Cilium provides network security and observability for Kubernetes using eBPF. The listing says it supports transparent encryption and network policies applied at the kernel level. Platform and networking teams use it to control traffic between workloads and to see how that traffic flows. The project is available at cilium.io.
How Cilium compares with its closest alternatives
All 5 closest alternatives have a free plan, as Cilium does. All 5 offer an API, as Cilium does. Cilium offers a desktop app. Of the alternatives, 4 offer a desktop app. Cilium was founded in 2016; the alternatives were founded between 2009 and 2019, 1 of them earlier.
Market position · Security
How Cilium compares in Security
Cilium has moderate opportunity and sits in the bottom third of 361 live Security tools on FalcoScan. Across Security, the average opportunity score is 70.4 and the average saturation score 33. FalcoScan rates Cilium's own market position as contested. 121 of the 361 operating Security tools have hot momentum, and FalcoScan has recorded 1 shutdown in the category.
The closest alternatives to Cilium that are still running, matched on the AI capabilities, uses and audience they share, are ArgoCD, Crossplane, Flux CD, Tekton, and Cloudflare Security.
Is Cilium still running?
Yes. As of 2 November 2026, FalcoScan lists Cilium as operating at cilium.io.
Does Cilium have an API?
Yes. Cilium offers an API.
Who is Cilium for?
Cilium is built for platform engineers and devops.
How do I sign in to Cilium?
Sign in on Cilium's own website, cilium.io. FalcoScan reviews Cilium but does not run its accounts, so logins, passwords and billing are handled by Cilium directly.