Best Software-Defined Networking Software in 2026

ONOS suits teams building or operating software-defined networks, especially service providers.

Cilium

Cilium suits teams managing workload networking who need policy, security, and observability capabilities in Linux environments.

Kube-OVN is aimed at Kubernetes environments that need KubeVirt support or multi-tenant networking.

Calico Enterprise

It suits organizations seeking self-managed Kubernetes network security and observability, including multi-cluster connectivity and policy controls.

OpenDaylight suits teams that need programmable network control and monitoring across supported protocols and network environments.

Ericsson Billing is intended for growing or mature communications providers, including organizations with complex IT environments or large subscriber bases.

Faucet

It suits network operators running Linux-based, self-hosted production networks with compatible OpenFlow hardware.

Fabric Composer suits infrastructure teams managing HPE Aruba CX networks alongside compute, storage, virtualization, and security policies.

Netris is aimed at AI infrastructure operators managing multi-tenant networks across specialized fabrics and platforms.

OVN is intended for cloud management software and may suit teams building logical networks for virtual machines or containers.

Neutron suits OpenStack administrators who need to define and manage cloud networks and connect instances.

Isovalent Enterprise for Cilium

It suits organizations operating Linux-based, self-hosted clusters across cloud and on-premises environments.

TeraFlowSDN is presented for telecommunications operators, vendors, research institutions, and initiatives developing smart networks and services.