{"data":{"slug":"cilium","name":"Cilium","tagline":"eBPF networking, security, and observability for Kubernetes","category":"devops","categoryName":"DevOps","url":"https://cilium.io","github":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium","pricing":"open-source","hook":"Cilium replaces kube-proxy-era networking with eBPF datapaths for identity-aware network policy, load balancing, and Hubble observability.","whatsGood":"Apache-2.0 (cilium/cilium). CNCF-graduated Kubernetes networking/security/observability stack built on eBPF: L3–L7 policy, service mesh options, encryption, and Hubble flow visibility. The free path is the OSS project you run; docs at docs.cilium.io and product site at cilium.io.","theCatch":"Vs flannel/Calico defaults: Cilium is the deeper eBPF control plane — more power, more kernel/datapath expertise. Isovalent/Cisco commercial layers exist around the same codebase; self-host OSS carefully for upgrades and Hubble ops.","verdict":"Apache-2.0 eBPF Kubernetes networking. Default when identity-aware policy and Hubble flows beat plain CNI.","addedAt":"2026-09-21","featured":false,"domain":"DevOps","subSpecialty":"Infrastructure","subcategory":"Kubernetes","tags":["self-host","permissive","security","kubernetes","observability","active"],"capabilities":[],"surfaces":["Self-host"],"ecosystem":["Multi-platform"],"licenseModel":"Apache-2.0","githubStars":25684,"starsPerWeek":45,"access":"free","archived":false,"repo":{"createdAt":"2015-12-16","pushedAt":"2026-10-19","license":"Apache-2.0","archived":false,"checkedAt":"2026-10-19"}},"related":[{"slug":"github-actions","name":"GitHub Actions","tagline":"CI/CD that lives where your code does"},{"slug":"docker","name":"Docker","tagline":"Container runtime that changed deployment"},{"slug":"kubernetes","name":"Kubernetes","tagline":"Container orchestration at scale"},{"slug":"pulumi","name":"Pulumi","tagline":"Infrastructure as code in real languages"},{"slug":"fly-io","name":"Fly.io","tagline":"Deploy apps to VMs close to your users"}],"links":{"self":"/api/gems/cilium","html":"/gems/cilium","markdown":"/gems/cilium.md","category":"/api/gems?category=devops","categoryPage":"/stacks/devops"}}