# Kubernetes vs Portainer

**Leader by Vioscale score:** Kubernetes

| Attribute | Kubernetes | Portainer |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 78.5 (38% (low)) | 56 (32% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | 83 | - |
| adoption.github_stars | 125,197 | - |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"self_hosted":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true,"air_gapped":true,"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A platform for orchestrating containerized applications across clusters of computers, automatically handling deployment, scaling, and updates based on decades of production experience at Google and community best practices. | A container orchestration management platform that provides centralized governance, deployment automation, and operational control across multi-cluster Kubernetes, Docker Swarm, and edge environments. It enables IT and operations teams to manage containerized applications at scale with simplified workflows, role-based access control, and GitOps integration. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"windows_containers":true,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","windows_containers":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 18 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Active Directory"},{"name":"LDAP"},{"name":"OAuth"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"Git repositories"},{"name":"Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE)"},{"name":"Docker"},{"name":"Swarm"},{"name":"Podman"},{"name":"Talos"},{"name":"Omni"},{"name":"S3-compatible storage"},{"name":"OPC connectivity"},{"name":"MQTT"},{"name":"Argo"},{"name":"Flux"},{"name":"Docker Hub"},{"name":"Matomo Analytics"}]` |
| language.primary | Go | - |
| license.spdx | Apache-2.0 | - |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"NZ","primaryMarkets":["US","EU"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"linux":true,"windows":true}` | `{"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://kubernetes.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T13:42:16.309Z"}` | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Starter","summary":"$105/month or $1045/year, annual commitment. Limited to organizations ≤$50M revenue.","features":["Community support","Max 16 vCPUs per node","Online purchase only"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":105,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":1045,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Small teams getting started with container management","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"max_vCPUs_per_node":"16"}},{"free":false,"name":"Scale","summary":"$209/month or $2095/year, annual commitment. Limited to organizations ≤$100M revenue.","features":["9x5 next business day support","Vendor onboarding","Reseller purchases","Max 24 vCPUs per node"],"commitment":"annual","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":209,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","amount":2095,"period":"year","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Growing teams requiring higher performance and team support","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"max_vCPUs_per_node":"24"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing via contact sales","features":["Prioritized 9x5 support","Production/Non-production node options","Customizable license agreement","Assigned support engineer","Security assessment report","TAA compliance certificate","Managed platform services option","24/7 support option"],"description":"Business-critical deployments with priority support and compliance coverage","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"max_vCPUs_per_node":"32 to unlimited"}}],"summary":"From $105/month. Business Edition free for 3 nodes. Annual commitment required.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.portainer.io/business-iiot-pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-13T22:39:31.629Z","startingPrice":{"amount":105,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | high |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | 1 | - |
| release.history | `[{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0","date":"2026-08-26T16:29:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.4","date":"2026-08-20T11:48:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.8","date":"2026-08-20T18:59:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.11","date":"2026-08-20T18:45:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc.1","date":"2026-08-20T02:44:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc.0","date":"2026-08-06T12:04:57Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.3","date":"2026-07-23T00:35:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.7","date":"2026-07-22T22:28:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.10","date":"2026-07-22T22:01:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-beta.0","date":"2026-07-20T23:21:18Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-beta.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-alpha.3","date":"2026-07-08T18:11:06Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-alpha.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-alpha.2","date":"2026-06-25T02:40:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-alpha.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.2","date":"2026-06-12T11:34:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.6","date":"2026-06-12T11:32:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.9","date":"2026-06-12T11:30:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.33.13","date":"2026-06-12T11:30:10Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.33.13"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-alpha.1","date":"2026-06-11T03:25:52Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.1","date":"2026-05-12T16:39:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.5","date":"2026-05-12T15:37:25Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.8","date":"2026-05-12T15:35:14Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.8"}]` | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.scorecard | 7.5 | - |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Kubernetes | Portainer |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | 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 | - | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | - | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T14:44:31.912Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*