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Cybersecurity · head to head

Camio vs Falco

Camio logo

Camio

Cybersecurity

AI video search that runs on cameras you already own, starting near five dollars per camera per month

From
$4.99/month
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Falco logo

Falco

Cybersecurity

CNCF-graduated runtime threat detection for Linux and Kubernetes using eBPF

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Falco has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Camio the 4.99 US dollars per camera per month starting rate is genuinely a starting rate: Flex add-ons run from 1 to 89 dollars per stream per month, so a busy camera with detailed vehicle labelling can cost more than fifteen times a quiet one and a site budget built on the headline number will be badly wrong.; Falco falco detects and alerts but does not block; stopping an attack requires wiring up Falco Talon or your own response tooling, so out of the box a confirmed detection still means a human intervening after the fact.
  • They diverge on capability: Camio covers Natural language video search, Falco covers eBPF kernel instrumentation.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Camio and Falco actually diverge.

Attributes where Camio and Falco differ
AttributeCamioFalco
Starting price$4.99/monthFree
Pricing modelPer camera per monthOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWeb, iOS, Android, LinuxLinux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cybersecurity).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Camio

  • Natural language video search
  • Works with existing cameras
  • Free Box software
  • Zone and schedule rules
  • Vehicle and person attributes
  • Retail and queue analytics
  • Alerting integrations
  • Camio Flex add-ons

Only in Falco

  • eBPF kernel instrumentation
  • System call rules engine
  • Container and Kubernetes context
  • Default rule set
  • Falcosidekick
  • Falco Talon
  • Plugins framework
  • DaemonSet deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Camio

  • A warehouse that needs an alert when a trailer door opens outside scheduled hours rather than a recording nobody watchesnot Falco
  • A retailer investigating a shrink pattern who needs to find every instance of a behaviour across a month of footagenot Falco
  • A manufacturer wanting a safety alert when a person enters a machine zone during a runnot Falco
  • A property manager who wants search and alerting on an existing camera estate without replacing recordersnot Falco

Falco

  • A platform team that needs to know when a shell is opened inside a production container, which image scanning cannot detect because it happens at runtimenot Camio
  • A regulated business required to evidence host and container intrusion detection on Kubernetes nodes for an auditnot Camio
  • A security team wanting a vendor-neutral detection layer whose rules they can read and modify rather than a black-box agentnot Camio
  • A cluster where a compromised dependency might write to sensitive paths or open unexpected outbound connections, and only kernel-level visibility will catch itnot Camio

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Camio

  • The 4.99 US dollars per camera per month starting rate is genuinely a starting rate: Flex add-ons run from 1 to 89 dollars per stream per month, so a busy camera with detailed vehicle labelling can cost more than fifteen times a quiet one and a site budget built on the headline number will be badly wrong.
  • Camio is analytics and search, not a full video management system, so most sites still need a recorder or VMS alongside it and end up with two products and two bills.
  • The Camio Box gateway must sit on the same local network as the cameras, which means a device, power and network port at every site, and multi-site estates multiply that install work.
  • It is a small private company against Verkada, Eagle Eye and the analytics bundled free into major VMS platforms, so it is structurally exposed to an incumbent bundling equivalent capability at no extra charge.
  • Analytic accuracy depends heavily on the existing cameras’ placement, resolution and lighting, and cameras installed years ago for recording rather than for computer vision often produce detection rates that disappoint against the demo.

Falco

  • Falco detects and alerts but does not block; stopping an attack requires wiring up Falco Talon or your own response tooling, so out of the box a confirmed detection still means a human intervening after the fact.
  • The default rule set is noisy in real clusters and generates a large volume of benign matches from normal operational activity; without weeks of tuning, alert fatigue sets in and the team stops reading the feed, which is the usual failure mode.
  • There is no storage, console, search or case management in the project, so a working detection capability means also running Falcosidekick, an event store, a dashboard and alert routing, all of which you build, host and maintain.
  • The modern eBPF driver requires kernel 5.8 or later; older hosts fall back to the legacy probe or the kernel module, which brings driver-building against kernel headers and the operational fragility that comes with it on every kernel upgrade.
  • Per-node syscall instrumentation carries measurable CPU overhead on busy hosts, and the cost scales with syscall volume rather than with cluster size, so the noisiest and most performance-sensitive workloads are exactly the ones that feel it most.

