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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Fluentd vs Gloo Gateway

A side-by-side editorial comparison of Fluentd and Gloo Gateway — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Fluentd vs Gloo Gateway: at a glance

FeatureFluentdGloo Gateway
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.05.0
Sparks · 30d00
Top themeslog-collector, ruby-4, in-tail-performance, dependency-cleanupapi-gateway, maintenance, kubernetes, envoy
Last editorial update56m ago2h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Fluentd?

Fluentd 1.20 drops its yajl dependency to keep building on Ruby 4.1

Fluentd shipped 1.20.0 and 1.20.1 on the same day in late October. 1.20.0 replaces yajl with Ruby's built-in JSON, adds opt-in threaded parsing and directory watching to in_tail, a command timeout for in_exec, TCP keepalive for out_forward, a umask option and a cap on evacuated buffer chunks. 1.20.1 removed yajl-ruby from runtime dependencies because it cannot build on Ruby 4.1, so plugins that require it must now declare it themselves. 1.19.4 in September fixed buffer accounting leaks, a path traversal check and syslog limits.

Read the full Fluentd trajectory →

What is Gloo Gateway?

Gloo Gateway's October batch fixes proxies that silently kept stale endpoints.

Gloo Gateway still maintains 1.19, 1.20 and 1.21 in parallel and releases them in same-day batches. The 2026-10-21 batch fixes a bug where a placeholder EDS assignment carried the wrong cluster name, so a proxy received an update it could not match, kept its old endpoints and never recovered. Each line also moved to Go 1.26.10; 1.21 additionally upgraded kin-openapi.

Read the full Gloo Gateway trajectory →

Fluentd vs Gloo Gateway: editorial side-by-side

F
Fluentd
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Fluentd 1.20 drops its yajl dependency to keep building on Ruby 4.1

◆ Current state

Fluentd shipped 1.20.0 and 1.20.1 on the same day in late October. 1.20.0 replaces yajl with Ruby's built-in JSON, adds opt-in threaded parsing and directory watching to in_tail, a command timeout for in_exec, TCP keepalive for out_forward, a umask option and a cap on evacuated buffer chunks. 1.20.1 removed yajl-ruby from runtime dependencies because it cannot build on Ruby 4.1, so plugins that require it must now declare it themselves. 1.19.4 in September fixed buffer accounting leaks, a path traversal check and syslog limits.

◆ Where it's heading

The project is clearing old native dependencies ahead of new Ruby versions while making in_tail cheaper at high file counts. The hardening theme from 1.19.3 and 1.19.4 continues in the buffer and input paths.

◆ Prediction

Expect 1.20.x patches driven by plugins that break without yajl-ruby, since 1.20.1 pushes that dependency onto plugin authors.

G
Gloo Gateway
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Gloo Gateway's October batch fixes proxies that silently kept stale endpoints.

◆ Current state

Gloo Gateway still maintains 1.19, 1.20 and 1.21 in parallel and releases them in same-day batches. The 2026-10-21 batch fixes a bug where a placeholder EDS assignment carried the wrong cluster name, so a proxy received an update it could not match, kept its old endpoints and never recovered. Each line also moved to Go 1.26.10; 1.21 additionally upgraded kin-openapi.

◆ Where it's heading

Releases remain maintenance: Go and Kubernetes bumps on a weekly rhythm, with an occasional real bug fix shipped to every line at once. The 1.18 line no longer appears in the October batches. No new features are visible.

◆ Prediction

Expect further same-day dependency batches across the three lines; the entries show no feature release coming.

Alternatives to Fluentd and Gloo Gateway

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Fluentd or Gloo Gateway.

See all Fluentd alternatives → · See all Gloo Gateway alternatives →

Recent activity from Fluentd and Gloo Gateway

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 7d agoFluentdFluentd 1.20.1 drops yajl-ruby so it builds on Ruby 4.1
  2. 7d agoFluentdFluentd 1.20: threaded in_tail parsing, directory watching, umask
  3. 11d agoGloo GatewayFix for proxies stuck on stale endpoints; Go 1.26.10
  4. 11d agoGloo Gateway1.20 backport of the stale-endpoint fix; Go 1.26.10
  5. 11d agoGloo Gateway1.19 backport of the stale-endpoint fix; Go 1.26.10
  6. 17d agoGloo Gateway1.20.27 bumps Go to 1.26.9
  7. 17d agoGloo Gateway1.21.18 bumps Go to 1.26.9
  8. 17d agoGloo Gateway1.19.25 bumps Go to 1.26.9
  9. 1mo agoFluentdFluentd 1.19.4 fixes buffer leaks and a path traversal check
  10. 4mo agoFluentdPayload size limits, host validation and tag path boundaries
  11. 8mo agoFluentdConnection timeouts, socket leaks and Ruby 4.0 dependencies
  12. 10mo agoFluentdBackport fixes out_forward stalling under TLS

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Fluentd and Gloo Gateway?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Fluentd and Gloo Gateway are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is Fluentd better than Gloo Gateway?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Fluentd and Gloo Gateway are shipping at a similar cadence (velocity 5.0 vs 5.0, both within Sparkpulse's "active" band). For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to Fluentd?

Top Fluentd alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Fluentd alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/fluentd for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Gloo Gateway?

Top Gloo Gateway alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Gloo Gateway alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/gloo for the full list with editorial commentary on each.