KubeArmor vs Tracee
KubeArmor
kubearmor.ioTracee
aquasecurity.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | KubeArmor | Tracee |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Kubernetes Security Software | 8.6 (#3) | 7.4 (#19) |
| Spec score · Cloud Workload Protection Platforms | 8.5 (#3) | 7.4 (#13) |
| Spec score · Container Security Software | 8.6 (#4) | 7.4 (#18) |
| Deployment | The support matrix documents Kubernetes, non-Kubernetes container, virtual-machine, and bare-metal workload deployments. | Tracee is available as an executable binary, a Docker Hub container image, and a Helm chart in Aqua Security's registry. |
| Founded | 2020 | 2019 |
| Integrations | Project repositories include OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Kafka, Grafana, ELK dashboards, a GitHub Action, and a Rancher UI extension. | Tracee supports Prometheus scraping by default, with metrics available at :3366/metrics. |
| Support | Project-level questions can be directed to the maintainer group by email, CNCF Slack, GitHub Discussions, or GitHub Issues. | The project directs users to GitHub Discussions and Slack for community discussion and to GitHub issues for trouble reports and feedback. |
| What it does | KubeArmor is a cloud-native runtime security enforcement system that restricts process execution, file access, and networking operations for pods, containers, and nodes. | Tracee is a runtime security and observability tool that uses eBPF to monitor Linux system calls, network activity, and file operations in real time. |
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.
Tracee
Tracee is a free, open-source runtime security and observability tool for Linux. Using eBPF, it watches system calls, network activity, and file operations in real time, then emits events for behavior patterns that may indicate threats. Events can include process lineage, file paths, and network connections. Listed uses include security monitoring, compliance monitoring, troubleshooting, and forensic investigation. Tracee is designed to operate without code changes and lists low overhead, container awareness, and adjustable policies. Deployment options are an executable binary, a Docker Hub image, or a Helm chart in Aqua Security’s registry; the quickstart covers Kubernetes installation with that chart. Prometheus scraping is enabled by default, with metrics at :3366/metrics. It supports x86 and arm64 processors and documents long-term kernel versions 5.4, 5.10, 5.15, 6.2, and 6.5, while some distribution kernels may work. Instrumentation needs elevated capabilities, with privileged or root execution described as easiest. Tracee does not run directly on macOS.