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Cybersecurity · head to head

DTiQ vs Envoy

DTiQ logo

DTiQ

Cybersecurity

Managed video loss prevention with human auditors for restaurants, convenience stores and retail

From
On request
Free plan
No
Visit DTiQFull review
Envoy logo

Envoy

Developer Tools

A high-performance L7 proxy written in C++ that is configured by an API rather than a config file, and is usually deployed under a control plane.

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Visit EnvoyFull review

The short version

  • Envoy is free; DTiQ prices on request.
  • Only DTiQ lists POS transaction linking; only Envoy lists xDS dynamic configuration.
  • Where DTiQ falls short: you are buying labour, so the cost per site is far higher than a self-service video licence and it does not fall as camera prices do.
  • Prices and features on this page were last checked on 13 November 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which DTiQ and Envoy actually diverge.

Attributes where DTiQ and Envoy differ
AttributeDTiQEnvoy
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelQuoteOpen-source
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, AndroidWeb
CategoryCybersecurityDeveloper Tools

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in DTiQ

  • SmartAudit
  • POS transaction linking
  • 360iQ platform
  • Exception alerting
  • Drive-through timing
  • Food safety and compliance checks
  • Managed installation

Only in Envoy

  • xDS dynamic configuration
  • Protocol breadth
  • Filter chain architecture
  • Observability by default
  • Outlier detection
  • Traffic shaping
  • mTLS termination and origination
  • Hot restart

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

DTiQ

  • A multi-unit quick service franchisee who has no one available to review video across fifteen storesnot Envoy
  • A convenience store chain investigating till fraud by matching voids to what actually happened at the counternot Envoy
  • An operator enforcing drive-through service time standards across locations from evidence rather than anecdotenot Envoy
  • A brand auditing food safety and cleanliness compliance at franchise sites without sending a field managernot Envoy

Envoy

  • Acting as the data plane under a service mesh or Gateway API implementation, which is how the overwhelming majority of deployments use itnot DTiQ
  • An edge or API gateway that needs per-route retry budgets, circuit breaking and outlier detection rather than round-robin proxyingnot DTiQ
  • Migrating traffic between service versions or between a monolith and its replacement, using weighted splits and shadow trafficnot DTiQ
  • Standardising observability across a polyglot estate, so that latency, error rates and tracing look the same regardless of the language a service is written innot DTiQ

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

DTiQ

  • You are buying labour, so the cost per site is far higher than a self-service video licence and it does not fall as camera prices do
  • Audits are sampled, not continuous, so a problem outside the reviewed window is invisible and the score is a statistical impression rather than a complete record
  • Nothing is published on price and the commercial shape is a multi-year managed service agreement, which is harder to exit than a software subscription and typically involves bundled hardware you do not own
  • Ownership changed in a $200 million Digital Alpha led investment tied to a Cisco Meraki partnership, so the hardware and network roadmap may shift under an existing estate
  • It is built around restaurant, convenience and retail operating models, so an organisation outside those verticals gets a generic video product and pays for an audit methodology that does not fit its work

Envoy

  • The configuration surface is very large and hand-written bootstrap YAML runs to hundreds of lines for routing that Nginx expresses in twenty, which is why nearly every production deployment sits under a control plane and inherits that control plane's constraints as well
  • xDS is the real API and it is not stable in the comfortable sense; the v2 API set was removed outright, resource types continue to be deprecated, and your control plane and Envoy binaries have to be upgraded roughly in step or the proxies stop accepting configuration
  • Extending it properly means writing a C++ filter and building and maintaining your own Envoy binary; the alternatives are Lua, which adds per-request overhead, and proxy-wasm, whose ABI has remained effectively experimental for years with a real performance cost
  • At sidecar density the per-proxy memory and CPU footprint is a measurable share of cluster capacity, since thousands of workloads each carry a full proxy, and this is precisely the cost that has pushed mesh projects towards node-level or ambient architectures
  • There is no single vendor selling support for Envoy itself; you get the community plus control-plane vendors such as Solo.io and Tetrate, so an Envoy-level production bug is your own engineers in a C++ codebase unless a support contract happens to cover it
  • Diagnosing why a request got a particular response involves reading config dumps, the stats endpoint and the RESPONSE_FLAGS codes in access logs rather than a readable error, which is a specific skill you must hire or spend months growing

