# Buildah vs K3s

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Buildah

| Attribute | Buildah | K3s |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 62.8 (59% (medium)) | 50.4 (46% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 84 | 32 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 321 | 11 |
| adoption.github_stars | 8,995 | 33,826 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | An open-source utility for building OCI-compliant container images from Dockerfiles or from scratch, maintained by the containers organization. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"rootless":true,"oci_compliant":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","rootless":true,"arm_support":true,"cncf_maturity":"sandbox","orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"managed_control_plane":false,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 9 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Traefik"},{"name":"CoreDNS"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"etcd"},{"name":"Local Path Provisioner"},{"name":"MariaDB"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"SQLite"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true}` | `{"cli":true,"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://buildah.io/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T23:01:29.635Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k3s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:35.599Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| release.cadence_days | 7 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.45.0","date":"2026-07-30T17:44:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.45.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.44.1","date":"2026-07-21T17:36:22Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.44.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.43.2","date":"2026-06-08T19:32:07Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.43.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.44.0","date":"2026-05-27T21:40:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.44.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.39.9","date":"2026-05-13T14:11:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.39.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.29.8","date":"2026-05-07T20:13:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.33.15","date":"2026-05-04T22:32:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.15"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.26.11","date":"2026-05-06T17:50:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.26.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.41.9","date":"2026-04-17T18:46:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.41.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.43.1","date":"2026-04-08T18:08:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.43.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.43.0","date":"2026-02-06T13:48:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.43.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.21.6","date":"2026-01-22T20:16:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.21.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.29.7","date":"2026-01-15T23:49:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.29.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.39.8","date":"2026-01-08T21:47:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.39.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.37.8","date":"2026-01-08T21:30:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.33.14","date":"2026-01-08T21:32:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.14"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.41.8","date":"2026-01-06T19:39:29Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.41.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.41.7","date":"2025-12-13T01:37:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.41.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.39.7","date":"2025-12-13T01:28:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.39.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/podman-container-tools/buildah/releases/tag/v1.33.13","date":"2025-12-11T18:46:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.13"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.4-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-21T17:10:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.4-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.8-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-21T17:04:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.8-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.11-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-21T17:05:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.34.11-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.3%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-04T19:42:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.3+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.3-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-28T21:33:53Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.3-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.7%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-04T19:41:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.7+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.7-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-28T21:33:58Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.7-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.10%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-04T19:39:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.10+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.10-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-28T21:33:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.34.10-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.33.13%2Bk3s2","date":"2026-08-04T19:40:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.13+k3s2"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.33.13-rc2%2Bk3s2","date":"2026-07-28T21:34:16Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.33.13-rc2+k3s2"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.3-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-24T12:58:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.3-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.7-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-24T12:58:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.7-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.10-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-07-24T12:57:43Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.34.10-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.33.13-rc1%2Bk3s2","date":"2026-07-24T12:58:00Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.33.13-rc1+k3s2"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-06-24T22:57:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.2-rc3%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-06-24T18:29:23Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.2-rc3+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.6%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-06-24T22:57:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.6+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.6-rc3%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-06-24T18:28:55Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.6-rc3+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.9%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-06-24T22:57:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.9+k3s1"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 7.6 | 8 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":9,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fcontainers%2Fbuildah&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` | `{"count":3,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fk3s-io%2Fk3s&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Buildah | K3s |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 | - | Sandbox |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:35:10.100Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*