Softwr

Cloud · head to head

Cilium vs Teleport

Cilium logo

Cilium

Cloud

eBPF-based networking, observability and security for Kubernetes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Cilium has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Cilium requires a recent Linux kernel, which rules out older distributions and some managed environments; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • They diverge on capability: Cilium covers eBPF datapath, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Cilium and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where Cilium and Teleport differ
AttributeCiliumTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsKubernetes, LinuxLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryCloudCybersecurity

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

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 Cilium

  • eBPF datapath
  • Identity-based policy
  • Hubble observability
  • Sidecar-free mesh

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

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

Cilium

  • Kubernetes networking at a scale where iptables-based CNI performance degradesnot Teleport
  • Network policy expressed on workload identity rather than fragile IP rulesnot Teleport
  • Seeing which services actually talk to each other, and what policy is droppingnot Teleport

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot Cilium
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot Cilium
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot Cilium
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot Cilium

Where each one falls short

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

Cilium

  • Requires a recent Linux kernel, which rules out older distributions and some managed environments
  • eBPF is genuinely hard to debug when it misbehaves, and the skill is rare on most teams
  • Broad scope — CNI, policy, mesh, observability — means the learning curve covers several domains at once

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

Cilium

Free
  • CiliumFree
    • Full functionality
    • No usage limits
    • Community support

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

Choose Cilium if

  • You need ebpf datapath.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Kubernetes, Linux.
  • You also want identity-based policy.
Cilium review

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is Cilium or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. Cilium starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Cilium or Teleport?
Cilium has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Cilium and On request for Teleport.
Does Cilium or Teleport run on more platforms?
Cilium runs on Kubernetes, Linux. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Cilium for free?
Yes. Cilium has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is Cilium best used for?
Cilium is most often used for kubernetes networking at a scale where iptables-based cni performance degrades, network policy expressed on workload identity rather than fragile ip rules, seeing which services actually talk to each other, and what policy is dropping. Of those, kubernetes networking at a scale where iptables-based cni performance degrades and network policy expressed on workload identity rather than fragile ip rules are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can Cilium do that Teleport cannot?
Cilium covers eBPF datapath, Identity-based policy, Hubble observability, Sidecar-free mesh. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Cilium: Is Cilium free?

Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Isovalent sells an enterprise distribution and support.

Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

Cilium: What does eBPF change?

It lets Cilium run packet-processing programs inside the kernel instead of relying on iptables rule chains, which behave poorly as the number of services grows.

Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

Cilium: Does Cilium replace a service mesh?

It can cover much of what a mesh does without sidecars, though full mesh feature sets still favour Istio or Linkerd.

Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

Share

Related pages

More on Cilium

More on Teleport

Keep looking

Other head to heads