KubeArmor vs Tetragon
KubeArmor
kubearmor.io
Tetragon
tetragon.ioSide by side
| Figure | KubeArmor | Tetragon |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Kubernetes Security Software | 8.6 (#3) | 7.9 (#13) |
| Spec score · Cloud Workload Protection Platforms | 8.5 (#3) | 7.9 (#6) |
| Spec score · Container Security Software | 8.6 (#4) | 7.9 (#11) |
| Installation | The getting-started guide installs KubeArmor on a Kubernetes cluster using Helm and kubectl. | The maker documents installation on Kubernetes via Helm, on Linux via released packages, and as a container image. |
| Integrations | Project repositories include OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Kafka, Grafana, ELK dashboards, a GitHub Action, and a Rancher UI extension. | The official site documents Kubernetes installation via Helm and container deployment using an image from the Tetragon Quay repository. |
| Kubernetes policies | Policy development can use Kubernetes metadata, and KubeArmor enforces policies based on container or workload identities. | Policies can filter by Kubernetes namespaces, pod labels, and container fields; the feature page says Tetragon supports containerd and CRI-O. |
| Purpose | KubeArmor is an open-source, cloud-native runtime security system that hardens workloads and enforces security policies. | Tetragon is a Kubernetes-aware security observability and runtime enforcement tool that applies policy and filtering with eBPF. |
| Support | Project-level questions can be directed to the maintainer group by email, CNCF Slack, GitHub Discussions, or GitHub Issues. | The site links users to documentation, GitHub, and the Cilium Slack community. |
Plans
In their own words
KubeArmor
KubeArmor is an open-source runtime security system for enforcing policies on cloud-native workloads. It uses Linux Security Modules such as AppArmor, SELinux, and BPF-LSM, with eBPF for alerts, telemetry, and container-process tracking. Policies can restrict process execution, file access, networking operations, and resource use. Container policies support Allow, Audit, and Block actions, with Block as the default; system-call monitoring is audit-only. Kubernetes policies can target pods through labels and label expressions, and rules can match paths, network protocols, capabilities, and system calls. The deployment matrix covers Kubernetes, non-Kubernetes containers, virtual machines, and bare-metal hosts. It lists Kubernetes environments including GKE, AKS, OKE, IKS, EKS, OpenShift, Rancher, and DigitalOcean Kubernetes, but support varies by operating system, architecture, and enforcement mode. Some environments are observability-only, and VMware Tanzu entries are under construction. KubeArmor is a community-governed CNCF Sandbox project. The free plan is free; installation guidance uses Helm and kubectl.
Tetragon
Tetragon is a Kubernetes-aware security observability and runtime enforcement tool for Linux, container, and Kubernetes workloads. It uses eBPF to monitor activity, filter events, and enforce policies in the kernel in real time. Process reports can include executed binaries, command-line arguments, user IDs, parent processes, and start times. Tetragon also monitors file access and changes, and can block unauthorized file operations at the kernel level. Kubernetes policies can filter activity by namespace, pod labels, and container fields, with support for containerd and CRI-O. Network visibility ties events to processes and workloads and tracks connections, socket lifecycle, and bytes sent or received. The tool also monitors credential changes, kernel module activity, and eBPF program loads and interactions. Findings are available as JSON logs or through gRPC. Installation options include Helm on Kubernetes, released Linux packages, and a container image. Tetragon is a Cilium sub-project and a CNCF project, and is available as an open-source project with no paid plans listed.