# Cilium vs Kong Mesh

| Attribute | Cilium | Kong Mesh |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.8 (54% (medium)) | 57.6 (38% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 100 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 103 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 25,603 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A cloud-native networking and security platform that uses eBPF to provide networking, observability, and security capabilities. Built for Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure with integrated observability via Hubble. It is indexed under Service Mesh.","source":"https://cilium.io","question":"What is Cilium?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Cilium is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://cilium.io","question":"Is Cilium free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Cilium supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://cilium.io","question":"What platforms does Cilium support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Cilium can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://cilium.io","question":"Can Cilium be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 3 integrations for Cilium, including SPIRE, Envoy and Prometheus. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://cilium.io","question":"What does Cilium integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Cilium is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium","question":"Is Cilium open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Kong Mesh provides centralized control for service-to-service communication with built-in encryption, security policies, and observability. It enables zero-trust security and traffic management across Kubernetes clusters and on-premises deployments without requiring developers to implement these capabilities in their applications. It is indexed under Service Mesh.","source":"https://konghq.com/products/kong-mesh","question":"What is Kong Mesh?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Kong Mesh supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://konghq.com/products/kong-mesh","question":"What platforms does Kong Mesh support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Kong Mesh can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://konghq.com/products/kong-mesh","question":"Can Kong Mesh be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and GDPR for Kong Mesh. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Kong Mesh not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://konghq.com/compliance","question":"What security certifications does Kong Mesh have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Cilium is an open-source networking layer for Kubernetes that uses eBPF to provide container-to-container communication, load balancing, network policies, multi-cluster connectivity, and deep observability across single or multiple clusters. | Enterprise service mesh that provides centralized connectivity and security management for services across diverse deployment environments. Enables Zero Trust security, traffic management, and consistent policy enforcement through a unified control plane. |
| features.capabilities | `{"proxy":"envoy","data_plane":"sidecarless_ebpf","multicluster":true,"cncf_maturity":"graduated","spiffe_identity":true,"traffic_splitting":true,"gateway_api_support":true,"built_in_observability":true}` | `{"vm_support":true,"multicluster":true,"automatic_mtls":true,"fault_injection":true,"traffic_splitting":true,"commercial_support":true,"built_in_observability":true}` |
| integrations.count | 3 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"SPIRE","native":false,"category":"identity","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"Envoy","native":false,"category":"proxy"},{"name":"Prometheus","native":false,"category":"monitoring","direction":"outbound"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://cilium.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T09:27:47.184Z"}` | - |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.cadence_days | 5 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.21.0-pre.3","date":"2026-10-02T19:04:57Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.21.0-pre.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.2","date":"2026-09-16T01:53:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.19.8","date":"2026-09-16T01:53:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.18.14","date":"2026-09-16T01:53:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.21.0-pre.2","date":"2026-09-09T11:50:23Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.21.0-pre.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.1","date":"2026-08-18T10:36:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.19.7","date":"2026-08-18T10:35:54Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.18.13","date":"2026-08-18T10:35:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.21.0-pre.0","date":"2026-08-03T19:58:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.21.0-pre.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.0","date":"2026-07-29T15:00:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.0-rc.1","date":"2026-07-21T23:28:11Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.19.6","date":"2026-07-16T22:52:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.18.12","date":"2026-07-16T22:47:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.17.18","date":"2026-07-16T22:47:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.17.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.0-rc.0","date":"2026-07-14T02:52:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.0-pre.4","date":"2026-07-03T20:50:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-pre.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.19.5","date":"2026-06-16T12:25:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.19.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.18.11","date":"2026-06-16T12:22:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.18.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.17.17","date":"2026-06-16T12:22:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.17.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/cilium/cilium/releases/tag/v1.20.0-pre.3","date":"2026-06-02T00:41:32Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.20.0-pre.3"}]` | - |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.8 | - |
| security.soc2 | - | yes |
| security.trust_center | - | https://konghq.com/blog/product-releases/trust-what-youre-shipping-with-insomnia-v12 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":39,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcilium%2Fcilium&per_page=100","last_12m":8,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` | - |

## Capabilities (Service Mesh)

| Capability | Cilium | Kong Mesh |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Data plane | Sidecarless (eBPF) | - |
| Proxy | Envoy | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Automatic mutual TLS | - | ✓ |
| SPIFFE / SPIRE identity | ✓ | - |
| **Traffic** |  |  |
| Traffic splitting / canary | ✓ | ✓ |
| Fault injection / resilience | - | ✓ |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Multi-cluster federation | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Portability** |  |  |
| VM support (beyond Kubernetes) | - | ✓ |
| **Observability** |  |  |
| Built-in observability | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| Gateway API / GAMMA support | ✓ | - |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| WASM extensibility | - | - |
| **Compliance** |  |  |
| FIPS mode | - | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | Graduated | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Commercial support / enterprise edition | - | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:13:33.190Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*