Flannel

Visit site Alternatives

Score6.9

Rank#4 of 25

PriceFree

Free planYes

Runs onLinux, Self-hosted, Windows

Summary

Flannel is ranked #4 of 25 in container networking software on Everything Xiaomi. It runs on Linux, Self-hosted, Windows. There is a free plan.

Flannel plans and pricing

All plans

Flannel Free Open-source Kubernetes networking project · Apache 2.0 license github.com · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on container networking software

Free plan: Yesgithub.com
CNI plugin: Yesgithub.com
Network policies: Yesgithub.com
Encryption in transit: Yesgithub.com
Supported platforms: Kubernetes, Docker, Linux, Windowsgithub.com

Facts

Purpose: Flannel provides a layer 3 network fabric for containers designed for Kubernetes.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
How it works: A small flanneld agent on each host allocates that host a subnet lease from a configured address space.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Traffic forwarding: Flannel forwards packets between hosts using backends including VXLAN and cloud integrations.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Backends: Documented backends include VXLAN, host-gw, WireGuard, and UDP; VXLAN is the recommended choice.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Encryption: The WireGuard backend encapsulates and encrypts packets using the in-kernel WireGuard implementation.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Network policy: Flannel does not natively enforce network policies, but its Helm chart can deploy a Kubernetes SIGs network policy controller alongside it.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Integrations: The project lists kube-network-policies, Canal, K3s, and RKE2 as projects that integrate with Flannel.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Datastores: Flannel can store network configuration and subnet allocations in the Kubernetes API or directly in etcd.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Supported environments: The project documents Kubernetes and Docker deployments, with Linux and Windows build instructions.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Notable limitation: The project maintains security fixes for the latest release only; older releases are not actively patched.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Security reporting: The security policy directs vulnerability reports to GitHub private vulnerability reporting and says maintainers acknowledge reports within seven days.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Deployment security: Flannel runs as a privileged daemonset with access to the host network, and its security policy advises following least privilege and keeping it updated.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Support: The project points users to the #k3s channel in Rancher Users Slack, the #flannel-users channel in Calico Users Slack, and GitHub issues for bugs.github.com · 4 Oct 2026
Compatibility constraint: The backend documentation says a selected backend should not be changed at runtime.github.com · 4 Oct 2026