Cloud · head to head
Jaeger vs Cilium
Cilium
Cloud
eBPF-based networking, observability and security for Kubernetes
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Jaeger tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps; Cilium requires a recent Linux kernel, which rules out older distributions and some managed environments
- They diverge on capability: Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Cilium covers eBPF datapath.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Jaeger and Cilium actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (Open source, no licence fee), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).
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 Jaeger
- Distributed trace search
- Dependency graph
- Adaptive sampling
- Pluggable storage
Only in Cilium
- eBPF datapath
- Identity-based policy
- Hubble observability
- Sidecar-free mesh
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Jaeger
- Finding which service in a request path causes the latencynot Cilium
- Understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wikinot Cilium
- Debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patternsnot Cilium
Cilium
- Kubernetes networking at a scale where iptables-based CNI performance degradesnot Jaeger
- Network policy expressed on workload identity rather than fragile IP rulesnot Jaeger
- Seeing which services actually talk to each other, and what policy is droppingnot Jaeger
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Jaeger
- Tracing is only as good as the instrumentation, and partial instrumentation produces misleading gaps
- Storage is the real operational cost: high-volume tracing on Elasticsearch or Cassandra is a cluster to run and pay for
- Traces alone, without correlated metrics and logs, leave you switching between tools during an incident
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
Pricing, plan by plan
Jaeger
Free- JaegerFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
Cilium
Free- CiliumFree
- Full functionality
- No usage limits
- Community support
Which should you pick?
Choose Jaeger if
- You need distributed trace search.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker.
- You also want dependency graph.
Choose Cilium if
- You need ebpf datapath.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Kubernetes, Linux.
- You also want identity-based policy.
Questions people ask
- Is Jaeger or Cilium better?
- Neither clearly leads. Jaeger starts at Free and Cilium at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Jaeger or Cilium?
- Jaeger starts at Free and Cilium at Free.
- Does Jaeger or Cilium run on more platforms?
- Jaeger runs on Linux, Kubernetes, Docker. Cilium runs on Kubernetes, Linux.
- Can I use Jaeger for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Jaeger best used for?
- Jaeger is most often used for finding which service in a request path causes the latency, understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki, debugging failures that only appear under production traffic patterns. Of those, finding which service in a request path causes the latency and understanding real service dependencies rather than the diagram on the wiki are not what Cilium is typically brought in for.
- What can Jaeger do that Cilium cannot?
- Jaeger covers Distributed trace search, Dependency graph, Adaptive sampling, Pluggable storage. Cilium covers eBPF datapath, Identity-based policy, Hubble observability, Sidecar-free mesh.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Jaeger: Is Jaeger free?
Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Costs are the storage backend you run.
Cilium: Is Cilium free?
Yes, open source and CNCF-graduated. Isovalent sells an enterprise distribution and support.
Jaeger: Do I use Jaeger or OpenTelemetry?
Both, usually. Instrument with OpenTelemetry and use Jaeger to store and query the traces.
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.
Jaeger: Does Jaeger handle metrics and logs?
No. It is a tracing system. Metrics and logs need Prometheus, Loki or an equivalent.
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.
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