# Colima vs Helm

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Helm

| Attribute | Colima | Helm |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 47.6 (55% (medium)) | 62.6 (41% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 6 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4 | 5,000 |
| adoption.github_stars | 31,196 | 30,318 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Colima provides a lightweight way to run container runtimes locally on macOS and Linux machines, enabling Docker, Kubernetes, Containerd, and Incus workloads with low overhead. It supports multiple isolated instances, customizable resource allocation, and GPU acceleration for machine learning workloads on Apple Silicon. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://colima.run/","question":"What is Colima?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Colima is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://colima.run/","question":"Is Colima free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Colima supports macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://colima.run/","question":"What platforms does Colima support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Colima can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://colima.run/","question":"Can Colima be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 8 integrations for Colima, including Docker, Kubernetes, k3s, Containerd, nerdctl, Incus, Ollama and HuggingFace. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://colima.run/","question":"What does Colima integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Colima is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima","question":"Is Colima open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Helm provides a templated configuration system and package manager for Kubernetes applications, allowing users to define complex multi-component deployments as reusable, versioned, and shareable packages. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://helm.sh","question":"What is Helm?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Helm is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://helm.sh","question":"Is Helm free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Helm supports Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://helm.sh","question":"What platforms does Helm support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Helm can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://helm.sh","question":"Can Helm be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Helm is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/helm/helm","question":"Is Helm open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source tool that provides a unified environment for executing containerized applications using Docker, Containerd, Kubernetes, or Incus runtimes. It includes GPU acceleration and AI model inference support on Apple Silicon devices. | A package management system that simplifies the installation, configuration, and deployment of applications in Kubernetes environments. Similar to traditional package managers like apt or homebrew, Helm enables developers to define and manage reusable application packages called Charts across clusters. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","arm_support":true,"oci_compliant":true,"orchestration":"single_host","gpu_scheduling":true,"k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true}` | `{"arm_support":true,"cncf_maturity":"graduated","pricing_model":"free_open_source","architecture_model":"open_source_cli","mit_or_apache_permissive_oss_license":true}` |
| integrations.count | 7 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"k3s"},{"name":"Containerd"},{"name":"nerdctl"},{"name":"Incus"},{"name":"Ollama"},{"name":"HuggingFace"},{"name":"Docker AI Registry"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://colima.run/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T23:02:15.232Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://helm.sh","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T22:34:17.644Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 10 | 5 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.3","date":"2026-06-04T17:14:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.2","date":"2026-06-03T13:35:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.1","date":"2026-02-22T07:55:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.0","date":"2026-02-10T20:11:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.9.1","date":"2025-09-25T11:07:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.9.0","date":"2025-09-24T09:50:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.4","date":"2025-08-06T16:08:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.3","date":"2025-08-05T13:21:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.2","date":"2025-07-31T22:53:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.1","date":"2024-12-16T10:30:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.0","date":"2024-11-08T03:40:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.6","date":"2024-10-30T10:33:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.5","date":"2024-08-26T16:40:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.4","date":"2024-08-25T10:31:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.3","date":"2024-08-13T11:10:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.2","date":"2024-08-13T08:22:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.1","date":"2024-08-10T07:57:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.0","date":"2024-07-30T09:01:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.6.10","date":"2024-07-20T20:05:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.6.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.6.9","date":"2024-05-18T05:52:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.6.9"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.3.0","date":"2026-09-09T23:51:48Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.3.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.22.0","date":"2026-09-10T00:08:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.3.0-rc.1","date":"2026-08-31T22:09:46Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.3.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.22.0-rc.1","date":"2026-08-31T22:56:05Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.22.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.4","date":"2026-08-13T15:33:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.4","date":"2026-08-14T14:55:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.3","date":"2026-07-09T20:56:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.3","date":"2026-07-09T21:20:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.2","date":"2026-06-20T04:36:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-06-17T20:50:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2026-06-12T15:06:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.1","date":"2026-06-12T14:51:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2026-05-14T01:13:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.0","date":"2026-05-14T01:22:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.4","date":"2026-04-09T06:01:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.20.2","date":"2026-04-09T21:17:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.20.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.3","date":"2026-03-11T23:01:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.20.1","date":"2026-03-12T00:26:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.1","date":"2026-02-09T18:33:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.0","date":"2026-01-21T22:31:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.0"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.8 | 8.8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fabiosoft%2Fcolima&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":24,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=helm.sh%2Fhelm%2Fv3&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Colima | Helm |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | None / single-host | - |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | - |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OCI / CRI compliant | ✓ | - |
| CNCF Certified Kubernetes conformant | ✓ | - |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Rootless operation | - | - |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Daemonless architecture | - | - |
| **Platform** |  |  |
| Windows containers | - | - |
| ARM architecture support | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Workloads** |  |  |
| GPU scheduling | ✓ | - |
| Stateful workloads | ✓ | - |
| **Networking** |  |  |
| Built-in networking / CNI | - | - |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Vendor-managed control plane | - | - |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | Graduated |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | - | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:58:43.264Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*