Pricing, plan by plan

DTiQ

On request
  • DTiQ managed serviceOn request
    • Priced per location as a managed service, not per camera
    • Audit frequency and scope determine the rate
    • Hardware and installation bundled into the service agreement

Envoy

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Envoy review.

Which should you pick?

Choose DTiQ if

  • You need smartaudit.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android.
  • You also want pos transaction linking.
DTiQ review

Choose Envoy if

  • You need xds dynamic configuration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want protocol breadth.
Envoy review

Questions people ask

Is DTiQ or Envoy better?
Neither clearly leads. DTiQ starts at On request and Envoy at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, DTiQ or Envoy?
Envoy has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for DTiQ and Free for Envoy.
Does DTiQ or Envoy run on more platforms?
DTiQ runs on Web, iOS, Android. Envoy runs on Web.
Can I use Envoy for free?
Yes. Envoy has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. DTiQ starts at On request.
What is DTiQ best used for?
DTiQ is most often used for a multi-unit quick service franchisee who has no one available to review video across fifteen stores, a convenience store chain investigating till fraud by matching voids to what actually happened at the counter, an operator enforcing drive-through service time standards across locations from evidence rather than anecdote, a brand auditing food safety and cleanliness compliance at franchise sites without sending a field manager. Of those, a multi-unit quick service franchisee who has no one available to review video across fifteen stores and a convenience store chain investigating till fraud by matching voids to what actually happened at the counter are not what Envoy is typically brought in for.
What can DTiQ do that Envoy cannot?
DTiQ covers SmartAudit, POS transaction linking, 360iQ platform, Exception alerting. Envoy covers xDS dynamic configuration, Protocol breadth, Filter chain architecture, Observability by default.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

DTiQ: Is DTiQ a video management system?

Not primarily. It is a managed service where human auditors review your footage and deliver scored reports. The platform exists to support that service.

Envoy: Should I run Envoy on its own, or under a control plane?

Almost always under one. Directly authoring xDS or static bootstrap configuration is viable for a handful of routes and becomes unmanageable beyond that. Envoy Gateway, Istio, Contour, Gloo and Consul all exist to generate that configuration for you.

DTiQ: How is it priced?

Per location as a managed service, based on audit scope and frequency, with hardware and installation bundled. Nothing is published.

Envoy: How does it compare with Nginx or HAProxy?

Envoy is dynamically configured over an API and instrumented far more heavily; Nginx and HAProxy are faster to configure and lighter for straightforward reverse proxying. If you never need to change routing without a reload, Envoy is more machinery than the problem requires.

DTiQ: Who owns DTiQ?

Digital Alpha holds a majority stake following a $200 million investment that bought out Bain Capital, BV Investment Partners and others, alongside a Cisco Meraki partnership.

Envoy: What does it cost?

Nothing to licence; it is Apache 2.0 and there is no paid edition. The cost is engineering time and, for most organisations, a commercial control plane or cloud service that packages it.

DTiQ: Does it integrate with my POS?

Yes, with major restaurant and convenience store point of sale systems, which is what allows transaction exceptions to be replayed on video.

Envoy: Can I write extensions without C++?

You can write Lua filters or proxy-wasm modules in Rust, Go, C++ or AssemblyScript. Both carry per-request overhead compared with a native filter, and the Wasm path has been slower to stabilise than the project originally projected.

Envoy: Is it a CNCF project?

Yes, it is a graduated CNCF project licensed under Apache 2.0, which means the trademark and governance sit with the foundation rather than with Lyft or any vendor.

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