Contour vs HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Contour | HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 82 · Excellent |
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | HTML | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | kubernetes, helm | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,951 | ★ 868 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | AWS ALB Ingress | AWS ALB Ingress |
What are Contour and HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress?
Contour
Contour is a Kubernetes ingress controller that uses the Envoy proxy as its data plane. It provides advanced routing through its HTTPProxy custom resource.
- Envoy-powered ingress
- HTTPProxy CRD
- Dynamic configuration
- TLS and delegation
HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress
HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress Controller routes external traffic to cluster services using HAProxy as the data plane. It delivers high performance and detailed traffic control.
- HAProxy-powered ingress
- High-performance routing
- Rate limiting
- TLS termination
Contour vs HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress: key differences
Contour is written in HTML, while HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress is built with Go. Contour is the more established project (first released 2017), while HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress arrived in 2019. Contour has the considerably larger community, at 3,951 GitHub stars versus 868.
Why pick each one
Choose Contour if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Active community (4k GitHub stars)
- Written in HTML
Choose HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Contour or HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress better?
Neither is universally better. Contour has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Contour and HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress free and open-source?
Yes. Contour is licensed under Apache-2.0 and HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Contour and HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress with Docker?
Contour: check the project docs for container support. HAProxy Kubernetes Ingress: check the project docs for container support.