head to head · open source
kubernetes vs Cozystack
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars, 44,692 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped today. Cozystack has 2,230 stars, 201 forks, 757 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kubernetes leads on adoption by 5,633% (127,843 vs 2,230 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Cozystack is written in Go under Apache-2.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, Cozystack 9%. 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 | Cozystack | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 2.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-19 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 201 |
| 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 Cozystack if
- You want the Cozystack feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You evaluated both and Cozystack 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 Cozystack
Cozystack is a free cloud platform and framework for building clouds inside the Kubernetes ecosystem. It is a CNCF Sandbox Level project originally built and sponsored by Ænix, and it is written in Go under the Apache 2.0 license. The project turns a group of servers into an intelligent infrastructure system that exposes a simple REST API for creating and managing cloud services.
read the full Cozystack overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kubernetes or Cozystack more popular?
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars and Cozystack has 2,230. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and Cozystack free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Cozystack under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and Cozystack?
kubernetes is written in Go and Cozystack in Go. 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 Cozystack?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,843 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Cozystack if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.