Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for load balancing using segment routing and application monitoring. A method can involve receiving a packet including a request from a source device to an application associated with a virtual address in a network, mapping the request to a set of candidate servers hosting the application associated with the virtual address, and encoding the set of candidate servers as a list of segments in a segment routing header associated with the packet. The method can further involve determining that a first candidate server from the set of candidate servers is a next segment in the list of segments, encoding the first candidate server in a destination address field on a header of the packet, and forwarding the packet to the first candidate server.