apko vs KIWI NG
apko
apko.devKIWI NG
osinside.github.ioSide by side
| Figure | apko | KIWI NG |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Build Tools | 7.8 (#14) | 8.2 (#10) |
| Installation | The project README lists installation through Homebrew, mise, Go source installation, or its container image. | KIWI NG can be installed through a distribution package manager, from the Open Build Service, or with Python's pip package manager. |
| Purpose | apko builds and publishes OCI container images from apk packages. | KIWI NG is a command-line image builder that creates bootable, reproducible Linux images for virtual machines, cloud platforms, removable media, containers, and specialized deployment targets. |
| Support | The project README directs users with questions to the #apko channel on Kubernetes Slack. | The project lists an open kiwi-images mailing list and a Matrix room for contact. |
Plans
In their own words
KIWI NG
KIWI NG is a free, daemonless command-line image builder for Linux. It turns versioned image descriptions and package repositories into bootable, reproducible artifacts. A prepared root tree can produce disk images, ISO files, or containers for virtual machines, cloud platforms, removable media, and specialized targets. Descriptions define metadata, repositories, packages, users, storage, target configuration, and image types, using config.xml or a .kiwi file. Overlays, archives, and scripts add customization. Documented package managers include apk, apt, dnf4, dnf5, microdnf, pacman, and zypper. Supported distributions include Fedora, CentOS Stream, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch Linux. Builds support multiple architectures and a local cache backend. Installation is available through distribution packages, Open Build Service, or pip. A recent Linux host, Python 3.9 or newer, Git, and at least 15 GB recommended free disk space are required. QEMU can optionally boot and inspect outputs; GPL-3.0 governs the source.