Infrastream vs Cycloid: Why Security-Native Platform Engineering Matters
Infrastream’s edge over
Security Philosophy:
Configured vs. Enforced
Cycloid allows teams to build secure pipelines by integrating tools like Terraform, Ansible, and scanners — but success depends on user-defined orchestration.
Infrastream enforces a Zero Trust security model as a platform default — mandatory, opinionated, and non-negotiable.
Execution Model:
Static Credentials vs Ephemeral Executors
Cycloid uses long-lived credentials like service accounts to execute tasks — secure if managed carefully.
Infrastream replaces static credentials with Executors — identity-based, ephemeral, and scoped to a single task with auto-expiry.
Runtime Security:
Optional Add-ons vs Built-in Defense
Cycloid can deploy security tools (e.g., Falco, mTLS) — but teams must define and enforce runtime controls themselves.
Infrastream mandates mTLS, strict network policies, Falco/eBPF, and threat detection — automatically enforced for every environment.
Policy & Exceptions:
Loose Checks vs Structured Governance
Cycloid allows infrastructure checks and compliance rules.
Infrastream adds a formal Exception Mechanism — all deviations from security policy go through logged, auditable, approval-based workflows.
Multi-Cloud vs. GCP-Native Depth
Cycloid supports orchestration across AWS, GCP, Azure — ideal for broad, heterogeneous environments.
Infrastream goes deep on GCP-native integration — automating IAP, Service Mesh, VPCs, Secrets, and load balancing with policy.
Robust all-in-one solution Offers on-premise option for data-sensitive orgs Fine-grained access controls for team roles Centralized hub for platform access Enforces best practices by default Native GitOps integration Role-based repo access Templated pipelines for consistency Auto static analysis for security Dedicated runners for isolation Auto-integrated observability Deep Kubernetes support Built-in support Bare metal & VM friendly Platform-level security Automated & integrated SSO / SAML / OIDC ready Fully native integration Integrated mesh options Secret store compatible Native support for events Manage team/user access directly Centralized permission flows Manage user/group-based auth flows Assign IAM roles from platform Manage secrets/users at scale Access & role provisioning via platform Federated auth & role sync Role-based client access provisioning
(Terraform, CloudFormation) (On-prem/VPC)
(Integrates with Vault) (Policies, Guardrails) (Integrates)Via SCM
(Concourse-based)Via Integration
(Self-hosted agents)Via integration
(Via Cloud Providers) (VMs, Cloud Providers)Via Cloud/Tool Int.
(Integrates Okta, etc.) (Core Integration)Via Integration (e.g. Istio)
(Strong Integration) (Integrates if needed) (Uses, doesn't manage access) (Uses, doesn't manage access) (SSO integration only) (Uses credentials) (Reads/writes secrets) (Managed via GCP IAM) (Integrates as client/IdP) Can act as IdP/brokerReady to Redefine Your Infrastructure?
