers; its compatibility page lists AWS, Azure, DigitalOcean, and Google Cloud as unsupported.
Runtime privileges: The speaker pod requires elevated permissions for its network functions.
Security changes: Release notes report read-only root filesystems and disabled privilege escalation for containers that lacked those settings, and a fix for CVE-2025-22874.
Maturity: MetalLB describes itself as a beta project and says its configuration format may change incompatibly as the project develops.
Community and support: The project provides a users mailing list and Slack channel, and ongoing development and maintenance are led by project maintainers.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Load Balancing Software in 2026#7 of 26

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Sources

metallb.io/concepts/· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io/installation/· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io/configuration/· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io/installation/clouds/· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io/release-notes/· checked 4 Oct 2026
metallb.io/concepts/maturity/· checked 4 Oct 2026