Istio vs Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted reverse proxy & gateways options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Istio
Full-featured service mesh for traffic and security control
VS
Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™
Free & Open-Source HTML5 Network Performance Estimation Tool
| Feature | Istio | Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Reverse Proxy & Gateways | Reverse Proxy & Gateways |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | kubernetes, helm | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 38,338 | ★ 3,718 |
| First released | 2017 | 2020 |
| Replaces | AWS App Mesh | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Istio or Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ better?
Neither is universally better. Istio has the larger community, while Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Istio and Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ free and open-source?
Yes. Istio is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Istio and Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™ with Docker?
Istio: check the project docs for container support. Speed Test by OpenSpeedTest™: yes.