Best eBPF Observability Tools in 2026
Updated
In short: DeepFlow is ranked #1 of 29 as of 7 October 2026, ahead of Coroot and Kubeshark. The best-ranked option with a free plan is Coroot. The lowest first paid tier on this page is Coroot at $1/mo.
eBPF observability tools help you examine activity across applications, kernels, and networks. Compare application tracing, kernel profiling, and network visibility to see which signals are specified. Deployment model, Kubernetes support, and supported operating systems can help you assess fit with your environment; free-plan availability and paid-from pricing add cost context. DeepFlow, Coroot, and Kubeshark are among the tools shown, alongside Odigos and Elastic Observability. Consider which layers you need to observe, then check the listed platform and deployment details against your setup.
29 eBPF observability tools ranked on what their makers publish — plans and prices, free tiers, platforms and the facts on their own pages.
29ranked
17free plans on this page
$1/molowest paid tier
7 Oct 2026last checked
Input list eBPF Observability Tools 25 channels on this page · 114 of 200 spec lines stated by the makers
Ch Tool Free planPaid fromDeployment modelKubernetes supportNetwork visibilityApplication tracingKernel profilingSupported operating systems Spec sheet Score
01 DeepFlow Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelhybridKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingYesSupported operating systemsLinux, Windows, Android 6/8spec lines stated 7.8
02 Coroot Free planYesPaid from$1/moDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 2/8spec lines stated 7.6
03 Kubeshark Free planYesPaid from$30/moDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsLinux, macOS, Windows 6/8spec lines stated 7.6
04 Odigos Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingYesSupported operating systemsLinux 7/8spec lines stated 7.6
05 Elastic Observability Free planNoPaid from$99/moDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 2/8spec lines stated 7.5
06 groundcover Free planYesPaid from$30/moDeployment modelhybridKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 3/8spec lines stated 7.5
07 Qpoint Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelhybridKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsLinux-based operating systems; kernel 5.10+; x86 64 and arm64 6/8spec lines stated 7.5
08 Metoro Kubernetes Profiling Free planYesPaid from$20/moDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 2/8spec lines stated 7.4
09 Anteon Free plannot statedPaid from$99/moDeployment modelhybridKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux (Ubuntu 20.04+, Debian 10, CentOS 8+) and macOS 10.15+; Windows not supported 7/8spec lines stated 7.2
10 Inspektor Gadget Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingYesSupported operating systemsLinux; macOS and Windows clients via gadgetctl 6/8spec lines stated 7.2
11 Caretta Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsLinux kernel >= 4.16 with CO-RE support 5/8spec lines stated 7.1
12 Grafana k6 Free planYesPaid from$19/moDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux 8/8spec lines stated 7.1
13 bpftrace Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingYesSupported operating systemsLinux 6/8spec lines stated 7.0
14 Kindling Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 1/8spec lines stated 7.0
15 Pyroscope Free planYesPaid from$19/moDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 2/8spec lines stated 7.0
16 Hubble Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingNoKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux, macOS, Windows 6/8spec lines stated 6.8
17 Pixie Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 0/8spec lines stated 6.8
18 BCC Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingYesSupported operating systemsDebian, Ubuntu, Fedora, Arch, Gentoo, openSUSE, RHEL, Amazon Linux, Alpine Linux, and WSL 6/8spec lines stated 6.7
19 Tracee Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 1/8spec lines stated 6.7
20 Tetragon Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelnot statedKubernetes supportnot statedNetwork visibilitynot statedApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsnot stated 1/8spec lines stated 6.3
21 Grafana Beyla Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux 7/8spec lines stated 6.1
22 KubeSense Free planNoPaid from$20/moDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux; CentOS 7.3+; Debian 10+; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8+; Ubuntu 16.04+ 8/8spec lines stated 6.1
23 orb8 Free planYesPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingNoKernel profilingNoSupported operating systemsLinux; macOS development via Lima and QEMU 7/8spec lines stated 6.1
24 Retina Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelself-hostedKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingnot statedKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsLinux, Windows, Azure Linux 4/8spec lines stated 6.0
25 ApexData Free plannot statedPaid fromnot statedDeployment modelhybridKubernetes supportYesNetwork visibilityYesApplication tracingYesKernel profilingnot statedSupported operating systemsLinux 5/8spec lines stated 5.9
Compare all 25 in a table
| # | Tool | Score | Free plan | From | Free plan | Paid from | Deployment model | Kubernetes support |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | DeepFlow | 7.8 | Free plan | Free | — | — | hybrid | Yes |
| 2 | Coroot | 7.6 | Free plan | $1/mo | Yes | 1 /mo | — | — |
| 3 | Kubeshark | 7.6 | Free plan | $30/mo | Yes | 30 /mo | self-hosted | Yes |
| 4 | Odigos | 7.6 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 5 | Elastic Observability | 7.5 | No | — | No | 99 /mo | — | — |
| 6 | groundcover | 7.5 | Free plan | $30/mo | Yes | 30 /mo | hybrid | — |
| 7 | Qpoint | 7.5 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | hybrid | Yes |
| 8 | Metoro Kubernetes Profiling | 7.4 | Free plan | $20/mo | Yes | 20 /mo | — | — |
| 9 | Anteon | 7.2 | No | $99/mo | — | 99 /mo | hybrid | Yes |
| 10 | Inspektor Gadget | 7.2 | Free plan | Free | — | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 11 | Caretta | 7.1 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 12 | Grafana k6 | 7.1 | Free plan | $19/mo | Yes | 19 /mo | self-hosted | Yes |
| 13 | bpftrace | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | self-hosted | — |
| 14 | Kindling | 7.0 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 15 | Pyroscope | 7.0 | Free plan | $19/mo | Yes | 19 /mo | — | — |
| 16 | Hubble | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | — | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 17 | Pixie | 6.8 | Free plan | Free | — | — | — | — |
| 18 | BCC | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | self-hosted | — |
| 19 | Tracee | 6.7 | Free plan | Free | Yes | — | — | — |
| 20 | Tetragon | 6.3 | No | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| 21 | Grafana Beyla | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 22 | KubeSense | 6.1 | No | — | No | 20 /mo | self-hosted | Yes |
| 23 | orb8 | 6.1 | No | — | Yes | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 24 | Retina | 6.0 | No | — | — | — | self-hosted | Yes |
| 25 | ApexData | 5.9 | No | — | — | — | hybrid | Yes |
Is your tool on this list?
Numbered spots on this list can be sponsored, and a sponsored row is labelled as paid.
Questions about this list
Which eBPF observability tool is ranked first on Specifiction?
DeepFlow is ranked #1 of 29 with a score of 7.8. Coroot is second and Kubeshark third.
How many of these have a free plan?
17 of the 25 on this page publish a free plan on their own pricing pages.
Which is the cheapest paid option?
On this page, Coroot has the lowest first paid tier we found: $1/mo.
How is this list ranked?
Ranked on what each maker publishes, the fullest spec sheet first: how deeply the product is documented, the platforms it runs on, a free tier or trial to test it, and its standing.
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