head to head · open source
cilium vs opensre
cilium has 25,768 GitHub stars, 4,210 forks, 1,085 open issues and last shipped yesterday. opensre has 12,696 stars, 1,864 forks, 67 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cilium leads on adoption by 103% (25,768 vs 12,696 stars). cilium is written in Go under Apache-2.0; opensre is written in Python under Apache-2.0. cilium has attracted 16% as many forks as stars, opensre 15%. cilium was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| cilium | opensre | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 13K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-04 | 2026-11-04 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 1.9K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick cilium if
- You weight community size — 26K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick opensre if
- You want the opensre feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and opensre fits your workflow better
About cilium
.. raw:: html Cilium is a networking, observability, and security solution with an eBPF based dataplane. It provides a simple flat Layer 3 network with the ability to span multiple clusters in either a native routing or overlay mode. It is L7 protocol aware and can enforce network policies on L3 L7 using an identity based security model that is decoupled from network addressing. Cilium implements distributed load balancing for traffic between pods and to external services, and is able to fully replace kube proxy, using efficient hash tables in eBPF, allowing for almost unlimited scale. It also supports advanced…
read the full cilium overview →
About opensre
OpenSRE v0.1: Build Your Own AI SRE Agents The open source framework for AI SRE agents, and the training and evaluation environment they need to improve. Connect the 60+ tools you already run, define your own workflows, and answer production questions on your own infrastructure. Quickstart · Docs · FAQ · Security 🚧 Public Alpha: Core workflows are usable for early exploration, though not yet fully stable. The project is in active development, and APIs and integrations may evolve Table of Contents Why OpenSRE? Install Quick Start Deployment How OpenSRE Works Capabilities & integrations Contributing & development…
read the full opensre overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is cilium or opensre more popular?
cilium has 25,768 GitHub stars and opensre has 12,696. cilium has the larger community by that measure.
Are cilium and opensre free?
Both are open source. cilium is licensed under Apache-2.0 and opensre under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between cilium and opensre?
cilium is written in Go and opensre in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, cilium or opensre?
Choose cilium if you want the larger community (25,768 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose opensre if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.