Gardener vs KubeSphere
Gardener
gardener.cloud
KubeSphere
kubesphere.ioSide by side
| Figure | Gardener | KubeSphere |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $65/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 8 |
| Spec score · Kubernetes Management Platforms | 7.6 (#16) | 8.9 (#1) |
| Extensibility | Gardener's extension architecture supports external controllers for vendor-specific functionality. | KubeSphere 4.x decouples DevOps, service mesh, observability, App Store, edge, networking, and storage functions into independently maintained extensions. |
| Purpose | Gardener is a managed Kubernetes service framework for delivering fully managed clusters at scale through your own Gardener installation. | KubeSphere is a Kubernetes-based distributed operating system for cloud-native application management with a plug-and-play architecture for third-party applications. |
| Security | Gardener mandates the DISA Security Technical Implementation Guide for Kubernetes and provides adopters a compliance checker for demonstrating DISA Kubernetes STIG compliance. | The Enterprise kernel adds security features including image security hardening, two-factor authentication and vulnerability fixes. |
| Support | The documentation directs users to community channels, GitHub Issues, and the Gardener community on Slack for assistance and questions. | KubeSphere Enterprise offers one-stop professional technical support services. |
Plans
KubeSphere
- KubeSphere Backup FreeFree
- KubeSphere Community EditionFree
- KubeSphere Community EditionFree
- KubeSphere Backup Basic$65 a month
- KubeSphere Backup Standard$200 a month
- KubeSphere Backup Enterprise$340 a month
- KubeSphere Backup ExclusivePriced on request
- KubeSphere EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
KubeSphere
KubeSphere is a Kubernetes-based platform for managing cloud-native applications, with a plug-in architecture for third-party applications and open-source tools. Its Community Edition is an open-source container platform and costs nothing, with free-forever availability for a self-managed Kubernetes platform. The platform supports multi-tenancy and multi-cluster management, with monitoring, event and audit-log queries, tenant log collection, alerting and notifications. Delivery features include Jenkins-based CI/CD and automated Source-to-Image and Binary-to-Image workflows. KubeSphere supports online or offline installation, one-click upgrades and cluster scaling across infrastructure environments. Its REST API backend includes an API server and controller manager. Enterprise adds image security hardening, two-factor authentication, vulnerability fixes and permission controls at platform, cluster and application levels. Enterprise is available by on-demand subscription or private deployment, with extensions available by subscription; pricing is available from sales. Its lightweight architecture can run with 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory.