Emissary-ingress
The Kubernetes-native API Gateway.
Overview
Emissary-ingress (formerly Ambassador API Gateway) is a Kubernetes-native API gateway that manages edge traffic. It is built on the Envoy Proxy and is designed for a self-service, developer-centric workflow. For Strangler Fig migrations, Emissary-ingress allows developers to use simple Kubernetes annotations or CRDs to configure advanced routing. This makes it easy to direct traffic to new containerized services based on paths, headers, or weights, enabling canary releases and gradual migrations without needing a centralized operations team to manage routing rules.
✨ Key Features
- Declarative configuration via Kubernetes CRDs and annotations
- Advanced traffic management (canary releases, A/B testing, traffic shadowing)
- Comprehensive protocol support (HTTP/2, gRPC, TCP, WebSockets)
- Fine-grained authentication and authorization
- Automatic retries, rate limiting, and circuit breaking
- Service mesh integration (Istio, Linkerd, Consul)
🎯 Key Differentiators
- Built on the powerful Envoy Proxy
- Developer-centric, self-service workflow using Kubernetes-native configuration
- CNCF incubating project, ensuring open governance
- Strong focus on ease of use for developers
Unique Value: Provides a simple and powerful way to manage ingress traffic in Kubernetes, with a focus on developer self-service.
🎯 Use Cases (3)
✅ Best For
- Using Emissary-ingress to shadow production traffic to a new microservice for testing before sending live traffic to it.
💡 Check With Vendor
Verify these considerations match your specific requirements:
- Non-Kubernetes environments.
🏆 Alternatives
Offers a more Kubernetes-native and developer-friendly experience than some of the other API gateways.
💻 Platforms
🔌 Integrations
🛟 Support Options
- ✓ Email Support
- ✓ Live Chat
- ✓ Phone Support
- ✓ Dedicated Support (Ambassador Edge Stack tier)
🔒 Compliance & Security
💰 Pricing
Free tier: Emissary-ingress is open-source and free to use.
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