# CRI-O vs Minikube

| Attribute | CRI-O | Minikube |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 55.4 (32% (low)) | 49.5 (54% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 87 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 61 | 4 |
| adoption.github_stars | 5,678 | 32,192 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A runtime implementation that enables Kubernetes to execute and manage containers, supporting OCI-compliant container images from any registry. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://cri-o.io","question":"What is CRI-O?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"CRI-O 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://cri-o.io","question":"Is CRI-O free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"CRI-O supports Linux. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://cri-o.io","question":"What platforms does CRI-O support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. CRI-O can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://cri-o.io","question":"Can CRI-O be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. CRI-O 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/cri-o/cri-o","question":"Is CRI-O open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"Minikube enables developers to run a local Kubernetes cluster on their machine for development and testing. It supports multiple operating systems and container runtimes, with GPU acceleration for AI workloads. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io","question":"What is Minikube?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Minikube 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://minikube.sigs.k8s.io","question":"Is Minikube free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Minikube supports the web, Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io","question":"What platforms does Minikube support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Minikube can be deployed cloud / SaaS and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io","question":"Can Minikube be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Minikube 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/kubernetes/minikube","question":"Is Minikube open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | CRI-O is an open-source container runtime that implements the Kubernetes Container Runtime Interface, allowing Kubernetes clusters to launch and manage containerized workloads on Linux infrastructure. | Enables local development and testing of Kubernetes applications by running a Kubernetes cluster on your computer |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","arm_support":true,"oci_compliant":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","gpu_scheduling":true,"k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"managed_control_plane":false,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 5 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Google Cloud Build"},{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"CRI-O"},{"name":"containerd"},{"name":"NVIDIA"},{"name":"AMD"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| platform.support | `{"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","sourceUrl":"https://cri-o.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T22:25:33.464Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-13T19:34:10.079Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | - | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | - | 72 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.37.2","date":"2026-10-02T00:39:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.7","date":"2026-10-02T00:40:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.10","date":"2026-10-02T00:40:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.34.15","date":"2026-10-02T00:40:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.37.1","date":"2026-09-21T15:53:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.6","date":"2026-09-21T15:54:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.9","date":"2026-09-21T15:54:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.34.14","date":"2026-09-21T15:54:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.37.0","date":"2026-09-15T12:50:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.5","date":"2026-09-02T08:50:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.8","date":"2026-09-02T08:49:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.34.13","date":"2026-09-02T08:49:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.4","date":"2026-08-24T16:56:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.7","date":"2026-08-24T17:02:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.34.12","date":"2026-08-24T17:05:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.3","date":"2026-08-04T00:43:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.6","date":"2026-08-04T00:46:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.34.11","date":"2026-08-04T00:45:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.36.2","date":"2026-07-02T00:58:30Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/cri-o/cri-o/releases/tag/v1.35.5","date":"2026-07-02T12:07:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.5"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.39.0","date":"2026-09-02T21:09:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.39.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.38.1","date":"2026-02-19T19:41:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.38.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.38.0","date":"2026-01-29T07:22:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.38.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.37.0","date":"2025-09-09T21:54:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.36.0","date":"2025-05-22T18:26:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.35.0","date":"2025-01-16T01:12:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.34.0","date":"2024-09-09T18:48:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.33.1","date":"2024-05-13T21:35:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.33.0","date":"2024-04-19T23:21:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.33.0-beta.0","date":"2024-03-26T16:39:49Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.33.0-beta.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.32.0","date":"2023-11-08T17:21:51Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.32.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.32.0-beta.0","date":"2023-10-28T01:28:10Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.32.0-beta.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.31.2","date":"2023-08-16T22:32:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.31.1","date":"2023-07-20T17:46:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.31.0","date":"2023-07-18T17:25:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.31.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.30.1","date":"2023-04-04T22:19:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.30.0","date":"2023-04-03T18:11:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.30.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.29.0","date":"2023-01-27T19:37:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.28.0","date":"2022-11-04T20:54:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.28.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/releases/tag/v1.27.1","date":"2022-10-08T03:28:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.27.1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.scorecard | 8.4 | 4.8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":13,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcri-o%2Fcri-o&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":1,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=k8s.io%2Fminikube&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | CRI-O | Minikube |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **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 | - | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | - | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T21:00:15.418Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*