head to head · open source
Pulumi vs headlamp
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars, 1,478 forks, 2,419 open issues and last shipped yesterday. headlamp has 7,553 stars, 1,201 forks, 1,422 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Pulumi leads on adoption by 242% (25,840 vs 7,553 stars). Pulumi is written in Go under Apache-2.0; headlamp is written in TypeScript under Apache-2.0. Pulumi has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, headlamp 16%. Pulumi 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
| Pulumi | headlamp | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 26K | ★ 7.6K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.5K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Pulumi if
- You weight community size — 26K 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 headlamp if
- You want the headlamp feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and headlamp fits your workflow better
About Pulumi
Infrastructure as Code for Humans and Agents Pulumi Infrastructure as Code is the easiest way to build and deploy infrastructure, of any architecture and on any cloud, using programming languages that you already know and love. Code and ship infrastructure faster with your favorite languages and tools, and embed IaC anywhere with Automation API. Simply write code in your favorite language and Pulumi automatically provisions and manages your resources on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, and 300+ providers using an infrastructure as code approach. Skip the YAML, and use standard language features…
read the full Pulumi overview →
About headlamp
NOTICE: We have recently moved the project under the Kubernetes SIG UI (and the repo under the kubernetes sigs org). Container images are still at ghcr.io. Please bear with us while we may experience some broken links. Headlamp is an easy to use and extensible Kubernetes web UI. Headlamp was created to blend the traditional feature set of other web UIs/dashboards (i.e., to list and view resources) with added functionality. Features Vendor independent / generic Kubernetes UI Works in cluster, or locally as a desktop app Multi cluster Extensible through plugins UI controls reflecting user roles (no deletion/update…
read the full headlamp overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Pulumi or headlamp more popular?
Pulumi has 25,840 GitHub stars and headlamp has 7,553. Pulumi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Pulumi and headlamp free?
Both are open source. Pulumi is licensed under Apache-2.0 and headlamp under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Pulumi and headlamp?
Pulumi is written in Go and headlamp in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Pulumi or headlamp?
Choose Pulumi if you want the larger community (25,840 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose headlamp if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.