# K3s vs Red Hat OpenShift

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Red Hat OpenShift

| Attribute | K3s | Red Hat OpenShift |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 50.4 (46% (low)) | 55.7 (64% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 32 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 11 | 983 |
| adoption.github_stars | 33,826 | 8,680 |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | 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. | 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. |
| features.capabilities | `{"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}` | `{"hosting":"both","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","managed_control_plane":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,"linux":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k3s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:35.599Z"}` | `{"summary":"Free Developer Sandbox available; enterprise deployment via self-managed or managed cloud services","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.redhat.com/en/technologies/cloud-computing/openshift","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T13:41:09.992Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| release.cadence_days | - | 25 |
| release.history | `[{"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"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.11.0","date":"2018-10-11T15:53:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.10.0","date":"2018-08-03T02:42:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.10.0-rc.0","date":"2018-06-20T01:41:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.10.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.9.0","date":"2018-03-30T23:30:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.7.2","date":"2018-03-16T19:56:46Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.9.0-alpha.3","date":"2018-02-08T01:57:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.9.0-alpha.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.7.1","date":"2018-01-16T17:48:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.7.0","date":"2017-11-29T19:35:31Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.7.0-rc.0","date":"2017-10-27T16:44:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.1","date":"2017-10-25T19:54:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.7.0-alpha.1","date":"2017-08-30T21:45:18Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.7.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.0","date":"2017-07-31T05:25:09Z","type":"stable","version":"v3.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.0-rc.0","date":"2017-07-14T02:40:42Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.6.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.0-alpha.2","date":"2017-06-08T05:04:38Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.6.0-alpha.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v1.5.1","date":"2017-05-16T20:58:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.5.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v1.5.0","date":"2017-04-21T18:53:23Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.5.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.0-alpha.1","date":"2017-04-12T18:05:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.6.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v3.6.0-alpha.0","date":"2017-03-22T01:48:40Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v3.6.0-alpha.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v1.5.0-rc.0","date":"2017-03-09T22:53:44Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.5.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/openshift/origin/releases/tag/v1.5.0-alpha.3","date":"2017-02-20T21:32:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.5.0-alpha.3"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | - | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 8 | 5.7 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"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"}` | `{"count":3,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fopenshift%2Forigin&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":"CRITICAL"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | K3s | Red Hat OpenShift |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **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 2026-09-01T17:34:44.579Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*