head to head · open source
ansible vs ansible-role-kubernetes
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars, 24,474 forks, 837 open issues and last shipped yesterday. ansible-role-kubernetes has 626 stars, 279 forks, 6 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. ansible leads on adoption by 11,274% (71,204 vs 626 stars). ansible is written in Python under GPL-3.0; ansible-role-kubernetes is written in Jinja under MIT. ansible has attracted 34% as many forks as stars, ansible-role-kubernetes 45%. ansible was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (ansible), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| ansible | ansible-role-kubernetes | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 71K | ★ 626 |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Python | Jinja |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 24K | ⑂ 279 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick ansible if
- You weight community size — 71K stars and counting
- You want the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ansible-role-kubernetes if
- You want the ansible-role-kubernetes feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Jinja
- You evaluated both and ansible-role-kubernetes fits your workflow better
About ansible
[ ][copying] Ansible Ansible is a radically simple IT automation system. It handles configuration management, application deployment, cloud provisioning, ad hoc task execution, network automation, and multi node orchestration. Ansible makes complex changes like zero downtime rolling updates with load balancers easy. More information on the Ansible website. Design Principles Have an extremely simple setup process with a minimal learning curve. Manage machines quickly and in parallel. Avoid custom agents and additional open ports, be agentless by leveraging the existing SSH daemon. Describe infrastructure in a…
read the full ansible overview →
About ansible-role-kubernetes
Ansible Role: Kubernetes An Ansible Role that installs Kubernetes on Linux. Requirements Requires a compatible Container Runtime; recommended role for CRI installation: geerlingguy.containerd . Role Variables Available variables are listed below, along with default values (see defaults/main.yml ): Kubernetes packages to be installed on the server. You can either provide a list of package names, or set name and state to have more control over whether the package is present , absent , latest , etc. The minor version of Kubernetes to install. The plain kubernetes version is used to pin an apt package version on…
read the full ansible-role-kubernetes overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is ansible or ansible-role-kubernetes more popular?
ansible has 71,204 GitHub stars and ansible-role-kubernetes has 626. ansible has the larger community by that measure.
Are ansible and ansible-role-kubernetes free?
Both are open source. ansible is licensed under GPL-3.0 and ansible-role-kubernetes under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between ansible and ansible-role-kubernetes?
ansible is written in Python and ansible-role-kubernetes in Jinja. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, ansible or ansible-role-kubernetes?
Choose ansible if you want the larger community (71,204 stars) or its GPL-3.0 licence terms. Choose ansible-role-kubernetes if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.