head to head · open source
kubernetes vs bunkerweb
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars, 44,692 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped today. bunkerweb has 10,982 stars, 642 forks, 170 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kubernetes leads on adoption by 1,064% (127,843 vs 10,982 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; bunkerweb is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, bunkerweb 6%. kubernetes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (kubernetes), 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
| kubernetes | bunkerweb | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 11K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 642 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick kubernetes if
- You weight community size — 128K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick bunkerweb if
- You want the bunkerweb feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and bunkerweb fits your workflow better
About kubernetes
Kubernetes (K8s) is an open source, Apache 2.0 licensed system for managing containerized applications across multiple hosts, hosted by the Cloud Native Computing Foundation and aimed at teams who deploy, maintain and scale container packaged and microservices oriented workloads in production.
read the full kubernetes overview →
About bunkerweb
BunkerWeb is a next generation, open source, cloud native Web Application Firewall built as a full featured web server on top of NGINX, designed to make web services secure by default, and it is aimed at teams running web services on Linux, Docker, Swarm, or Kubernetes who want protection in place as a reverse proxy rather than assembled by hand.
read the full bunkerweb overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kubernetes or bunkerweb more popular?
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars and bunkerweb has 10,982. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and bunkerweb free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bunkerweb under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and bunkerweb?
kubernetes is written in Go and bunkerweb 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, kubernetes or bunkerweb?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,843 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bunkerweb if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.