Search metal gates and you’ll get a wall of options swing, sliding, bi-folding, cantilever, telescopic each with its own strengths and its own price tag. Most guides pick one type and sell you on it. This one doesn’t. It walks through how the main types actually compare on space, cost, and practicality, so you can work out which one fits your property before you start pricing up a specific design.

The Decision That Comes Before Material or Style: Swing or Slide?

Every metal gate decision starts here, because it rules out options fast.

Swing gates open on hinges, like a door. They’re the simplest mechanism, the cheapest to automate, and the best match for a traditional arched-top design. The catch is they need clear space to swing through flat ground and enough clearance on the arc side. If your driveway slopes right at the entrance, or there’s a wall or planting bed in the swing path, this rules swing gates out immediately regardless of how much you like the look.

Sliding gates run along a track parallel to your boundary, or cantilever off the ground on rollers with no track at all. They solve the slope and clearance problem swing gates can’t, but they need lateral space roughly 1.5 times the gate’s width running alongside the driveway for the gate to slide into when open.

If your property has both flat ground and swing clearance, you genuinely have a choice. If it has one but not the other, the site itself has already made the decision for you.

When Swing and Sliding Both Don’t Fit: Bi-Fold, Telescopic, and Cantilever

For tighter or more awkward sites, three further options solve specific space problems:

Bi-folding gates fold in on themselves as they open, needing far less lateral run than a straight sliding gate useful where you want sliding-gate space savings but don’t have the full lateral clearance a single sliding panel needs. The trade-off is mechanical complexity: more moving parts than a swing or straight slide, which means more to think about at service time.

Telescopic gates are a variation on sliding two or more panels overlap and retract in stages, so the gate stows more compactly than a single sliding leaf of the same total width. Good for driveways with limited lateral space that still can’t accommodate bi-fold mechanics.

Cantilever gates slide without touching the ground at all, supported entirely on rollers mounted to the posts. No ground track means no drainage channel to cut, no track to clear of debris or ice, and no risk of the gate binding on a track that’s shifted with the ground over time which is why they’re a common choice for industrial and commercial sites with heavy daily use.

Material: Steel vs Aluminium vs Wrought Iron

Steel is the heavy-duty default strongest per pound, most cost-effective, and the standard choice for gates that need to resist impact or carry a substantial automation motor. It needs galvanizing or powder coating to resist rust, but properly finished, it’s the most durable option for the money.

Aluminium is roughly a third the weight of steel and naturally rust-resistant, which makes it a strong pick for wide gates where reducing weight on the motor and hinges matters, or coastal properties where salt exposure accelerates steel corrosion. It’s typically pricier per kilogram than steel, but the reduced structural demand on posts and automation can offset that over the gate’s lifetime.

Wrought or cast iron delivers the traditional decorative look most people picture when they think “metal gate,” but it’s genuinely less robust than steel for the same thickness, and decorative ironwork adds cost fast this is usually the premium-tier choice for period properties where the aesthetic is the whole point, not the budget option.

Matching Gate Type to Property in Practice

• Flat driveway, decent width, want a classic look? A swing gate in steel or wrought iron is the simplest, most cost-effective match.
• Sloped entrance or tight swing clearance, but space alongside the driveway? A sliding gate solves the clearance problem directly.
• Narrow site with no room for a full sliding run? Bi-folding or telescopic gates compress the stowed footprint.
• Industrial or commercial site with heavy daily traffic? Cantilever gates avoid the track maintenance issues that come with constant use.
• Period property or a design-led entrance? Decorative steel or wrought iron, matched to swing or sliding depending on what the site allows.

Why Work With East London Metal Engineering Ltd

At East London Metal Engineering Ltd, every gate swing, sliding, bi-folding, telescopic, or cantilever starts with a site survey rather than a fixed catalogue choice, because the property’s slope, clearance, and available space usually narrow the options before style or material even come into the conversation. Gates are fabricated in-house from mild steel, stainless steel, or aluminium, and built with automation in mind from the start, so the structure is properly reinforced to carry the motor rather than retrofitted afterward.

Whether you’re weighing up a swing gate against a sliding gate for a London driveway, or need something more specific like a bi-folding or cantilever solution for a tighter or higher-traffic site, the right answer usually comes down to what your specific entrance allows which is exactly what a site visit settles before any steel gets cut.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are sliding gates more expensive than swing gates?
Generally yes. Swing gates have the simplest mechanism and least groundwork, typically starting from around £3,000 installed, while sliding gates usually start from £5,000+ due to track installation and site preparation.

Is aluminium or steel better for a metal gate?
Steel is stronger and more cost-effective for the same thickness, making it the default for most gates. Aluminium is lighter and naturally corrosion-resistant, which suits wide gates or coastal properties where reducing structural load or resisting salt exposure matters more than raw strength.

Can I automate any type of metal gate?
Yes, though the automation system and its cost vary swing gates use the simplest and cheapest motors, while sliding, bi-folding, and cantilever gates need more capable systems suited to their mechanism, which adds to the overall cost.

What’s the main advantage of a cantilever gate over a standard sliding gate?
No ground track. That means no drainage channel to install, nothing at ground level to collect debris or ice, and no risk of the gate binding if the ground shifts which is why cantilever gates are common on industrial and high-traffic commercial sites.