Comparison

k0s vs Portainer

No leader: the top candidate Portainer has only 0.32 confidence (low), below the 0.35 needed to declare a winner. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.

k0s full profile →Portainer full profile →

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k0s53

Portainer56

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	k0s	Portainer
Vioscale score	53 / 100low · 45%	56 / 100low · 32%
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	commercial	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	free	high
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	✓
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	2	18
Security
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	-	✓
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	5.9	-
Vulnerabilitiessecurity.vulnerabilities	Count: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fk0sproject%2Fk0s&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0	-
Adoption
Dependent reposadoption.dependent_repos	1	-
Github starsadoption.github_stars	6,452	-
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	100	-
Release
Historyrelease.history	20 items	-
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	Go	-
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	-	Available worldwide · Popular in US, EU · HQ NZ

Score

Vioscale score

k0s53 / 100low · 45%

Portainer56 / 100low · 32%

Pricing

Free tier

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Model

k0scommercial

Portainerfreemium

Price level

k0sfree

Portainerhigh

Transparent

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Integrations

Count

k0s2

Portainer18

Security

Gdpr

k0s–

Portainer✓

Scorecard

k0s5.9

Portainer–

Vulnerabilities

k0sCount: 0 · Source: https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fk0sproject%2Fk0s&per_page=100 · Last 12m: 0

Portainer–

Adoption

Dependent repos

k0s1

Portainer–

Github stars

k0s6,452

Portainer–

Activity

Commits last 30d

k0s100

Portainer–

Release

History

k0s20 items

Portainer–

Language

Primary

k0sGo

Portainer–

Market

Availability

k0s–

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	k0s	Portainer
Core
Orchestration scope	Kubernetes	Kubernetes
Deployment
Hosting	Cloud + self-hosted	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

k0sKubernetes

PortainerKubernetes

Deployment

Hosting

k0sCloud + self-hosted

PortainerSelf-hosted only

Standards

OCI / CRI compliant

k0s-

Portainer-

CNCF Certified Kubernetes conformant

k0s✓

Portainer-

Security

Rootless operation

k0s-

Portainer-

Architecture

Daemonless architecture

k0s-

Portainer-

Platform

Windows containers

k0s-

Portainer✓

ARM architecture support

k0s✓

Portainer-

Workloads

GPU scheduling

k0s-

Portainer-

Stateful workloads

k0s✓

Portainer-

Networking

Built-in networking / CNI

k0s✓

Portainer-

Ops

Vendor-managed control plane

k0s✗

Portainer-

Ecosystem

CNCF maturity

k0sGraduated

Portainer-

GUI dashboard

k0s✗

Portainer✓

What each one is

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

k0s

An open-source Kubernetes distribution packaged as a single binary with minimal dependencies, designed to run on any infrastructure including bare metal, cloud platforms, and edge environments with simple configuration.

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.

k0s

Open sourceFree tier

100% open source & free

k0sFree

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

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	k0s	Portainer
WebPlatforms	✗	✓
WindowsPlatforms	✓	✗
LinuxPlatforms	✓	✗
CLIPlatforms	✓	✗
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✓
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓
On-premiseDeployment	✓	✓
HybridDeployment	✓	✓
Air-gappedDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

k0s✗

Portainer✓

Windows

k0s✓

Portainer✗

Linux

k0s✓

Portainer✗

CLI

k0s✓

Portainer✗

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Self-hosted

k0s✓

Portainer✓

On-premise

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Hybrid

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Air-gapped

k0s✓

Portainer✓

Integrations

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

k0s

2 total

Kube-Router
Calico

Independently observed

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.