Comparison

Helm vs Portainer

On the evidence we track, Helm leads this comparison with a composite score of 67/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Helm full profile →Portainer full profile →

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★Helm67

Portainer56

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	HelmLeader	Portainer
Vioscale score	67 / 100medium · 60%	56 / 100low · 32%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	open_source	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	high
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	-	18
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	9	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 23 · 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	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	5,000	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	30,177	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	-
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	2	-
Historyrelease.history	20 items	-
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	Apache-2.0	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Go	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide	Available worldwide · Popular in US, EU · HQ NZ

Score

Vioscale score

Helm67 / 100medium · 60%

Portainer56 / 100low · 32%

Pricing

Free tier

Helm✓

Portainer✓

Model

Helmopen_source

Portainerfreemium

Price level

Helmfree

Portainerhigh

Transparent

Helm✓

Portainer✓

Integrations

Count

Helm–

Portainer18

Security

Disclosure policy

Helm✓

Portainer–

Gdpr

Helm–

Portainer✓

Scorecard

Helm9

Portainer–

Vulnerabilities

HelmCount: 23 · 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

Portainer–

Adoption

Dependent repos

Helm5,000

Portainer–

Github stars

Helm30,177

Portainer–

Activity

Commits last 30d

Helm100

Portainer–

Release

Cadence days

Helm2

Portainer–

History

Helm20 items

Portainer–

License

Spdx

HelmApache-2.0

Portainer–

Language

Primary

HelmGo

Portainer–

Market

Availability

HelmAvailable worldwide

PortainerAvailable worldwide · Popular in US, EU · HQ NZ

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for container orchestration tools. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capability comparison for Container Orchestration Tools
Capability	Helm	Portainer
Core
Orchestration scope	-	Kubernetes
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	-	✓

Core

Orchestration scope

Helm-

PortainerKubernetes

Deployment

Hosting

Helm-

PortainerSelf-hosted only

Standards

OCI / CRI compliant

Helm-

Portainer-

CNCF Certified Kubernetes conformant

Helm-

Portainer-

Security

Rootless operation

Helm-

Portainer-

Architecture

Daemonless architecture

Helm-

Portainer-

Platform

Windows containers

Helm-

Portainer✓

ARM architecture support

Helm✓

Portainer-

Workloads

GPU scheduling

Helm-

Portainer-

Stateful workloads

Helm-

Portainer-

Networking

Built-in networking / CNI

Helm-

Portainer-

Ops

Vendor-managed control plane

Helm-

Portainer-

Ecosystem

CNCF maturity

HelmGraduated

Portainer-

GUI dashboard

Helm-

Portainer✓

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Helm

Leader

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.

Independently observed

Portainer

A container orchestration management platform that provides centralized governance, deployment automation, and operational control across multi-cluster Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, and edge environments. It enables IT and operations teams to manage containerized applications at scale with simplified workflows, role-based access control, and GitOps integration.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Helm

Leader

Open sourceFree tier

as of 2026-08-21verify ↗

Portainer

from $105/moSubscriptionFree tier

From $105/month. Business Edition free for 3 nodes. Annual commitment required.

Starter$105/month or $1045/year, annual commitment. Limited to organizations ≤$50M revenue.
- Community support
- Max 16 vCPUs per node
- Online purchase only
Scale$209/month or $2095/year, annual commitment. Limited to organizations ≤$100M revenue.
- 9x5 next business day support
- Vendor onboarding
- Reseller purchases
- Max 24 vCPUs per node
EnterpriseContact sales
- Prioritized 9x5 support
- Production/Non-production node options
- Customizable license agreement
- Assigned support engineer
- Security assessment report
- +3 more

as of 2026-08-13verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Helm	Portainer
WebPlatforms	✗	✓
macOSPlatforms	✓	✗
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✗	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✗	✓
HybridDeployment	✗	✓
Air-gappedDeployment	✗	✓

Platforms

Web

Helm✗

Portainer✓

macOS

Helm✓

Portainer✗

Windows

Helm✓

Portainer✗

Linux

Helm✓

Portainer✗

CLI

Helm✓

Portainer✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Helm✗

Portainer✓

Self-hosted

Helm✓

Portainer✓

On-premise

Helm✗

Portainer✓

Hybrid

Helm✗

Portainer✓

Air-gapped

Helm✗

Portainer✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Helm

Leader

Not documented yet.

Portainer

18 total

Active Directory
LDAP
OAuth
Helm
Git repositories
Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE)
Docker
Swarm
Podman
Talos
Omni
S3-compatible storage
OPC connectivity
MQTT
Argo
Flux
Docker Hub
Matomo Analytics

Independently observed

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.