compare
Istio vs Linkerd
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | Istio | Linkerd |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Go |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 38k | 12k |
| Latest | 1.31.1 | edge-26.10.1 |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Release cadence | about 1 day between releases | about 10 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 71 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 16 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Istio replaces Linkerd. Alternatives to Linkerd →
Full replacementmTLS, traffic management and telemetry, with sidecar or ambient modes built on Envoy.
Istio
- 1.32.0-alpha.02026-10-05Istio 1.32.0-alpha.0pre-release
- 1.30.52026-09-21Istio 1.30.5
- 1.29.82026-09-21Istio 1.29.8
- 1.31.12026-09-21Istio 1.31.1
- 1.31.02026-08-31Istio 1.31.0
Linkerd
- edge-26.10.12026-10-05chore(deps): bump rustls to 0.23.45
- edge-26.9.32026-09-16proxy: v2.369.0
- edge-26.9.22026-09-15build(deps): bump query-string from 9.5.0 to 9.5.1 in /web/app by @dependabot[bot] in
- edge-26.9.12026-09-04proxy: v2.367.0
- edge-26.8.42026-08-25fix: guard nil ExternalWorkload in opaque protocol (#15551)
Istio
unsigned The latest release, 1.31.1, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
Loading the security report
Linkerd
✓ signed The latest release, edge-26.10.1, carries a signature GitHub verified.
Loading the security report