Kubernetes Alternatives

Kubernetes is described as 'Open source orchestration system for Docker containers' and is a popular website in the network & admin category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Kubernetes, not only websites but also apps for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Windows, Mac and Self-Hosted apps. The best Kubernetes alternative is virt-manager, which is both free and Open Source. Other great sites and apps similar to Kubernetes are Vagrant, Heroku, OpenShift and Rancher.

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Kubernetes alternatives are mainly Cloud Hosting Services but may also be Virtualization Tools or Cloud Computing Services.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Kubernetes.
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Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers.

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Kubernetes alternatives page was last updated Mar 3, 2025
  1. virt-manager icon
     78 likes

    Comprehensive desktop tool for managing virtual machines using libvirt, supporting KVM, Xen, and Linux Containers. It offers performance stats, resource allocation and virtual hardware configuration with VNC and SPICE clients for graphical consoles.

    29 virt-manager alternatives
    virt-manager screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • Flathub
    • Flatpak

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Virtualization
    2.  VNC Viewer
    3.  Command line interface
    4.  SSH
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  No Tracking
    7.  Container Virtualization
    8.  Live migration
    virt-manager iconKubernetes Icon

    virt-manager VS Kubernetes

    Is virt-manager a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
    Comments about virt-manager as an Alternative to Kubernetes
     
    Guest

    virt-manager can handle clusters of several physical VM hosts, each running many VMs. It offers advanced orchestration features such as migrating VMs between hosts with no downtime, storage provisioning, networking/firewall configuration and live snapshots. A major difference between Kubernetes and virt-manager (as well as the libvirt ecosystem in general) is that Kubernetes manages containers, whereas libvirt manages full VMs running on a hypervisor such as KVM, Xen or ESX.

    Positive commentSep 30, 2018
    3
    Kubernetes Icon
    virt-manager icon
    • Most users think virt-manager is a great Kubernetes alternative.

    • virt-manager is the most popular Linux alternative to Kubernetes.

    • virt-manager is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Kubernetes.

    • virt-manager is Free and Open SourceKubernetes is also Free and Open Source
    • virt-manager is Lightweight and Privacy focusedKubernetes is not according to our users
  2. Vagrant icon
     103 likes

    Create and manage virtualized development environments. Vagrant is a tool for building complete development environments. With an easy-to-use workflow and focus on automation, Vagrant lowers development environment setup time, increases development/production parity, and makes...

    19 Vagrant alternatives
    Vagrant screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • BSD
    • VirtualBox
    • VMware Workstation Pro
    • VMware Fusion
    • FreeBSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Container Virtualization
    2.  Automated provisioning
    3.  Cluster management
    Vagrant iconKubernetes Icon

    Vagrant VS Kubernetes

    Is Vagrant a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
    • Some users think Vagrant is a great Kubernetes alternative, some don't.

    • Vagrant is the most popular Windows & Mac alternative to Kubernetes.

    • Vagrant is Free and Open SourceKubernetes is also Free and Open Source
    • Vagrant is LightweightKubernetes is not according to our users
  3. Heroku icon
     121 likes

    Heroku is a platform as a service (PaaS) that enables developers to build, run, and operate applications entirely in the cloud.

    158 Heroku alternatives
    Heroku screenshot 1

    License model

    Platforms

    • Online

    Heroku Features

    1.  Command line interface
    2.  Custom DNS
    3.  VPS
    4.  Managed Database Hosting
    5.  Clojure
    6.  Automated deployment
    7.  Platform as a service
    Heroku iconKubernetes Icon

    Heroku VS Kubernetes

    Is Heroku a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
    • Heroku is the most popular Web-based alternative to Kubernetes.

    • Heroku is the most popular commercial alternative to Kubernetes.

    • Heroku is Paid and ProprietaryKubernetes is Free and Open Source
  4. OpenShift icon
     89 likes

    Red Hat OpenShift is a trusted, comprehensive, and consistent platform to develop, modernize, and deploy applications at scale, including today’s AI-enabled apps. Deliver better experiences faster with a complete set of services for bringing apps to market on your choice of infrastructure.

