Higress
7.7#2 in api gateway softwareFree planFree planWebAPILinuxmacOS
VisitHigress vs NGINX Gateway Fabric
NGINX Gateway Fabric
5.9#10 in kubernetes ingress controllersFree planFree planLinuxSelf-hosted
VisitWhat both publish
| Fact | Higress | NGINX Gateway Fabric |
|---|---|---|
| Deployment | A Docker all-in-one deployment exposes the console on port 8001, HTTP gateway on 8080 and HTTPS gateway on 8443. | NGINX Gateway Fabric can be installed with Helm from an OCI registry or from source, and Gateway API resources must be installed before deployment. |
| Support | The community edition includes community support and documentation; the dedicated commercial edition lists ticket, DingTalk group, and offline support. | The support page directs users to GitHub issues and the NGINX Community Forum, and says users can contact F5 Sales for dedicated support or NGINX Plus features. |
Higress plans
- Alibaba Cloud AI Gateway Serverless StandardPriced on request
- Higress CommunityFree
- Higress Community EditionFree
- Alibaba Cloud AI Gateway Serverless EnterprisePriced on request
- Feitian Exclusive EditionPriced on request
NGINX Gateway Fabric plans
- NGINX Gateway Fabric (NGINX Open Source data plane)Free
Pick Higress if…
Higress suits teams that need a self-hosted gateway for AI services and cloud-native traffic. It may also fit those needing MCP, Kubernetes gateway, or API lifecycle capabilities.
Pick NGINX Gateway Fabric if…
NGINX Gateway Fabric suits teams running Kubernetes that want NGINX-based traffic management through Gateway API resources. It is geared toward self-hosted deployments and users able to work with its installation requirements.