Comparison

K3s vs Red Hat OpenShift

On the evidence we track, Red Hat OpenShift leads this comparison with a composite score of 56/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
K3s51
Red Hat OpenShift56
Score
Vioscale score
K3s51 / 100low · 46%
Red Hat OpenShift56 / 100medium · 64%
Pricing
Free tier
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Model
Red Hat OpenShiftcommercial
Price level
K3sfree
Red Hat OpenShiftlow
Transparent
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Integrations
Count
K3s9
Red Hat OpenShift
Reliability
Status page
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Adoption
Dependent repos
K3s11
Red Hat OpenShift983
Github stars
Red Hat OpenShift8,680
Activity
Commits last 30d
K3s32
Red Hat OpenShift100
Release
Cadence days
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift25
History
Red Hat OpenShift20 items
License
Spdx
Red Hat OpenShiftApache-2.0
Language
Primary
K3sGo
Red Hat OpenShiftGo
Market
Availability
K3s
Red Hat OpenShiftAvailable worldwide

Capabilities

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

Core
Orchestration scope
K3sKubernetes
Red Hat OpenShiftKubernetes
Deployment
Hosting
K3sSelf-hosted only
Red Hat OpenShiftCloud + self-hosted
Standards
OCI / CRI compliant
K3s-
Red Hat OpenShift-
CNCF Certified Kubernetes conformant
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift-
Security
Rootless operation
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift-
Architecture
Daemonless architecture
K3s-
Red Hat OpenShift-
Platform
Windows containers
K3s-
Red Hat OpenShift-
ARM architecture support
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift-
Workloads
GPU scheduling
K3s-
Red Hat OpenShift-
Stateful workloads
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift-
Networking
Built-in networking / CNI
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift-
Ops
Vendor-managed control plane
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Ecosystem
CNCF maturity
K3sSandbox
Red Hat OpenShift-
UX
GUI dashboard
K3s-
Red Hat OpenShift

What each one is

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

K3s

K3s is a certified Kubernetes implementation that maintains full conformance while streamlining deployment through bundled components, simplified storage options, and a single-binary installation model suitable for resource-constrained environments and edge computing scenarios.

Independently observed

Red Hat OpenShift

Leader

An enterprise container application platform built on Kubernetes that enables organizations to build, deploy, and manage modern applications with a consistent experience across self-managed and managed cloud services.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

K3s

Open sourceFree tier
as of verify ↗

Red Hat OpenShift

Leader
Free tier

Free Developer Sandbox available; enterprise deployment via self-managed or managed cloud services

as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Linux
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
CLI
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Self-hosted
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
On-premise
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift
Hybrid
K3s
Red Hat OpenShift

Integrations

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

K3s

9 total
  • Traefik
  • CoreDNS
  • Helm
  • etcd
  • Local Path Provisioner
  • MariaDB
  • MySQL
  • PostgreSQL
  • SQLite
Independently observed

Red Hat OpenShift

Leader

Not documented yet.

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

K3s vs Red Hat OpenShift: an evidence-based comparison · Vioscale