    62 OpenShift alternatives
    OpenShift screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreemiumOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Software as a Service (SaaS)
    • Self-Hosted
    • Amazon Web Services
    • Microsoft Azure
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux

    Top OpenShift Features

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Orchestration
    4.  Software Deployment
    5.  Secure containerization
    6.  Container Orchestration
    7.  Platform as a service
    8.  Autoscaling
    9.  Container monitoring
    10.  Auto Scaling
    11.  Kubernetes
    OpenShift iconKubernetes Icon

    OpenShift VS Kubernetes

    Is OpenShift a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
    • OpenShift is the most popular SaaS & Self-Hosted alternative to Kubernetes.

    • OpenShift is Freemium and Open SourceKubernetes is Free and Open Source
  5. Rancher icon
     47 likes

    Rancher is an open source container management platform built for organizations that deploy containers in production. Rancher makes it easy to run Kubernetes everywhere, meet IT requirements, and empower DevOps teams.

    37 Rancher alternatives

    License model

    • Free PersonalOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • Linux

    Rancher Features

    1. Docker icon  Support for Docker
    2.  Cloud Monitoring
    Rancher iconKubernetes Icon

    Rancher VS Kubernetes

    Is Rancher a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  6. Lazydocker icon
     12 likes

    Memorising docker commands is hard. Memorising aliases is slightly less hard. Keeping track of your containers across multiple terminal windows is near impossible. What if you had all the information you needed in one terminal window with every common command living one keypress...

    18 Lazydocker alternatives
    Lazydocker screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Docker

    Lazydocker Features

    1.  Graphical User Interface
    2. Docker icon  Support for Docker
    Lazydocker iconKubernetes Icon

    Lazydocker VS Kubernetes

    Is Lazydocker a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  7. Radius icon
     2 likes

    Radius is an open-source, cloud-native, application platform that enables developers and the operators that support them to define, deploy, and collaborate on cloud-native applications across public clouds and private infrastructure.

    36 Radius alternatives
    Radius screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Self-Hosted
    Radius iconKubernetes Icon

    Radius VS Kubernetes

    Is Radius a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  8. Rancher Desktop icon
     6 likes

    Rancher Desktop is an open-source desktop application for Mac, Windows and Linux. It provides Kubernetes and container management. You can choose the version of Kubernetes you want to run. You can build, push, pull, and run container images.

    34 Rancher Desktop alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux

    Rancher Desktop Features

    1.  Kubernetes
    Rancher Desktop iconKubernetes Icon

    Rancher Desktop VS Kubernetes

    Is Rancher Desktop a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  9. Apache Mesos icon
     20 likes

    Apache Mesos is a cluster manager that simplifies the complexity of running applications on a shared pool of servers.

    30 Apache Mesos alternatives
    Apache Mesos screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    Apache Mesos Features

    1.  VPS
    2.  Hypervisor
    Apache Mesos iconKubernetes Icon

    Apache Mesos VS Kubernetes

    Is Apache Mesos a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  10. Dokku icon
     17 likes

    Docker powered mini-Heroku in around 100 lines of Bash.

    33 Dokku alternatives

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Platforms

    • Online
    • Self-Hosted

    Dokku Features

    1. Docker icon  Support for Docker
    Dokku iconKubernetes Icon

    Dokku VS Kubernetes

    Is Dokku a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  11. Microsoft Hyper-V Server icon
     40 likes

    Microsoft Hyper-V Server is a free product that delivers enterprise-class virtualization for your datacenter and hybrid cloud.

    52 Microsoft Hyper-V Server alternatives
    sconfig

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows

    Microsoft Hyper-V Server Features

    1.  Hypervisor
    2.  VPS
    Microsoft Hyper-V Server iconKubernetes Icon

    Microsoft Hyper-V Server VS Kubernetes

    Is this a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
  12. Docker Swarm icon
     13 likes

    Docker Swarm is native clustering for Docker. It allows you create and access to a pool of Docker hosts using the full suite of Docker tools. Because Docker Swarm serves the standard Docker API, any tool that already communicates with a Docker daemon can use Swarm to...

    17 Docker Swarm alternatives

    License model

    • FreeProprietary

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Self-Hosted
    • Docker

    Docker Swarm Features

    1. Docker icon  Support for Docker
    2.  VPS
    3.  Hypervisor
    Docker Swarm iconKubernetes Icon

    Docker Swarm VS Kubernetes

    Is Docker Swarm a good alternative to Kubernetes?
     
12 of 50 Kubernetes alternatives