Hubble
Hubble is a networking and security observability platform built on Cilium and eBPF.
What Hubble is
Hubble is a networking and security observability platform built on Cilium and eBPF. Its UI displays service dependencies and recent flow events in a graphical map. Flow visibility includes identity and label metadata, DNS-aware filtering, and protocol-specific information, which can help distinguish DNS, application, and Layer 4 or Layer 7 network failures. The CLI retrieves flow events from Hubble Relay or a local server. Relay can provide visibility across a cluster or multiple clusters in a ClusterMesh setup, while metrics and alerting can integrate with Prometheus, Grafana, and other monitoring systems. When APIs are exposed over TCP, connections between Hubble instances and Relay use mutual TLS by default. Hubble is free and open source, but requires Cilium in a Kubernetes cluster and observes only pods managed by Cilium. Layer 7 flow data is not redacted by default; Cilium offers options to redact HTTP query parameters, URL user information, and headers. The CLI installation guide lists Linux, macOS, and Windows downloads.
Good
- Graphical map shows service dependencies and recent flows.
- Flow data includes identity and label metadata.
- Relay supports visibility across multiple clusters.
- Mutual TLS secures TCP API connections by default.
- Free and open source.
Watch out
- Requires Cilium in a Kubernetes cluster.
- Observes only pods managed by Cilium.
- Layer 7 flow data is not redacted by default.
Who it suits
Hubble suits teams using Cilium that need network-flow visibility and troubleshooting across one or more clusters. It is also relevant to users who want to connect flow metrics and alerts to monitoring systems.
Verdict
Hubble offers flow-level visibility and cluster-wide views for Cilium environments. Its Cilium requirement and default handling of Layer 7 data are important considerations.
Plans and prices
From Hubble's own pricing page, checked 1 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Hubble | Free | Open source observability layer of Cilium · Requires Cilium to be installed in a Kubernetes cluster |
The facts
Each one read from Hubble's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- CLI
- The Hubble CLI can connect to Hubble Relay or a local server to retrieve flow events.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Cluster visibility
- Hubble Relay connects to Hubble instances to provide visibility across a cluster or across multiple clusters in a ClusterMesh scenario.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Flow visibility
- Hubble provides network flow visibility with identity and label metadata, DNS-aware filtering, and protocol-specific insights.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Cilium documentation describes metrics and alerting integration with Prometheus, Grafana, and other monitoring systems.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- Hubble is a distributed networking and security observability platform built on Cilium and eBPF.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Requirements
- Hubble observability requires Cilium to be installed, and only pods managed by Cilium are observable by Hubble.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Sensitive data
- Layer 7 flow data is not redacted by default; Cilium provides options to redact HTTP query parameters, URL user information, and headers.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Service maps
- Hubble UI provides a graphical service map for viewing service dependencies and recent flow events.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Transport security
- When Hubble APIs are exposed over TCP, connections between Hubble instances and Relay are secured with mutual TLS by default.checked 1 Oct 2026
- Troubleshooting
- Hubble can help identify whether failed communication is caused by DNS, an application, or a network problem at Layer 4 or Layer 7.checked 1 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker
- Cilium was originally created by Isovalent.checked 1 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Platform support
- The Hubble CLI installation guide provides downloads for Linux, macOS, and Windows.checked 1 Oct 2026
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