Flannel

6.8easy start · #8 of 26
in Container Networking Software

Free to practise onyes
Free trialnot on record
Well documentedyes
Runs where you worknot on record

Runs on Linux, self-hosted, Windows.

Flannel is ranked #8 of 26 in container networking software on The Geeks Club. 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: Yes
CNI plugin: Yes
Network policies: Yes
Encryption in transit: Yes
Supported platforms: Kubernetes, Docker, Linux, Windows

Best Flannel alternatives

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Canal 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 17.2 Calico Open Source 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 27.0 Spiderpool 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 36.9 Terway 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 46.9 VMware Workstation Pro 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 56.9 Cilium 0 of 4 in the starter kit Lesson 66.8

The record

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

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Container Networking Software in 2026#8 of 26

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Sources

github.com/flannel-io/flannel· checked 4 Oct 2026
github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Document· checked 4 Oct 2026
github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/Document· checked 4 Oct 2026
github.com/flannel-io/flannel/blob/master/SECURITY· checked 4 Oct 2026