# Colima vs Helm

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Helm

| Attribute | Colima | Helm |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 46.8 (78% (high)) | 66.9 (60% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 5 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4 | 5,000 |
| adoption.github_stars | 30,524 | 30,177 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Colima provides a lightweight way to run container runtimes locally on macOS and Linux machines, enabling Docker, Kubernetes, Containerd, and Incus workloads with low overhead. It supports multiple isolated instances, customizable resource allocation, and GPU acceleration for machine learning workloads on Apple Silicon. | Helm provides a templated configuration system and package manager for Kubernetes applications, allowing users to define complex multi-component deployments as reusable, versioned, and shareable packages. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","arm_support":true,"oci_compliant":true,"orchestration":"single_host","gpu_scheduling":true,"k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true}` | `{"arm_support":true,"cncf_maturity":"graduated","pricing_model":"free_open_source","architecture_model":"open_source_cli"}` |
| integrations.count | 9 | - |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Kubernetes"},{"name":"k3s"},{"name":"Containerd"},{"name":"nerdctl"},{"name":"Incus"},{"name":"Ollama"},{"name":"HuggingFace"},{"name":"Docker AI Registry"}]` | - |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://colima.run/","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T23:02:15.232Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://helm.sh","retrievedAt":"2026-08-21T13:42:13.702Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | open_source | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 10 | 2 |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.3","date":"2026-06-04T17:14:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.2","date":"2026-06-03T13:35:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.1","date":"2026-02-22T07:55:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.10.0","date":"2026-02-10T20:11:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.9.1","date":"2025-09-25T11:07:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.9.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.9.0","date":"2025-09-24T09:50:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.4","date":"2025-08-06T16:08:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.3","date":"2025-08-05T13:21:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.2","date":"2025-07-31T22:53:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.1","date":"2024-12-16T10:30:15Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.8.0","date":"2024-11-08T03:40:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.6","date":"2024-10-30T10:33:34Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.5","date":"2024-08-26T16:40:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.4","date":"2024-08-25T10:31:41Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.3","date":"2024-08-13T11:10:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.2","date":"2024-08-13T08:22:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.1","date":"2024-08-10T07:57:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.7.0","date":"2024-07-30T09:01:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.6.10","date":"2024-07-20T20:05:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.6.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/abiosoft/colima/releases/tag/v0.6.9","date":"2024-05-18T05:52:24Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.6.9"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.4","date":"2026-08-13T15:33:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.4","date":"2026-08-14T14:55:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.3","date":"2026-07-09T20:56:43Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.3","date":"2026-07-09T21:20:27Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.2","date":"2026-06-20T04:36:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.2","date":"2026-06-17T20:50:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.1","date":"2026-06-12T15:06:26Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.1","date":"2026-06-12T14:51:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.2.0","date":"2026-05-14T01:13:00Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.2.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.21.0","date":"2026-05-14T01:22:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.4","date":"2026-04-09T06:01:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.20.2","date":"2026-04-09T21:17:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.20.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.3","date":"2026-03-11T23:01:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.20.1","date":"2026-03-12T00:26:02Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.1","date":"2026-02-09T18:33:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.0","date":"2026-01-21T22:31:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.1.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.20.0","date":"2026-01-21T23:27:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.0.5","date":"2026-01-14T23:46:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v4.0.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v3.19.5","date":"2026-01-15T00:30:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.19.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/helm/helm/releases/tag/v4.1.0-rc.1","date":"2026-01-12T19:54:05Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v4.1.0-rc.1"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 5.6 | 9 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fabiosoft%2Fcolima&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":23,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=helm.sh%2Fhelm%2Fv3&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Colima | Helm |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | None / single-host | - |
| **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 | - | Graduated |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | - | - |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:35:05.546Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*