head to head · open source
salt vs kubestellar
salt has 15,729 GitHub stars, 5,604 forks, 1,885 open issues and last shipped yesterday. kubestellar has 726 stars, 330 forks, 215 open issues and last shipped yesterday. salt leads on adoption by 2,067% (15,729 vs 726 stars). salt is written in Python under Apache-2.0; kubestellar is written in Go under Apache-2.0. salt has attracted 36% as many forks as stars, kubestellar 45%. salt was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (edge), 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
| salt | kubestellar | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 16K | ★ 726 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Go |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.6K | ⑂ 330 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick salt if
- You weight community size — 16K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick kubestellar if
- You want the kubestellar 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 kubestellar fits your workflow better
About salt
.. image:: :alt: Salt Project License: Apache v2.0 :target: .. image:: :alt: PyPi Package Downloads :target: .. image:: :alt: Salt Project Discord Community :target: .. image:: :alt: Salt Project subreddit :target: .. image:: :alt: Follow SaltStack on Twitter :target: .. figure:: :scale: 80 % :width: 1000px :height: 356px :align: center :alt: Salt Project Logo Latest Salt Documentation Open an issue (bug report, feature request, etc.) .. note:: When using salt cloud p with a profile, pass only the VM name on the command line. Specify VM attributes (memory, cpu, vcpu, etc.) in the profile configuration, not as…
About kubestellar
Multi cluster Configuration Management for Edge, Multi Cloud, and Hybrid Cloud KubeStellar is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Sandbox project that simplifies the deployment and configuration of applications across multiple Kubernetes clusters. It provides a seamless experience akin to using a single cluster, and it integrates with the tools you're already familiar with, eliminating the need to modify existing resources. KubeStellar is particularly beneficial if you're currently deploying in a single cluster and are looking to expand to multiple clusters, or if you're already using multiple clusters…
read the full kubestellar overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is salt or kubestellar more popular?
salt has 15,729 GitHub stars and kubestellar has 726. salt has the larger community by that measure.
Are salt and kubestellar free?
Both are open source. salt is licensed under Apache-2.0 and kubestellar under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between salt and kubestellar?
salt is written in Python and kubestellar 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, salt or kubestellar?
Choose salt if you want the larger community (15,729 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose kubestellar if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.