head to head · open source
kubernetes vs Pulumi
kubernetes has 127,813 GitHub stars, 44,561 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pulumi has 25,700 stars, 1,430 forks, 2,419 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kubernetes leads on adoption by 397% (127,813 vs 25,700 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Pulumi is written in Go under Apache-2.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, Pulumi 6%. kubernetes was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (containers, go), 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.
← all 15422 open source comparisons
Side by side
| kubernetes | Pulumi | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 26K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 1.4K |
| 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 Pulumi if
- You want the Pulumi 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 Pulumi 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 Pulumi
Pulumi is an open source infrastructure as code tool that lets teams define and deploy cloud infrastructure using general purpose programming languages instead of YAML, aimed at developers, platform engineers, and agents working across AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, and Kubernetes.
read the full Pulumi 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 Pulumi more popular?
kubernetes has 127,813 GitHub stars and Pulumi has 25,700. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and Pulumi free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Pulumi under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and Pulumi?
kubernetes is written in Go and Pulumi 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 Pulumi?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,813 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Pulumi if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.