Pricing, plan by plan

Camio

$4.99/month
  • Camio usage-based plan$4.99/month
    • Starting rate per camera per month
    • Scales with search, storage and feature use
    • Works with existing ONVIF and RTSP cameras
  • Camio Flex add-ons$undefined/month
    • Optional services from 1 to 89 USD per stream per month
    • High-traffic cameras and detailed vehicle labelling at the expensive end
    • Priced per stream rather than per site

Falco

Free
  • Falco (open source)Free
    • Apache 2.0 licence, CNCF graduated project
    • eBPF and kernel module drivers
    • Full rules engine and default rule set

Which should you pick?

Choose Camio if

  • You need natural language video search.
  • You work on Web, iOS, Android, Linux.
  • You also want works with existing cameras.
Camio review

Choose Falco if

  • You need ebpf kernel instrumentation.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
  • You also want system call rules engine.
Falco review

Questions people ask

Is Camio or Falco better?
Neither clearly leads. Camio starts at $4.99/month and Falco at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Camio or Falco?
Falco has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at $4.99/month for Camio and Free for Falco.
Does Camio or Falco run on more platforms?
Camio runs on Web, iOS, Android, Linux. Falco runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Self-hosted.
Can I use Falco for free?
Yes. Falco has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Camio starts at $4.99/month.
What is Camio best used for?
Camio is most often used for a warehouse that needs an alert when a trailer door opens outside scheduled hours rather than a recording nobody watches, a retailer investigating a shrink pattern who needs to find every instance of a behaviour across a month of footage, a manufacturer wanting a safety alert when a person enters a machine zone during a run, a property manager who wants search and alerting on an existing camera estate without replacing recorders. Of those, a warehouse that needs an alert when a trailer door opens outside scheduled hours rather than a recording nobody watches and a retailer investigating a shrink pattern who needs to find every instance of a behaviour across a month of footage are not what Falco is typically brought in for.
What can Camio do that Falco cannot?
Camio covers Natural language video search, Works with existing cameras, Free Box software, Zone and schedule rules. Falco covers eBPF kernel instrumentation, System call rules engine, Container and Kubernetes context, Default rule set.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Camio: Do I have to buy Camio cameras?

No. Camio works with ONVIF and RTSP cameras you already have, which is the main reason to choose it over camera-bundled AI platforms.

Falco: Does Falco block attacks?

No. It detects and emits events. Response requires Falco Talon or your own automation on top.

Camio: Do I have to buy the Camio Box?

Not necessarily. The gateway software can be downloaded onto hardware you already own; Box and Box Pro units are for sites needing more processing capacity.

Falco: Is Falco owned by Sysdig?

Sysdig created and open sourced it, but it graduated within the CNCF in February 2024, so governance sits with the foundation rather than the vendor.

Camio: What does it really cost?

Plans start at 4.99 US dollars per camera per month, but Flex add-ons run from 1 to 89 dollars per stream per month, so per-camera cost varies enormously by traffic and labelling detail.

Falco: What does it cost?

The project is Apache 2.0 with no licence fee. The cost is the storage, routing, tuning and staff time needed to make its output useful.

Camio: Does Camio replace my recorder?

No. It adds search and alerting. Continuous recording and evidence retention usually still need a VMS or recorder.

Falco: What kernel version do I need?

Kernel 5.8 or later for the default modern eBPF driver. Older hosts need the legacy eBPF probe or the kernel module.

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