# kind vs Kustomize

**Leader by Vioscale score:** kind

| Attribute | kind | Kustomize |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 54.2 (42% (low)) | 47.6 (64% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 16 | 13 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 2,126 | 8,193 |
| adoption.github_stars | 15,448 | 12,144 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | kind enables developers to set up isolated Kubernetes clusters locally using Docker for testing, development, and CI/CD purposes. Originally built for testing Kubernetes itself, it provides CNCF-conformant Kubernetes clusters on a single machine. | Kustomize is a Kubernetes-native configuration management tool that enables declarative customization of application configurations without templates. It integrates natively with kubectl and is available as a standalone binary for use in various environments. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","rootless":true,"arm_support":true,"gui_dashboard":false,"orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","daemonless":true,"cncf_maturity":"graduated","gui_dashboard":false,"orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"managed_control_plane":false}` |
| integrations.count | - | 5 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Kots"},{"name":"ArgoCD"},{"name":"Flux"},{"name":"Kubestack"},{"name":"Unfork"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kind.sigs.k8s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:34.716Z"}` | `{"type":"open_source","summary":"Open source, free","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kustomize.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T22:41:28.401Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | free | free |
| pricing.transparent | - | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 85 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.32.0","date":"2026-06-02T17:34:57Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.32.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.31.0","date":"2025-12-18T00:56:59Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.31.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.30.0","date":"2025-08-27T17:45:58Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.30.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.29.0","date":"2025-05-21T01:54:28Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.29.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.28.0","date":"2025-05-16T23:36:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.28.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.27.0","date":"2025-02-15T00:54:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.27.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.26.0","date":"2024-12-16T22:02:37Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.26.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.25.0","date":"2024-11-08T20:37:49Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.25.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.24.0","date":"2024-08-15T16:39:53Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.24.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.23.0","date":"2024-05-14T02:02:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.23.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.22.0","date":"2024-02-14T23:30:47Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.22.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.21.0","date":"2024-02-02T20:31:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.20.0","date":"2023-06-15T03:18:36Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.19.0","date":"2023-05-17T00:46:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.18.0","date":"2023-03-30T19:33:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.18.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.17.0","date":"2022-10-26T15:53:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.17.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.16.0","date":"2022-09-22T19:33:33Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.16.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.15.0","date":"2022-09-02T01:31:50Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.14.0","date":"2022-05-19T20:58:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kind/releases/tag/v0.13.0","date":"2022-05-10T19:40:39Z","type":"stable","version":"v0.13.0"}]` | `[{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kyaml/v0.21.1","date":"2026-02-09T15:27:15Z","type":"stable","version":"kyaml/v0.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kustomize/v5.8.1","date":"2026-02-09T16:40:16Z","type":"stable","version":"kustomize/v5.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/cmd/config/v0.21.1","date":"2026-02-09T15:41:58Z","type":"stable","version":"cmd/config/v0.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/api/v0.21.1","date":"2026-02-09T16:00:09Z","type":"stable","version":"api/v0.21.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kyaml/v0.21.0","date":"2025-11-09T13:45:10Z","type":"stable","version":"kyaml/v0.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kustomize/v5.8.0","date":"2025-11-09T15:00:06Z","type":"stable","version":"kustomize/v5.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/cmd/config/v0.21.0","date":"2025-11-09T14:01:17Z","type":"stable","version":"cmd/config/v0.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/api/v0.21.0","date":"2025-11-09T14:29:11Z","type":"stable","version":"api/v0.21.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kyaml/v0.20.1","date":"2025-07-23T12:10:24Z","type":"stable","version":"kyaml/v0.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kustomize/v5.7.1","date":"2025-07-23T12:54:41Z","type":"stable","version":"kustomize/v5.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/cmd/config/v0.20.1","date":"2025-07-23T12:20:32Z","type":"stable","version":"cmd/config/v0.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/api/v0.20.1","date":"2025-07-23T12:34:01Z","type":"stable","version":"api/v0.20.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kyaml/v0.20.0","date":"2025-06-28T06:15:13Z","type":"stable","version":"kyaml/v0.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kustomize/v5.7.0","date":"2025-06-28T07:09:54Z","type":"stable","version":"kustomize/v5.7.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/cmd/config/v0.20.0","date":"2025-06-28T06:28:41Z","type":"stable","version":"cmd/config/v0.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/api/v0.20.0","date":"2025-06-28T06:45:45Z","type":"stable","version":"api/v0.20.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kyaml/v0.19.0","date":"2025-01-14T14:12:39Z","type":"stable","version":"kyaml/v0.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/kustomize/v5.6.0","date":"2025-01-14T15:32:11Z","type":"stable","version":"kustomize/v5.6.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/cmd/config/v0.19.0","date":"2025-01-14T14:41:06Z","type":"stable","version":"cmd/config/v0.19.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes-sigs/kustomize/releases/tag/api/v0.19.0","date":"2025-01-14T14:53:53Z","type":"stable","version":"api/v0.19.0"}]` |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | 6.6 | 5.7 |
| security.vulnerabilities | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=sigs.k8s.io%2Fkind&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=sigs.k8s.io%2Fkustomize%2Fkyaml&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | kind | Kustomize |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Self-hosted only | 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 2026-09-01T14:39:54.099Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*