THE PRODUCTION SERVICE MESH · CNCF-GRADUATED · BUILT IN RUST

Scale your Kubernetes platform.
Golden metrics, mTLS, multi-cluster.

The Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd service mesh runs in production at Xbox (22,000 pods), Imagine Learning
(40% cross-zone cost cut), and IntelliGRC (4× MRR after FedRAMP).

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Already on Linkerd Open Source? See what upgrading gets you →

Pick your Linkerd path

I LEAD A PLATFORM TEAM

Modernize your Kubernetes platform without doubling headcount.

FIPS audit boundary in 90 days
40% cross-zone cost cut
97% CVE drop · memory-safe Rust micro-proxy
One vendor · 24×7 enterprise support

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I BUILD ON KUBERNETES

Production-grade reliability without the configuration sprawl.

Per-request gRPC load balancing | GA since 2018
Strict mTLS by default | zero config
Success rate / RPS / latency · no instrumentation
Automated trust anchor rotation

Install and Try for Free

IN PRODUCTION at:

Outcomes our customers love

4× MRR

IntelliGRC · FedRAMP

MRR grew 4× after authorization. New opportunities doubled.

40% ↓

Imagine Learning · HAZL

On track to cut regional data transfer costs by at least 40%.

22,000

Xbox · 26+ clusters

Pods on zero-config mTLS. Retired in-house observability.

97% ↓

Imagine Learning · 2024

Service-mesh-related CVE exposure dropped by 97%.

0 ↓

Tradeshift · cloud migration

Self-hosted → EKS with zero downtime via multi-cluster mesh.

What use case matters today?

Six production use cases, easy to deploy on-premises, in your VPC, in AWS EKS, or migrate from one cloud provider to another.

FIPS for FedRAMP, CMMC, HIPAA

FIPS 140-2/3 validated CP + DP. CMVP audit dashboard.

gRPC on Kubernetes

Per-request load balancing. Per-method canary. No app code.

Observability & reliability

Golden metrics, no instrumentation. Automation for trust anchor rotation.

Multi-cluster & failover

Federated services. mTLS across clusters. Cloud migration.

Cross-zone cost reduction

HAZL: In-zone when healthy, expand when load demands.

Zero trust in Kubernetes

Zero config strict mTLS. Workload identity. Rust data plane.

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Linkerd vs Istio Ambient vs Cilium Service Mesh

Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd

Istio Ambient

Cilium SM

Per-request gRPC LB

FIPS 140-2 / 140-3 build

Default mTLS posture

Cross-zone reliability (HAZL)

Data plane memory safety

GA on every pod since 2018

Fully validated

Strict between every meshed pod

Reliability preserved

Rust micro-proxy

Waypoint required; ztunnel L4-only

Ambient FIPS not commonly available

PERMISSIVE by default

TAR — reliability tradeoff

C++ Envoy

Beta in v1.19

No FIPS path documented

mTLS rework history

TAR — reliability tradeoff

C++ Envoy

Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd

Per-request gRPC LB

FIPS 140-2 / 140-3 build

Default mTLS posture

Cross-zone reliability (HAZL)

Data plane memory safety

GA on every pod since 2018

Fully validated

Strict between every meshed pod

Reliability preserved

Rust micro-proxy

Istio Ambient

Per-request gRPC LB

FIPS 140-2 / 140-3 build

Default mTLS posture

Cross-zone reliability (HAZL)

Data plane memory safety

Waypoint required; ztunnel L4-only

Ambient FIPS not commonly available

PERMISSIVE by default

TAR — reliability tradeoff

C++ Envoy

Cilium SM

Per-request gRPC LB

FIPS 140-2 / 140-3 build

Default mTLS posture

Cross-zone reliability (HAZL)

Data plane memory safety

Beta in v1.19

No FIPS path documented

mTLS rework history

TAR — reliability tradeoff

C++ Envoy

Contact us for a deep dive

What is multi-AZ transfer costing you?

HAZL · cost savings

Provider

AWS

$0.02/GB

GCP

$0.01/GB

Clusters

No. of Kubernetes clusters

AZs ?

HAZL needs just 2 AZs — competitors require 3+.

Availability zones per cluster

Data transfer

Cross-zone traffic volume

Select a provider to see your savings. Set up your custom configuration.

Estimates based on published AWS/GCP rates. The 60% savings figure reflects observed HAZL deployments. Actual results may vary.

Get a custom savings estimate

Already running Linkerd open source?

Learn more about what is possible with Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd

Feature Comparison

Compare Linkerd Open Source Features to Buoyant Enterprise for Linkerd

Review plans

Service Mesh Academy

Hands-on, engineer-focused training workshops and presentations

Watch and learn on-demand

Service Mesh Certification

Service Mesh Academy self-paced courses

Get service mesh certified

Going deeper on service mesh. And why you need one.

Listen to the latest episodes

Frequently asked questions

What is a service mesh?

An infrastructure layer for service-to-service comms, mTLS, traffic, observability, authz, without app code changes. Linkerd is the original mesh and the first CNCF-graduated.

Linkerd vs BEL?

Linkerd is the OSS CNCF-graduated project. BEL adds FIPS, HAZL, lifecycle operator, Buoyant Cloud, multi-cluster topology, and 24×7 support.

Is Linkerd FIPS validated?

BEL ships a FIPS 140-2 and 140-3 validated build covering both control plane and data plane. OSS uses non-validated libraries.

How does Linkerd handle gRPC LB?

Per-request L7 load balancing on every meshed pod since 2018. Fixes HTTP/2 pinning that breaks Kubernetes' L4 LB. No app code changes.

Scale your Kubernetes platform.Golden metrics, mTLS, multi-cluster.

Pick your Linkerd path

Modernize your Kubernetes platform without doubling headcount.

Production-grade reliability without the configuration sprawl.

Outcomes our customers love

What use case matters today?

FIPS for FedRAMP, CMMC, HIPAA

gRPC on Kubernetes

Observability & reliability

Multi-cluster & failover

Cross-zone cost reduction

Zero trust in Kubernetes

Linkerd vs Istio Ambient vs Cilium Service Mesh

What is multi-AZ transfer costing you?

Already running Linkerd open source?

Going deeper on service mesh. And why you need one.

Listen to the latest episodes

Frequently asked questions

Scale your Kubernetes platform.
Golden metrics, mTLS, multi-cluster.