# Cilium: how AI models rank it, November 2026

Gane Index, November 2026 Edition. Named in 12 judge labels across 4 categories by 7 of 14 models. Page: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/vendors/cilium

## Standing by category

| Category | Share | Rank | Negative rate | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| [Microsegmentation](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/microsegmentation/index.md) | 4% | 6 | 0% | 7 |
| [Container and Kubernetes security](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/cloud/container-and-kubernetes-security/index.md) | 0% | 28 | 0% | 3 |
| [Data center networking](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/data-center-networking/index.md) | 0% | 44 | 0% | 1 |
| [Load balancers](https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/load-balancers/index.md) | 0% | 45 | 0% | 1 |

## What the models said for it

- "Cilium if you want eBPF-based L7 policy and observability with Hubble is the typical starting point" (Muse Glimmer 30B, Microsegmentation)
- "Best Choice: Cilium or Project Calico (Open-Source Editions)" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, Microsegmentation)
- "prefer kernel-native approaches (such as eBPF-based tooling like Cilium) or CNI-integrated microsegmentation over bulky host agents" (Gemini 3.5 Flash, Microsegmentation)
- "open-source Cilium or Calico give you free, Kubernetes-native segmentation if you have the internal engineering capacity" (GLM 4.7 FlashX, Microsegmentation)

## By model

| Model | First choice | Alternative | Mention | Warning | Labels |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-5.4 mini | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| Perplexity Sonar | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Grok 4.20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Mistral Small | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Llama 4 Maverick | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kimi K2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| MiniMax M2.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| GPT-6 Luna | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Muse Glimmer 30B | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |

## Sources returned with these answers

The sites and pages cited by the answers that named Cilium, from 19 of the 29 answers that named it (only the models that return a source list).

### Domains cited

- github.com: 10
- aimultiple.com: 9
- g2.com: 8
- cyberpress.org: 6
- gane.ai/index: 6
- sourceforge.net: 6
- thegeeksclub.com: 6
- thryv.com: 6
- tigera.io: 6
- pushwoosh.com: 5

### Pages cited

- https://aimultiple.com/open-source-micro-segmentation-tools: 8
- https://g2.com/categories/microsegmentation/small-business: 6
- https://thegeeksclub.com/best/microsegmentation-software: 6
- https://thryv.com/blog/best-customer-segmentation-tools: 6
- https://www.gane.ai/index/it/network/microsegmentation/smb: 5
- https://pushwoosh.com/blog/best-user-segmentation-tools: 5
- https://sourceforge.net/software/microsegmentation/for-small-business: 5
- https://tigera.io/learn/guides/microsegmentation/microsegmentation-tools: 5

## In its own words

What Cilium's own pages state, read 2026-10-05. Stated by the vendor, not checked by the index.

- Positioning: Cloud Native, eBPF-based Networking, Observability, and Security (https://cilium.io/)
- Free plan or trial: Quickly get started with Cilium. Read the documentation or use our interactive tutorial in a live environment. (https://cilium.io/)
- Customers named: Digital Ocean, Trip.com, WSO2, Post Finance, Form3, Bloomberg, Datadog, Alibaba

## What it publishes

Every page cilium.io exposes, read 2026-09-29: 30 addresses. By kind, pages and the last 90 days:

- blog: 16 pages, 3 in the last 90 days, latest 2026-09-23
- Recent: 2026-09-23 blog: Cilium at kubecon na 26 https://cilium.io/blog/2026/09/23/cilium-at-kubecon-na-26
- Recent: 2026-08-28 blog: Zero trust developer platforms with cilium network policies https://cilium.io/blog/2026/08/28/zero-trust-developer-platforms-with-cilium-network-policies
- Recent: 2026-07-08 blog: How k0rdent and cilium turn kubernetes sprawl into a platform https://cilium.io/blog/2026/07/08/how-k0rdent-and-cilium-turn-kubernetes-sprawl-into-a-platform
- Recent: 2026-06-13 blog: Multi cluster kubernetes explained https://cilium.io/blog/2026/06/13/multi-cluster-kubernetes-explained
- Recent: 2026-06-07 blog: Kubernetes runtime security the guide https://cilium.io/blog/2026/06/07/kubernetes-runtime-security-the-guide
- Recent: 2026-06-07 blog: Understanding kubernetes network security https://cilium.io/blog/2026/06/07/understanding-kubernetes-network-security

## Record

- Method: https://www.gane.ai/index/it/methodology
- License: CC BY 4.0. Cite as Gane Index, November 2026 Edition, www.gane.ai/index/it.