# K9s vs Rafay

| Attribute | K9s | Rafay |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 51.8 (21% (low)) | 53 (42% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 30 | - |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 4 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 34,445 | - |
| deployment.options | - | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"air_gapped":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | Helps users view and manage Kubernetes clusters through a command-line interface, with real-time resource tracking and interactive management capabilities. | 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 | - | `{"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 | - | 14 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"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"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | - | `{"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","summary":"Free, open source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k9scli.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-20T12:20:04.345Z"}` | `{"type":"subscription","summary":"Platform fee plus per-node/per-GPU usage fee with volume discounts. Enterprise Support (24x7x365) available at 20% of subscription cost.","currency":"USD","freeTier":false,"sourceUrl":"https://rafay.co/platform/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-25T21:38:16.059Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | no |
| pricing.model | open_source | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| 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 | 4.6 | - |
| 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 | - | 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 | - | Per node core |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T16:57:08.738Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*