head to head · open source
kubernetes vs radar
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars, 44,692 forks, 3,072 open issues and last shipped today. radar has 3,392 stars, 210 forks, 89 open issues and last shipped today. kubernetes leads on adoption by 3,669% (127,843 vs 3,392 stars). kubernetes is written in Go under Apache-2.0; radar is written in Go under Apache-2.0. kubernetes has attracted 35% as many forks as stars, radar 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 | radar | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 128K | ★ 3.4K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Go |
| Last push | 2026-09-20 | 2026-09-20 |
| Forks | ⑂ 45K | ⑂ 210 |
| 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 radar if
- You want the radar 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 radar 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 radar
Radar is an open source Kubernetes UI delivered as a single Go binary. It runs on a laptop or in a cluster, connects to the Kubernetes API, and needs no account, agents, or custom resources. It lives in the cloud native Kubernetes ecosystem and uses the Apache 2.0 license.
read the full radar overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kubernetes or radar more popular?
kubernetes has 127,843 GitHub stars and radar has 3,392. kubernetes has the larger community by that measure.
Are kubernetes and radar free?
Both are open source. kubernetes is licensed under Apache-2.0 and radar under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kubernetes and radar?
kubernetes is written in Go and radar 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 radar?
Choose kubernetes if you want the larger community (127,843 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose radar if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.