Side by side

Kube-router vs Multus CNI

Both stand on container networking software. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.

Kube-router

Free plan LinuxSelf-hosted

Kube-router combines several Kubernetes networking functions and supports multiple deployment approaches. Account for its node requirements and current-release support policy before adopting it.

Visit Kube-router

Multus provides an additional networking layer for Kubernetes pods by delegating configuration to other CNI plugins. The existing cluster and default-network prerequisite, plus thick deployment's higher resource use, matter when choosing how to deploy it.

Visit Multus CNI

The facts

	Kube-router	Multus CNI
Free plan	Yes	Yes
Open source	Not published	Not published
Runs on	Linux, Self-hosted	API, Linux, Self-hosted
Lowest paid plan	Free or on request	Not published
Plans published	1	None
Maker	Not published	Not published
Website	kube-router.io	github.com
On container networking software	#11 of 28	#15 of 28

Kube-router: what it does well

Combines pod networking, service balancing, and policies.
Uses BGP for pod routes between nodes.
Can advertise service IPs for ECMP balancing.
Documents kops, kubeadm, k0s, and k3s deployments.
Free and open source.

What to know first

DaemonSet pods require privileged access.
Node-agent deployments need ipset on each node.
Generally supports only the current major.minor release.

Multus CNI: what it does well

Adds interfaces through other CNI plugins
NetworkAttachmentDefinition resources describe extra interfaces
Offers DaemonSet, binary, image, and source installation
Open source under Apache-2.0

What to know first

Requires Kubernetes and a default CNI network
Thick deployment consumes more resources than thin
Testing and validation are performed against x86
Does not allocate devices itself

Alternatives to Kube-router Alternatives to Multus CNI The whole list