Cilium
Cilium is an open-source software for providing, securing, and observing network connectivity between container workloads. It is built on top of eBPF, a revolutionary Linux kernel technology that allows for high-performance and granular control over networking and security at the kernel level.
Brand Authority Index (BAI): 88/100
Archetype: Challenger
Category: Cloud Computing
Part of: Cisco Systems, Inc.
https://optimly.ai/brand/cilium
Last analyzed: April 11, 2026
Verified from Cilium website
Founded: 2016
Headquarters: Cupertino, CA (Cisco/Isovalent)
Buyer Intent Signals for Cilium
Problems this brand solves
- Legacy IP Tables: Using standard iptables or nftables for network filtering and security at the host level.
Buyers search for
- best kubernetes cni for ebpf
- cloud native observability with hubble
- ebpf based container networking
- sidecarless service mesh options
- cncf graduated networking projects
- Cloud Native Networking (VPC/SGs): Relying on the networking capabilities provided by the cloud provider (GCP, AWS, Azure) without granular eBPF-based control.
- Basic CNI Plugins: Implementing older CNI (Container Network Interface) plugins like Flannel that provide connectivity but lack advanced security and observability.