Fairwinds Polaris vs KSPM Pro

Fairwinds Polaris is an open source policy engine for validating and remediating Kubernetes resource configuration. It includes more than 30 built-in policies, and teams can add their own using JSON Schema. Checks cover security practices such as least privilege, privilege escalation, root execution, and host IPC or PID settings, along with resource requests and limits, readiness and liveness probes, and image tags. Polaris can run as a dashboard, an admission controller, or a command-line tool for checking local YAML files in CI/CD. Its validating webhook rejects workloads that trigger danger-level checks; warning-level findings pass and appear in the dashboard or webhook logs. A mutating webhook or command-line run can automatically remediate supported issues, including missing limits and probes and some unsafe security settings. The dashboard can audit local files or connect to a live cluster, and can be installed with kubectl or Helm. The validating webhook requires a valid TLS certificate. Polaris is free and runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, web, and self-hosted environments.

KSPM Pro is a web service that scans, analyzes and protects Kubernetes clusters. Its scanner checks configurations against the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark, the NSA-CISA Hardening Guide and MITRE ATT&CK. AI analysis prioritizes remediation and generates policy suggestions in plain English. Teams can optionally use a Kubernetes admission controller to enforce policies and block misconfigurations before they reach a cluster. Deployment uses a scanning agent installed with a single kubectl command. The Free plan covers one cluster and includes real-time scans, framework checks, a basic dashboard and community support. Pro costs $100 a month for up to five clusters, with SAML / SSO, 30-day audit logs, PDF reports, alerts and AI insights. Enterprise lists unlimited clusters, unlimited audit logs, AI policy enforcement, a dedicated account manager and 24/7 priority support; no price is listed. The service is built and operated by India-based Geeta Global Ventures. Its privacy policy says it collects cluster metadata for security analysis and does not access application data or secrets.