head to head · open source
kubernetes vs openebs
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars, 44,692 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped today. openebs has 9,813 stars, 983 forks, 37 open issues and last shipped today. kubernetes leads on adoption by 1,203% (127,843 vs 9,813 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; openebs is written in various languages under Apache-2.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, openebs 10%. 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.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| kubernetes | openebs | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 9.8K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | — |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 983 |
| 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 openebs if
- You want the openebs feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- You evaluated both and openebs 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 openebs
OpenEBS is an open source, CNCF Sandbox container native storage platform that gives Kubernetes stateful applications persistent volumes through containerized storage controllers, and it is aimed at platform, infrastructure, and DevOps teams that run stateful workloads on Kubernetes.
read the full openebs overview →
More in Infrastructure & Operations
Related comparisons
More Cloud Infrastructure Management projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Cloud Infrastructure Management field.
Frequently asked questions
Is kubernetes or openebs more popular?
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars and openebs has 9,813. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and openebs free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and openebs under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and openebs?
kubernetes is written in Go and openebs in various languages. 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 openebs?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,843 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose openebs if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.