Traefik
Fastest to get started
Why teams pick it
Single‑binary deployment with optional Docker image
Open-source alternatives to Azure Load Balancer
Compare community-driven replacements for Azure Load Balancer in reverse proxies & load balancers workflows. We curate active, self-hostable options with transparent licensing so you can evaluate the right fit quickly.
Azure Load Balancer
Azure Load Balancer is a network load balancing service that distributes incoming network traffic across multiple backend resources (VMs, virtual machine scale sets, etc.) to ensure high availability and reliability of applications. It operates at the transport layer (Layer 4), supports inbound and outbound scenarios, and can be used to load balance traffic for internet-facing services or within virtual networks, automatically scaling to handle traffic and performing health probes to direct traffic only to healthy instances.Read more
Key stats
- 4Alternatives
- 4Active development
Recent commits in the last 6 months
- 2Permissive licenses
MIT, Apache, and similar licenses
Counts reflect projects currently indexed as alternatives to Azure Load Balancer.
Start with these picks
These projects match the most common migration paths for teams replacing Azure Load Balancer.
NGINX
AI-powered workflows
Why teams pick it
Separate stable and mainline release streams
All open-source alternatives
NGINX
High‑performance web server, load balancer, and reverse proxy.
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyC
Why teams choose it
- High‑performance HTTP serving and reverse proxying
- Built‑in load balancing and rate‑limiting capabilities
- Modular architecture with static and dynamic modules
Watch for
Windows support remains proof‑of‑concept only
Migration highlight
Static website hosting with edge caching
Reduced latency and bandwidth usage through on‑disk and memory caching.
HAProxy
High-performance reverse proxy for HTTP and TCP traffic
Active developmentAI-powered workflowsC
Why teams choose it
- Layer 4 and Layer 7 load balancing
- Support for HTTP/2, TLS 1.3, and IPv6
- Built‑in health checks and stick tables
Watch for
Configuration syntax can be complex for newcomers
Migration highlight
API gateway for microservices
Distributes incoming API requests across multiple service instances, ensuring low latency, automatic failover, and consistent throughput.
Traefik
Dynamic reverse proxy and load balancer for cloud-native microservices
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployGo
Why teams choose it
- Zero‑downtime configuration updates from supported orchestrators
- Automatic HTTPS with Let’s Encrypt, including wildcard support
- Rich observability via Prometheus, Datadog, StatsD, and built‑in metrics
Watch for
Complexity may increase with large numbers of routes
Migration highlight
Kubernetes microservice exposure
Automatically creates Ingress routes and TLS certificates for services as they are deployed, removing manual Ingress configuration.
Zoraxy
All-in-one HTTP reverse proxy with built-in tools
Active developmentFast to deployIntegration-friendlyHTML
Why teams choose it
- HTTP/2 and WebSocket proxy with zero‑config support
- Automatic TLS via ACME with DNS‑01 challenge
- Integrated monitoring, web‑SSH terminal, and network utilities
Watch for
Configuration primarily via command‑line flags; UI limited
Migration highlight
Unified HTTPS for multiple Docker containers
Single domain with automatic certificate renewal routes traffic to each container
Choosing a reverse proxies & load balancers alternative
Teams replacing Azure Load Balancer in reverse proxies & load balancers workflows typically weigh self-hosting needs, integration coverage, and licensing obligations.
- 4 options are actively maintained with recent commits.
Tip: shortlist one hosted and one self-hosted option so stakeholders can compare trade-offs before migrating away from Azure Load Balancer.