head to head · open source
kubernetes vs eNMS
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars, 44,692 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped today. eNMS has 844 stars, 160 forks, 29 open issues and last shipped 5 months ago. kubernetes leads on adoption by 15,047% (127,843 vs 844 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; eNMS is written in Python under GPL-3.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, eNMS 19%. kubernetes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | eNMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 844 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-05-08 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 160 |
| 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 eNMS if
- You want the eNMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and eNMS 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 eNMS
eNMS is an enterprise grade, vendor agnostic network automation platform written in Python that lets network engineers build workflow based automation across multi vendor devices, and it is aimed at network and infrastructure teams that need configuration management, validation, and scheduled tasks in one self hosted application.
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Frequently asked questions
Is kubernetes or eNMS more popular?
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars and eNMS has 844. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and eNMS free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and eNMS under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and eNMS?
kubernetes is written in Go and eNMS 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 eNMS?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,843 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose eNMS if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.