Kube-OVN vs ONOS
Kube-OVN
kubeovn.github.ioONOS
onosproject.orgSide by side
| Figure | Kube-OVN | ONOS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Networking Software | 7.7 (#5) | 8.2 (#2) |
| Deployment | The documentation provides one-click installation scripts for building production-ready container networks. | µONOS is composed of microservices deployable on cloud and data-center infrastructure using Kubernetes, with Docker images and Helm charts listed as deployment tools. |
| License | The repository identifies Apache-2.0 as the project license. | The ONOS wiki says the project is distributed under the Apache 2.0 license. |
| Purpose | Kube-OVN combines OVN and Open vSwitch with Kubernetes to provide cloud-native network orchestration. | ONOS provides the control plane for software-defined networks, managing network components and running software modules that provide communication services. |
| Security | The project accepts vulnerability reports by email and says a maintainer will acknowledge receipt within three days. | The project wiki describes a Security Mode feature intended to restrict application access to northbound APIs. |
Plans
In their own words
Kube-OVN
Kube-OVN combines OVN and Open vSwitch with Kubernetes for cloud-native network orchestration. Its documented features include subnet management, static IP allocation, gateways, hybrid underlay and overlay networks, VPC features, QoS, ACLs, and traffic mirroring. VPC networks provide tenants with separate address spaces and networking resources. The project recommends it for Kubernetes environments needing KubeVirt support or multi-tenant networking; KubeVirt virtual machines can live-migrate without network interruption. Documented integrations include Cilium, MetalLB, OpenStack, Submariner, and OVN interconnect. With Cilium chaining, Kube-OVN network abstractions can be used with Cilium eBPF monitoring and security capabilities. The project runs on x86_64 and arm64, and its documentation provides one-click installation scripts. It is free under Apache-2.0, deployed on-premises, and uses a centralized control plane. The project advises against it for OpenShift, public-cloud managed Kubernetes, and cases requiring an all-in-one CNI, ingress, service mesh, and observability stack.
ONOS
ONOS is an open-source software-defined networking platform that provides a control plane for managing network components and running communication-service modules. Its µONOS architecture supports device configuration, monitoring and maintenance, forwarding-plane programming, topology validation, and fine-grained performance metrics. A symmetric cluster of identical instances distributes work across servers and is designed to handle instance failures; the architecture is described as highly available and dynamically scalable. Control and configuration interfaces include P4/P4Runtime, gNMI/OpenConfig, and gNOI, with gRPC connecting modular microservices. OpenFlow is the primary southbound protocol, and OVSDB, NETCONF, and SNMP are also named for device configuration. The microservices are designed for cloud and data center infrastructure using Kubernetes, with Docker images and Helm charts listed as deployment tools. A cloud-native web GUI uses Angular and gRPC Web to access backend modules. ONOS is free and published under the Apache License 2.0. It is aimed mainly at service-provider networks, with data-center and campus networks also identified as possible uses. Production downloads are recommended as a release tar.gz package or Docker image; the listed LTS release is X-Wing 2.7.0, dated July 16, 2021.