# K9s vs Rafay

| Attribute | K9s | Rafay |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 44.7 (34% (low)) | 48.9 (33% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 32 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 34,818 | - |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Helps users view and manage Kubernetes clusters through a command-line interface, with real-time resource tracking and interactive management capabilities. It is indexed under Kubernetes Management.","source":"https://k9scli.io","question":"What is K9s?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"K9s 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://k9scli.io","question":"Is K9s free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"K9s supports Windows, macOS, Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://k9scli.io","question":"What platforms does K9s support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. K9s 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/derailed/k9s","question":"Is K9s open source?","confidence":0.95}]` | `[{"answer":"A comprehensive platform that enables organizations to expose GPU infrastructure and Kubernetes workloads as managed, self-service cloud services with built-in multi-tenant governance, automation, and visibility across hybrid and air-gapped environments. It is indexed under Kubernetes Management.","source":"https://rafay.co","question":"What is Rafay?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Rafay supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://rafay.co","question":"What platforms does Rafay support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Rafay can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://rafay.co","question":"Can Rafay be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 23 integrations for Rafay, including Slack, Microsoft Teams, PagerDuty, Jira, ServiceNow, Datadog, Elasticsearch and Loki, plus 15 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://rafay.co","question":"What does Rafay integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA and GDPR for Rafay. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Rafay not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://rafay.co/ai-and-cloud-native-blog/how-to-automate-kubernetes-compliance-policy-governance","question":"What security certifications does Rafay have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Rafay is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://rafay.co/platform/pricing","question":"Where is Rafay available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A CLI tool that assists with navigating and managing Kubernetes cluster resources and configurations. | A comprehensive platform that enables organizations to expose GPU infrastructure and Kubernetes workloads as managed, self-service cloud services with built-in multi-tenant governance, automation, and visibility across hybrid and air-gapped environments. |
| features.capabilities | `{"pricing_model":"open_source","cli_shell_access":true,"deployment_model":"desktop"}` | `{"iso_27001":false,"soc2_type_ii":false,"license_model":"proprietary","pricing_model":"per_node_core","cli_shell_access":true,"deployment_model":"saas","device_discovery":false,"edge_ml_inference":true,"hardware_provided":false,"kubernetes_native":true,"ota_fleet_updates":true,"air_gapped_support":true,"control_plane_model":"k8s-extension","multi_cloud_neutral":true,"bundled_service_mesh":true,"centralized_sso_rbac":true,"eks_gke_aks_lifecycle":true,"cost_management_module":true,"edge_iot_scale_capable":false,"central_fleet_dashboard":true,"gpu_accelerator_support":true,"telco_mec_purpose_built":false,"multi_cluster_config_sync":true,"bundled_observability_stack":true,"offline_disconnected_operation":true,"bare_metal_vsphere_provisioning":true}` |
| integrations.count | 1 | 8 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true,"direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"Slack"},{"name":"Microsoft Teams"},{"name":"PagerDuty"},{"name":"Jira"},{"name":"ServiceNow"},{"name":"Datadog"},{"name":"Elasticsearch"},{"name":"Loki"},{"name":"Terraform"},{"name":"Crossplane"},{"name":"GitHub Actions"},{"name":"AWS EKS"},{"name":"Microsoft Azure AKS"},{"name":"Google Cloud GKE"},{"name":"Oracle Cloud OKE"},{"name":"Argo CD"},{"name":"AWS"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Google Cloud"},{"name":"Oracle Cloud"},{"name":"NVIDIA NIM","native":true,"category":"ai_models","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Kubernetes","native":true,"category":"orchestration","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Istio","native":true,"category":"service_mesh","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Cisco","native":true,"category":"networking"},{"name":"NVIDIA Spectrum-X","native":true,"category":"networking"},{"name":"Helm","native":true,"category":"package_management","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"Aviz ONES","native":true,"category":"infrastructure"},{"name":"Karpenter","native":true,"category":"kubernetes","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"OpenCost","native":true,"category":"cost-management","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"kube-state-metrics","native":true,"category":"observability","direction":"inbound"},{"name":"SGLang","native":true}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"$5/month","summary":"$5/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$10/month","summary":"$10/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":10,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$25/month","summary":"$25/month sponsorship tier with roadmap advisor status","features":["Roadmap advisor status"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":25,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$50/month","summary":"$50/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":50,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$100/month","summary":"$100/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$500/month","summary":"$500/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":500,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"$1,000/month","summary":"$1,000/month sponsorship tier","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":1000,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false}],"summary":"Open source with optional GitHub Sponsors tiers from $5–$1,000/month","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k9scli.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-14T18:12:18.561Z","startingPrice":{"amount":5,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","addOns":[{"name":"Enterprise Support","components":[{"of":"cluster or node subscription","kind":"percentage","rate":20}]}],"summary":"Usage-based pricing per node/GPU unit with volume discounts. Standard support included; Enterprise Support (24x7x365) available at 20% of subscription cost.","freeTier":false,"sourceUrl":"https://rafay.co/platform/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-10-12T21:40:42.861Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | no |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":5,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 5 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.51.0","date":"2026-06-06T14:13:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.51.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.18","date":"2026-01-11T20:19:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.18"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.17","date":"2026-01-11T19:44:05Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.17"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.16","date":"2025-10-19T16:01:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.15","date":"2025-10-07T13:34:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.14","date":"2025-10-07T00:33:13Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.13","date":"2025-09-27T15:44:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.12","date":"2025-09-19T14:53:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.11","date":"2025-09-18T15:43:44Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.10","date":"2025-09-17T23:13:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.9","date":"2025-07-19T15:42:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.8","date":"2025-07-15T15:10:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.7","date":"2025-07-05T17:49:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.6","date":"2025-05-12T05:30:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.5","date":"2025-05-08T05:42:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.4","date":"2025-04-19T18:27:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.3","date":"2025-04-14T00:36:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.2","date":"2025-04-10T15:47:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.1","date":"2025-04-10T06:13:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/derailed/k9s/releases/tag/v0.50.0","date":"2025-04-09T06:01:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.50.0"}]` | - |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.hipaa | - | yes |
| security.pci | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 4.4 | - |
| security.trust_center | - | https://rafay.co/ai-and-cloud-native-blog/how-to-automate-kubernetes-compliance-policy-governance |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fderailed%2Fk9s&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | - |

## Capabilities (Kubernetes Management)

| Capability | K9s | Rafay |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Deployment model | Desktop | Saas |
| Eks gke aks lifecycle | - | ✓ |
| Bare metal vsphere provisioning | - | ✓ |
| Centralized SSO RBAC | - | ✓ |
| Multi cluster config sync | - | ✓ |
| Bundled observability stack | - | ✓ |
| Bundled service mesh | - | ✓ |
| Edge iot scale capable | - | ✗ |
| Cost management module | - | ✓ |
| CLI shell access | ✓ | ✓ |
| SOC2 type ii | - | ✗ |
| ISO 27001 | - | ✗ |
| Pricing model | Open source | Per node core |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:14:46.085Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*