.. _arch_overview_local_rate_limit:

Local rate limiting
===================

Envoy supports local (non-distributed) rate limiting of L4 connections via the
:ref:`local rate limit listener filter <config_listener_filters_local_rate_limit>` and :ref:`local rate limit network filter <config_network_filters_local_rate_limit>`.
The difference is `local rate limit listener filter <config_listener_filters_local_rate_limit>` processes the sockets before TLS handshake and filter chain matching.

Envoy additionally supports local rate limiting of HTTP requests via the
:ref:`HTTP local rate limit filter <config_http_filters_local_rate_limit>`. This can
be activated globally at the listener level or at a more specific level (e.g.: the virtual
host or route level).

Finally, Envoy also supports :ref:`global rate limiting <arch_overview_global_rate_limit>`. Local
rate limiting can be used in conjunction with global rate limiting to reduce load on the global
rate limit service.