Tech riderRev. 28 Sept 2026

Calico Open Source

Ch 056.8of 28 Microsegmentation Software

1Runs onLinux, self-hosted, Windows
2CostsFree plan
3CNI pluginYes
4Network policiesYes
5Egress controlYes
6Multi-cluster networkingYes
7Encryption in transitYes
8Supported platformsKubernetes, Linux, Windows, OpenStack, virtual machines, bare metal

8 lines stated Written from the maker's own pages: tigera.io

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Overview

Calico Open Source is ranked #5 of 28 in microsegmentation software on Specifiction. It runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan.

Calico Open Source plans and pricing

All plans

Calico Open Source Free Community-driven support and maintenance · In-memory data retention · Unlimited clusters tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026

Compared on microsegmentation software

Free plan: Yestigera.io
CNI plugin: Yestigera.io
Network policies: Yestigera.io
Egress control: Yestigera.io
Multi-cluster networking: Yestigera.io
Encryption in transit: Yestigera.io
Supported platforms: Kubernetes, Linux, Windows, OpenStack, virtual machines, bare metaltigera.io

Facts

Purpose: Calico Open Source provides networking, network security, and observability across Kubernetes distributions.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Workloads: It supports containers, virtual machines, and bare-metal workloads with a consistent security policy framework.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Network policy: Its policy engine implements Kubernetes network policy features, including AdminNetworkPolicy and BaselineAdminNetworkPolicy.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Policy controls: Calico network policies support policy tiers, deny and log actions, NetworkSets, and cluster-wide global policies.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Staged policies: Staged Policies let teams evaluate policy behavior without enforcing it.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Data planes: The product page lists eBPF, iptables, nftables, Windows, and VPP data plane options.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Observability: Calico Open Source includes Whisker, a visual UI for viewing flow logs and analyzing network communication.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Ingress: Calico Ingress Gateway is described as an upstream distribution of Envoy Gateway with traffic control, load balancing, and ingress policy enforcement.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Encryption: It can automatically create and manage WireGuard tunnels between nodes to encrypt in-cluster Kubernetes pod traffic.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Scale: Tigera says its development testing includes clusters with thousands of nodes and describes the product as suitable for deployments from 10 to 10,000 or more nodes.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Support: The editions comparison describes Calico Open Source support and maintenance as community-driven.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Supported environments: The product page describes multi-cloud, hybrid-cloud, and on-premises workload networking, security, and observability.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026
Intended users: Tigera describes Calico Open Source as best suited to users seeking open-source networking, network security, and observability capabilities for Kubernetes.tigera.io · 28 Sept 2026