vioscale
Comparison

Kuma vs Open Service Mesh

On the evidence we track, Kuma leads this comparison with a composite score of 53/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Kuma full profile →Open Service Mesh full profile →
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★Kuma53
Open Service Mesh39
Score
Vioscale score
Kuma53 / 100low · 36%
Open Service Mesh39 / 100medium · 54%
Pricing
Free tier
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
Model
Kumacommercial
Open Service Meshopen_source
Price level
Kumafree
Open Service Meshfree
Transparent
Kuma✗
Open Service Mesh–
Integrations
Count
Kuma4
Open Service Mesh8
Security
Disclosure policy
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh–
Gdpr
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh–
Scorecard
Kuma8.3
Open Service Mesh4.8
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
Kuma8
Open Service Mesh15
Github stars
Kuma3,995
Open Service Mesh2,551
Activity
Commits last 30d
Kuma100
Open Service Mesh0
Release
Cadence days
Kuma–
Open Service Mesh12
History
Kuma20 items
Open Service Mesh20 items
License
Spdx
KumaApache-2.0
Open Service MeshApache-2.0
Language
Primary
KumaGo
Open Service MeshGo
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for service mesh. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Architecture
Data plane
KumaSidecar
Open Service MeshSidecar
Proxy
KumaEnvoy
Open Service MeshEnvoy
Security
Automatic mutual TLS
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
SPIFFE / SPIRE identity
Kuma-
Open Service Mesh-
Traffic
Traffic splitting / canary
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
Fault injection / resilience
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh-
Scale
Multi-cluster federation
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh-
Portability
VM support (beyond Kubernetes)
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh-
Observability
Built-in observability
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
Standards
Gateway API / GAMMA support
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh-
Extensibility
WASM extensibility
Kuma-
Open Service Mesh-
Compliance
FIPS mode
Kuma-
Open Service Mesh✓
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity
KumaSandbox
Open Service Mesh-
Ops
Commercial support / enterprise edition
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh-

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Kuma

Leader

Open-source control plane for service mesh delivering security, observability, routing and more. Built on Envoy with support for Kubernetes, VMs, and multi-cluster deployments.

Independently observed

Open Service Mesh

Manages traffic, enforces access policies, and provides operational visibility for microservices running in Kubernetes clusters. Emphasizes simplicity in installation and maintenance through standardized configuration interfaces.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Kuma

Leader
Open sourceFree tier

Open-source with enterprise offerings available (demo on request)

as of verify ↗

Open Service Mesh

Open source
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✗
Linux
Kuma✗
Open Service Mesh✓
CLI
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✗
Self-hosted
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✓
On-premise
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✗
Hybrid
Kuma✓
Open Service Mesh✗

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Kuma

Leader
4 total
  • Prometheus
  • Grafana
  • Datadog
  • OpenTelemetry
Independently observed

Open Service Mesh

8 total
  • Envoy
  • Linkerd
  • Istio
  • Consul
  • Kuma
  • Helm
  • SMI specification
  • external certificate management systems
Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.

Kuma vs Open Service Mesh: an evidence-based comparison · Vioscale