head to head · open source
kyverno vs bernstein
kyverno has 8,338 GitHub stars, 1,728 forks, 703 open issues and last shipped today. bernstein has 1,206 stars, 186 forks, 368 open issues and last shipped today. kyverno leads on adoption by 591% (8,338 vs 1,206 stars). kyverno is written in Go under Apache-2.0; bernstein is written in Python under Apache-2.0. kyverno has attracted 21% as many forks as stars, bernstein 15%. bernstein was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (compliance), 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
| kyverno | bernstein | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 8.3K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-14 | 2026-11-14 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.7K | ⑂ 186 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick kyverno if
- You weight community size — 8.3K 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 bernstein if
- You want the bernstein feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and bernstein fits your workflow better
About kyverno
Kyverno Cloud Native Policy Management 🎉 📑 Table of Contents About Kyverno Non Goals Documentation Demos & Tutorials Popular Use Cases Explore the Policy Library Getting Help Contributing Software Bill of Materials Contributors License About Kyverno Kyverno is a Kubernetes native policy engine designed for platform engineering teams. It enables security, compliance, automation, and governance through policy as code. Kyverno can: Validate, mutate, generate, and clean up resources using Kubernetes admission controls and background scans. Verify container image signatures for supply chain security. Operate with…
read the full kyverno overview →
About bernstein
"To achieve great things, two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time." attributed to Leonard Bernstein the open source governance layer for AI agents website · docs · install · first run · glossary · limitations · name policy · discord · sponsor 简体中文 · 繁體中文 · 日本語 · 한국어 · हिन्दी · বাংলা · Русский · Español · Português · Deutsch · Français · Italiano · Nederlands · Polski · Svenska · Suomi · Українська · Türkçe · العربية…
read the full bernstein overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is kyverno or bernstein more popular?
kyverno has 8,338 GitHub stars and bernstein has 1,206. kyverno has the larger community by that measure.
Are kyverno and bernstein free?
Both are open source. kyverno is licensed under Apache-2.0 and bernstein under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between kyverno and bernstein?
kyverno is written in Go and bernstein 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, kyverno or bernstein?
Choose kyverno if you want the larger community (8,338 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose bernstein if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.