Logo of Linkerd

Linkerd

LinkedIn Twitter

Last updated on

Company health

Employee growth
16% increase in the last year
Web traffic
11% increase in the last quarter
Financing
December 2018 - $24M

Ratings

G2
4.4/5
(6)
Glassdoor
5.0/5
(2)

Linkerd description

Linkerd is like a magic safety net for your company's software. It operates behind the scenes, adding security and reliability to your applications without any code changes. Imagine: fewer outages, easier troubleshooting, and smoother updates, all with a sprinkle of Gralio magic!


Who is Linkerd best for

Linkerd simplifies service mesh management for Kubernetes, offering enhanced security, reliability, and observability without code changes. This translates to fewer outages and easier troubleshooting, especially beneficial for small to medium-sized businesses. While user reviews are limited, its features like automatic load balancing and traffic routing suggest potential for improved application performance.

  • Ideal for small to medium-sized businesses with Kubernetes-based applications.

  • Suitable for various industries seeking enhanced application security and reliability.


Linkerd features

Supported

Linkerd supports distributed tracing using the B3 propagation format.

Supported

Linkerd supports monitoring metrics via Prometheus integration and a visualization dashboard.

Supported

Linkerd supports automatic load balancing across multiple service instances.

Supported

Linkerd supports defining rules for routing traffic between services using dynamic request routing and traffic split.

Supported

Linkerd automatically retries failed requests to improve resilience.

Supported

Linkerd supports request timeouts to prevent indefinite waits, configurable via annotations.

Supported

Linkerd supports authorization policies to control access to services.


Linkerd pricing

The commentary is based on 3 reviews from Linkerd G2 reviews.

Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd is always free to try for non-production traffic. Companies with fewer than 50 employees can use it in production for free at any scale.

See the Linkerd pricing page.

  • Linkerd has a free plan.

  • Linkerd has a free trial.

Standard
$300 per 100 meshed pods/month

For teams adopting modern platform security, reliability, and observability via the service mesh. Includes stable release artifacts, automated installs and upgrades, enterprise support forums, SLAs on CVE remediation, extensive test matrix, mutual TLS and basic service mesh featureset.

Premium
$500 per 100 meshed pods/month

For companies standardizing on security, high availability, and multi-cluster communication. Includes everything in Standard, plus: multi-cluster communication, L7 network security policies, automatic cross-cluster failover, support for Linux VM workloads.

Enterprise
Custom

For enterprises with special security, compliance, and additional operational requirements. Includes everything in Premium, plus: hotfix releases and SBOMs, high availability zone-aware load balancing, FIPS 140-2 validated cryptographic modules, enterprise support with 24x7 SLAs.


Linkerd alternatives

  • Logo of Traefik
    Traefik
    Cloud-native edge router automating traffic flow for modern apps.
    Read more
  • Logo of Dynatrace
    Dynatrace
    Automates app monitoring, pinpoints problems, and boosts performance.
    Read more
  • Logo of Traffic Director
    Traffic Director
    Smart global traffic management for top performance and reliability.
    Read more
  • Logo of Istio
    Istio
    Connects, secures, and manages microservices in the cloud.
    Read more
  • Logo of Istio on GKE
    Istio on GKE
    Connects and secures microservices on Google's cloud platform.
    Read more
  • Logo of AWS Elastic Load Balancing
    AWS Elastic Load Balancing
    Distributes traffic, preventing crashes and keeping websites fast.
    Read more

Linkerd FAQ

  • What is Linkerd and what does Linkerd do?

    Linkerd is a service mesh for Kubernetes that enhances the security, reliability, and observability of applications. It simplifies operations with features like automatic load balancing, traffic routing, retries, and timeouts, all without requiring code changes.

  • How does Linkerd integrate with other tools?

    Linkerd integrates with Prometheus for metrics monitoring and visualization. It uses the B3 propagation format for distributed tracing and supports Kubernetes for container orchestration. It leverages service meshes for traffic management and security policies.

  • What the main competitors of Linkerd?

    Top alternatives to Linkerd include Istio on GKE, Apache ServiceComb, and ZooKeeper. These offer similar service mesh capabilities for managing microservices, providing features like traffic management, security, and observability. Istio is known for its robust features, while ServiceComb and ZooKeeper are open-source options offering more flexibility.

  • Is Linkerd legit?

    Yes, Linkerd is a legitimate and safe service mesh for Kubernetes. It enhances security and reliability without requiring code changes, which simplifies operation and troubleshooting. It's ideal for companies operating within Kubernetes clusters.

  • How much does Linkerd cost?

    Linkerd is an open-source service mesh and doesn't list pricing information. Therefore, it's likely free to use, but deploying and maintaining it may incur costs depending on your infrastructure.

  • Is Linkerd customer service good?

    There is no customer service information available for Linkerd.


Reviewed by

MK
Michal Kaczor
CEO at Gralio

Michal has worked at startups for many years and writes about topics relating to software selection and IT management. As a former consultant for Bain, a business advisory company, he also knows how to understand needs of any business and find solutions to its problems.

TT
Tymon Terlikiewicz
CTO at Gralio

Tymon is a seasoned CTO who loves finding the perfect tools for any task. He recently headed up the tech department at Batmaid, a well-known Swiss company, where he managed about 60 software purchases, including CX, HR, Payroll, Marketing automation and various developer tools.

NEW: Introducing Gralio Screen Buddy

An AI tool that observes your work, finds inefficiencies, and suggests smarter ways to do things. Maybe you can use your tools better, automate tasks, or switch software.

For Individuals
Streamline your daily tasks, get helpful AI tips, and find the right tools for your workflow.
For Businesses
See how your team really works, uncover automation opportunities, and get software recommendations tailored to your processes.