metallb/metallb
A network load-balancer implementation for Kubernetes using standard routing protocols observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
94/100
- Activity 98
- Release rhythm 86
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-03. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 0
- age_days: 3220
- days_rel: 98
- days_push: 16
- n_releases_24m: 12
Adoption not part of the score
8333 stars · 1068 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
MetalLB is a network load-balancer implementation for bare-metal Kubernetes clusters that provides Services of type LoadBalancer using standard routing protocols. It operates in layer 2 (ARP/NDP) mode or BGP mode, integrating with standard network equipment so external traffic reaches cluster services.
Use cases
- expose kubernetes services with external IPs on bare metal
- run loadbalancer services without a cloud provider
- advertise kubernetes service IPs via BGP to routers
- get loadbalancer IPs on a home lab kubernetes cluster
- replace NodePort services for production traffic
- announce service IPs using ARP on layer 2 networks
When to choose
- you run Kubernetes on bare metal or unsupported on-prem environments where cloud LoadBalancers stay pending
- your routers speak BGP or your network supports ARP/NDP and you want standard protocol integration
- you need IPv4 and IPv6 address pools with Prometheus metrics and CRD-based configuration
When to avoid
- your cluster runs on a managed cloud like AWS, GCP, or Azure, which provide their own load balancers
- your cloud or virtual network emulates ARP or lacks BGP support, breaking L2 and BGP modes
- you need a layer 7 (HTTP) load balancer rather than network-layer IP advertisement
Facets
service · maturity active
load-testing networking deployment monitoring networking self-hosted infrastructure-as-code self-hosted go bgp bare-metal arp vrrp frr loadbalancer kubernetes-operator crd containers kubernetes docker linux
7 sources
- readme: https://github.com/metallb/metallb · fetched 2026-08-28 · fb1b66b8c369
- homepage: https://metallb.io · fetched 2026-08-29 · 720acb76d6cd
- site_page: https://metallb.io/installation/network-addons · fetched 2026-08-29 · d1bc231bfdb8
- site_page: https://metallb.io/installation · fetched 2026-08-29 · 5039bcfa0cd5
- site_page: https://metallb.io/installation/clouds · fetched 2026-08-29 · 6c0ab292d22e
- site_page: https://metallb.io/faq · fetched 2026-08-29 · 5bff4010281b
- site_page: https://metallb.io/apis · fetched 2026-08-29 · e2e19333acad
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| metallb/metallb | main | 94 |
For agents
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem