head to head · open source
headlamp vs robusta
headlamp has 7,310 GitHub stars, 1,112 forks, 1,422 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. robusta has 3,099 stars, 325 forks, 204 open issues and last shipped 4 days ago. headlamp leads on adoption by 136% (7,310 vs 3,099 stars). headlamp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0; robusta is written in Python under MIT. headlamp has attracted 15% as many forks as stars, robusta 10%. headlamp was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 5 topic tags (dashboard, devops, kubernetes, kubernetes-dashboard), 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
| headlamp | robusta | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 7.3K | ★ 3.1K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-16 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.1K | ⑂ 325 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick headlamp if
- You weight community size — 7.3K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick robusta if
- You want the robusta feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and robusta fits your workflow better
About headlamp
Headlamp is an Apache 2.0 licensed, vendor independent Kubernetes web UI written in TypeScript that runs either inside a cluster or locally as a desktop application, and it is built for platform engineers, cluster operators, and developers who need to inspect and change Kubernetes resources through a graphical interface.
read the full headlamp overview →
About robusta
Robusta is an open source alerting and monitoring project for Kubernetes, written in Python and released under the MIT license. The repository contains Robusta Classic, a rule based alert enrichment engine that connects to Prometheus through a webhook and adds operational context to alerts. It lives in the Kubernetes monitoring ecosystem and is compatible with kube prometheus stack, Prometheus Operator, and other Prometheus based setups.
read the full robusta overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is headlamp or robusta more popular?
headlamp has 7,310 GitHub stars and robusta has 3,099. headlamp has the larger community by that measure.
Are headlamp and robusta free?
Both are open source. headlamp is licensed under Apache-2.0 and robusta under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between headlamp and robusta?
headlamp is written in TypeScript and robusta in Python. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, headlamp or robusta?
Choose headlamp if you want the larger community (7,310 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose robusta if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.