# kind vs Rancher

**Leader by Vioscale score:** kind

| Attribute | kind | Rancher |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 54.2 (42% (low)) | 44.6 (51% (medium)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 16 | 100 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | 2,126 | 96 |
| adoption.github_stars | 15,448 | 25,872 |
| deployment.options | `{"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"on_prem":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. | A management platform that helps teams deploy and operate Kubernetes instances across diverse infrastructure—from on-premises data centers to public clouds and edge environments. It centralizes administrative controls and operational tools. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"self","rootless":true,"arm_support":true,"gui_dashboard":false,"orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes"}` |
| language.primary | Go | Go |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"DE","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"mac":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kind.sigs.k8s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:34.716Z"}` | `{"type":"quote","sourceUrl":"https://rancher.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T13:44:48.664Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | - |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | free | unknown |
| pricing.transparent | - | no |
| 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/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.14.5-rc1","date":"2026-08-25T22:54:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.5-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.13.9-rc1","date":"2026-08-25T22:22:07Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.13.9-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.12.13-rc1","date":"2026-08-25T20:28:06Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.13-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.11.17-rc1","date":"2026-08-25T20:27:57Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.11.17-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.15.1-rc1","date":"2026-08-25T21:41:26Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.14.5-alpha1","date":"2026-08-19T14:30:23Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.5-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.13.9-alpha1","date":"2026-08-19T14:38:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.13.9-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.12.13-alpha1","date":"2026-08-19T14:38:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.13-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.11.17-alpha1","date":"2026-08-19T14:38:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.11.17-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.15.1-alpha1","date":"2026-08-18T23:32:09Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.1-alpha1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.15.0","date":"2026-07-30T21:51:19Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.15.0-rc5","date":"2026-07-30T17:47:39Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.15.0-rc5"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.14.4","date":"2026-07-30T20:38:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.14.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.14.4-rc1","date":"2026-07-30T16:16:04Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.14.4-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.13.8","date":"2026-07-30T22:37:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.13.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.13.8-rc1","date":"2026-07-30T17:47:27Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.13.8-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.12.12","date":"2026-07-30T22:37:06Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.12.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.12.12-rc1","date":"2026-07-30T17:47:30Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.12.12-rc1"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.11.16","date":"2026-07-30T22:37:11Z","type":"stable","version":"v2.11.16"},{"url":"https://github.com/rancher/rancher/releases/tag/v2.11.16-rc1","date":"2026-07-30T17:47:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v2.11.16-rc1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | - | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 6.6 | 6.7 |
| 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=github.com%2Francher%2Francher%2Fpkg%2Fapis&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | kind | Rancher |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **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 | - | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | ✗ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T17:14:21.591Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*