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Progress Kemp LoadMaster
Burlington, Massachusetts, United States
What it is
Progress Kemp LoadMaster is an application delivery controller and server load balancer for managing application traffic. It provides Layer 4 and Layer 7 routing, persistence, health checking, SSL acceleration and offloading, and rule-based content switching. Its integrated WAF addresses OWASP Top Ten risks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting, and denial of service. Other protections include reverse proxy, single sign-on, pre-authentication, dual-factor authentication, IPS, and SSL bridging. GEO policies direct clients to datacenters by location or proximity and support failover and failback. Progress offers hardware, virtual, and cloud deployments for on-premises or cloud use. Cloud licensing can be pay-per-use or perpetual BYOL, with usage charges applying to consumption. Deployment guides cover Microsoft, VMware, Omnissa, Dell EMC, Citrix, and Oracle workloads. The temporary VLM-MAX trial license costs $0 for 30 days and includes Enterprise Plus Support, ESP, WAF, and GEO. It stops functioning when the trial expires.
For and against
For
- Layer 4 and Layer 7 routing
- Integrated WAF protections
- GEO failover and failback
- Hardware, virtual, and cloud forms
- Pay-per-use cloud licensing
Against
- Temporary trial ends after 30 days
- Some features may change by support tier
- Virtual LoadMasters use software SSL
The verdict
LoadMaster combines traffic balancing, application delivery, geographic routing, and security features across several deployment models. The free trial is time-limited, so ongoing use requires a permanent license obtained through Progress channels.
Who it suits
LoadMaster suits businesses of all sizes and managed service providers that need traffic distribution, application delivery, and security controls. It supports hardware, virtual, and cloud deployment choices.
Plans and prices
Temporary LoadMaster trial license
30 days · VLM-MAX model · Enterprise Plus Support, including ESP, WAF and GEO
Read 2 Oct 2026 · docs.progress.com
Permanent LoadMaster license
License available through a Progress Kemp partner, Sales, or the LoadMaster Upgrade option
Read 2 Oct 2026 · docs.progress.com
On the record
- Access protection
- LoadMaster security features include reverse proxy, single sign-on, pre-authentication, SMTP domain filtering, dual-factor authentication, IPS, and SSL bridging.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Cloud licensing
- Cloud LoadMasters can use pay-per-use licensing or perpetual BYOL licenses, and pay-per-use charges apply only for usage consumed.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Core features
- Its listed features include balancing methods, persistence, SSL acceleration and offloading, rule based content switching, health checking, GEO, WAF, SNMP, IPv6, and edge security.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- Progress describes LoadMaster as available in hardware, virtual, and cloud forms, and documents on-premises and cloud deployment options.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Encryption
- LoadMaster supports SSL 3.0, TLS 1.0, TLS 1.2, and TLS 1.3; virtual LoadMasters provide software SSL rather than hardware SSL.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Example workload
- The Exchange 2019 deployment guide describes support for Exchange protocols and says LoadMaster can use Layer 7 health checking to reroute users from inaccessible components.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Geographic availability
- GEO can direct clients to datacenters using policies based on location or proximity and supports failover and failback.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The documentation provides deployment guides for Microsoft, VMware, Omnissa, Dell EMC, Citrix, and Oracle workloads.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Progress describes the LoadMaster product family as serving businesses of all sizes and managed service providers.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- LoadMaster is an application delivery controller and server load balancer that manages user traffic and applications.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Security
- The integrated WAF provides protections including OWASP Top Ten coverage, SQL injection protection, cross-site scripting mitigation, and denial of service mitigation.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
- Support and trial limit
- A temporary license expires after 30 days, at which point LoadMaster ceases to function; the trial uses Enterprise Plus Support, and some features may be lost when switching to a permanent license with a different support tier.docs.progress.com · read 2 Oct 2026
