ctlptl vs Kube Inspector

ctlptl is a free command-line tool for declaratively configuring local Kubernetes clusters with YAML. Its main commands show running clusters, create them, apply configuration, and delete clusters along with their state. The project lists Docker Desktop, KIND, Minikube, and K3D, with registry support for KIND, Minikube, and K3D. Configuration can allocate CPUs and set up local registries; Minikube supports per-cluster Kubernetes version selection. ctlptl can also create a cluster on a remote Docker host, a capability the project describes for CI environments. Installation options include Homebrew for macOS and Linux, Scoop for Windows, Go install, Docker, and prebuilt release binaries. A Docker image containing recent kind and ctlptl versions is offered for CI. The project supports macOS, Linux, and Windows and is licensed under Apache License 2.0. Its README calls it a work in progress and says it is not meant for remote clusters or remote development sandboxes. Usage statistics are anonymized, with an opt-out command available.

Kube Inspector is a free visual desktop client for viewing and managing Kubernetes clusters on Windows, macOS, and Linux. It handles Pods, Deployments, StatefulSets, Jobs, and CronJobs, and includes a Monaco YAML editor with schema validation for applying changes. The interface shows CPU and memory readings over time for clusters, nodes, pods, and workloads when metrics-server is installed. Security tools include an interactive RBAC graph and Trivy image vulnerability scanning. Existing kubeconfig files work with conformant local and managed clusters, including kind, minikube, k3s, EKS, GKE, and AKS. Multiple clusters can be opened while panels remain pinned to their original cluster. A separate kube-inspector-cli offers the same features for terminal and SSH use. The project states that it sends no telemetry, analytics, crash reports, or usage statistics. An optional AI assistant uses a configured Ollama host. The release is beta, and no support desk is provided.