Nacos
Fastest to get started
Why teams pick it
Simple standalone deployment for quick start
Open-source alternatives to Tetrate Service Bridge
Compare community-driven replacements for Tetrate Service Bridge in service mesh workflows. We curate active, self-hostable options with transparent licensing so you can evaluate the right fit quickly.
Tetrate Service Bridge
Comprehensive service mesh platform that provides centralized management, security, and observability for Istio deployments. Supports multi-cloud, multi-cluster, and hybrid environments.Read more
Key stats
- 7Alternatives
- 7Active development
Recent commits in the last 6 months
- 7Permissive licenses
MIT, Apache, and similar licenses
Counts reflect projects currently indexed as alternatives to Tetrate Service Bridge.
Start with these picks
These projects match the most common migration paths for teams replacing Tetrate Service Bridge.
Istio
AI-powered workflows
Why teams pick it
Automate scheduling with AI-driven assistants.
All open-source alternatives
Istio
Secure, connect, and monitor microservices with a transparent service mesh
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyGo
Why teams choose it
- Envoy sidecar proxies provide L7 routing, circuit breaking, and telemetry
- Ztunnel offers a lightweight Rust data‑plane for Ambient mesh mode
- Istiod control plane manages service discovery, configuration, and certificates
Watch for
Operational complexity can be steep for new adopters
Migration highlight
Canary Deployments
Gradually shift traffic to new versions while monitoring health, reducing risk of full rollouts.
Nacos
Dynamic service discovery, configuration, and DNS for cloud-native apps
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployJava
Why teams choose it
- Unified service discovery with DNS/HTTP interfaces and health checks
- Centralized dynamic configuration that updates without redeployment
- Weighted DNS routing for flexible load balancing and canary releases
Watch for
Requires a Java runtime environment
Migration highlight
Microservice registration and discovery
Services automatically register and discover each other via DNS/HTTP, with health checks preventing routing to unhealthy instances.
Linkerd
Lightweight, security-first service mesh for Kubernetes workloads
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyGo
Why teams choose it
- Security-first design with automatic mutual TLS
- Ultra-light data-plane proxy written in Rust
- Built-in observability (metrics, tracing, tap)
Watch for
Limited advanced traffic routing compared to some meshes
Migration highlight
Secure inter-service communication
Automatic mutual TLS encrypts all pod-to-pod traffic without code changes.
Kuma
Universal Envoy-based service mesh for Kubernetes, VMs, and multi-zone
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployGo
Why teams choose it
- Universal control plane runs on Kubernetes, VMs, and bare metal
- Automatic Envoy sidecar injection with no code changes
- Built-in multi-mesh and multi-zone support with policy synchronization
Watch for
Requires Envoy knowledge for deep customizations
Migration highlight
PCI-compliant regional routing
Ensures traffic from Swiss services stays within Switzerland, meeting compliance requirements.
Traefik Mesh
Lightweight, sidecar-free service mesh for Kubernetes
Active developmentPermissive licenseIntegration-friendlyGo
Why teams choose it
- Sidecar‑free architecture using node‑level proxies
- Full compliance with the Service Mesh Interface (SMI)
- Opt‑in per‑service activation keeps existing workloads untouched
Watch for
Requires Kubernetes 1.11+ and Helm v3
Migration highlight
Gradual mesh adoption
Introduce mesh capabilities service‑by‑service without affecting existing workloads.
Kmesh
Kernel-native, sidecar-less service mesh with eBPF performance
Active developmentPermissive licenseFast to deployGo
Why teams choose it
- Sidecar-less, kernel-native data plane with eBPF
- 60% lower forwarding latency and 40% faster startup
- 70% reduction in resource overhead vs traditional proxies
Watch for
Requires kernel version with eBPF support
Migration highlight
High-frequency trading platform
Achieves sub-millisecond request latency while enforcing mutual TLS without sidecars.
Sermant
Proxyless Java Service Mesh Powered by Bytecode Enhancement
Active developmentPermissive licenseAI-powered workflowsJava
Why teams choose it
- Proxyless architecture eliminates sidecar overhead
- Bytecode enhancement injects governance without source changes
- Plugin framework with core and service layers
Watch for
Limited to Java ecosystems
Migration highlight
Circuit Breaking for Spring Cloud Services
Automatic fault tolerance injected via a plugin without deploying sidecars
Choosing a service mesh alternative
Teams replacing Tetrate Service Bridge in service mesh workflows typically weigh self-hosting needs, integration coverage, and licensing obligations.
- 7 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 Tetrate Service Bridge.