vioscaleAI
Comparison

K9s vs Nirmata

On the evidence we track, Nirmata 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.

K9s full profile →Nirmata full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
K9s45
★Nirmata56
Score
vioscaleAI score
K9s45 / 100low · 34%
Nirmata56 / 100low · 41%
Pricing
Free tier
K9s✓
Nirmata✗
Model
Price level
K9sfree
Nirmatahigh
Starting price
K9s$5
Nirmata$1,250
Transparent
K9s✓
Nirmata✓
Integrations
Count
K9s1
Nirmata6
Security
Iso27001
K9s–
Nirmata✓
Scorecard
K9s4.4
Nirmata–
Soc2
K9s–
Nirmata✓
Trust center
Vulnerabilities
Adoption
Dependent repos
K9s4
Nirmata–
Github stars
K9s34,818
Nirmata–
Activity
Commits last 30d
K9s32
Nirmata–
Release
Cadence days
K9s5
Nirmata–
History
K9s20 items
Nirmata–
License
Spdx
K9sApache-2.0
Nirmata–
Language
Primary
K9sGo
Nirmata–
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
K9s4 items
Nirmata7 items

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for kubernetes management. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Capabilities
Deployment model
K9sDesktop
NirmataSaas
Eks gke aks lifecycle
K9s-
Nirmata✓
Bare metal vsphere provisioning
K9s-
Nirmata✗
Centralized SSO RBAC
K9s-
Nirmata✓
Multi cluster config sync
K9s-
Nirmata✓
Bundled observability stack
K9s-
Nirmata✗
Bundled service mesh
K9s-
Nirmata✗
Edge iot scale capable
K9s-
Nirmata✗
Cost management module
K9s-
Nirmata✓
CLI shell access
K9s✓
Nirmata✓
SOC2 type ii
K9s-
Nirmata✓
ISO 27001
K9s-
Nirmata✓
Pricing model
K9sOpen source
NirmataFreemium

What each one is

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

K9s

A CLI tool that assists with navigating and managing Kubernetes cluster resources and configurations.

Independently observed

Nirmata

Leader

A policy-as-code platform that automates security and compliance controls across AI agents, Kubernetes clusters, and cloud infrastructure, providing centralized audit logging and unified enforcement.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

K9s

from $5/moOpen sourceFree tier

Open source with optional GitHub Sponsors tiers from $5–$1,000/month

  • $5/month$5/month sponsorship tier
  • $10/month$10/month sponsorship tier
  • $25/month$25/month sponsorship tier with roadmap advisor status
    • Roadmap advisor status
  • $50/month$50/month sponsorship tier
  • $100/month$100/month sponsorship tier
  • $500/month$500/month sponsorship tier
  • $1,000/month$1,000/month sponsorship tier
as of verify ↗

Nirmata

Leader
from $1250/moSubscription15-day trial

From $1,800/month. 15-day free trial.

  • Nirmata Essentials$1,800/month
    • Centralized Reporting
    • Kyverno Engine Health
    • Shift-Left Enforcement
    • AI Platform Assistant
  • Nirmata Advanced$4,500/month
    • Centralized Policy Sets
    • Automated Violation Assignment
    • Self-Service Exceptions
    • Compliance Automation
    • Managed Agents
  • Nirmata EnterpriseContact sales
    • Remediation Service Agent
    • GitHub / GitLab integration
    • Auto identity management (SCIM)
    • Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) AI
    • Air-gapped options
  • Nirmata Enterprise Kyverno$1,250/month
    • 0-CVE images
    • 18 month patch support
    • Long term version compatibility
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
K9s✗
Nirmata✓
macOS
K9s✓
Nirmata✗
Windows
K9s✓
Nirmata✗
Linux
K9s✓
Nirmata✗
CLI
K9s✓
Nirmata✓
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
K9s✗
Nirmata✓
Self-hosted
K9s✓
Nirmata✗
On-premise
K9s✗
Nirmata✓
Air-gapped
K9s✗
Nirmata✓

Integrations

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

K9s

1 total
  • Kubernetes
Independently observed

Nirmata

Leader
19 total
  • GitHub
  • GitLab
  • Bitbucket
  • Argo
  • Flux
  • Amazon EKS
  • Azure AKS
  • Google GKE
  • Rancher
  • OpenShift
  • AWS
  • Okta
  • Terraform
  • Dockerfile
  • Kyverno
  • AWS Marketplace
  • Helm
  • Azure
  • Google Cloud Platform
Independently observed
Still deciding?

K9s or Nirmata: which one depends on you

A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.

Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works

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