Grype vs Kyverno
Grype
github.comKyverno
kyverno.ioSide by side
| Figure | Grype | Kyverno |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | Yes | Yes |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 2 |
| Spec score · Container Security Software | 8.7 (#2) | 8.7 (#3) |
| Documentation | Anchore publishes getting-started material, installation instructions, scan-target guidance, configuration reference, CLI reference and architecture documentation. | The documentation covers installation, policy types, testing, reporting, monitoring, tracing, security, troubleshooting, high availability and CLI usage. |
| Founded | 2016 | 2019 |
| Installation | Official binaries and source archives are provided for Linux, macOS and Windows, with installer-script, Docker and package-manager options. | Kyverno supports Helm and YAML installation, with Helm recommended for production customization and upgrades. |
| Integrations | The installation documentation provides a Docker image and lists community installation options including Homebrew, MacPorts, Winget, Scoop, and Snapcraft. | CNCF lists common integrations with Argo CD, Backstage, Flux and Kubernetes for GitOps and platform governance. |
| Intended users | The project documentation describes individual package scanning as useful for lightweight vulnerability checks and compliance scanning of specific dependencies. | The project describes Kyverno as designed for platform engineering teams and enabling security, compliance, automation, and governance through policy as code. |
| Licence | Grype is released under the permissive Apache-2.0 licence; its logo uses CC BY 4.0. | The project is open source under the Apache License 2.0. |
| Purpose | Grype scans container images, filesystems, and SBOMs for known vulnerabilities. | Kyverno is a Kubernetes-native policy engine for defining and enforcing policy as code. |
| Self-hosting | Grype runs locally and can continue scanning offline after downloading its database and scan inputs. | Kyverno runs as admission and background controllers inside a Kubernetes cluster that the operator manages. |
| Support | Commercial support is offered through Anchore, while community help is routed through issues, contribution documentation and community meetings. | The project directs users to its Kubernetes Slack channels, GitHub, and mailing list for questions and discussion. |
| What it does | Grype scans container images, source directories, filesystems, archives, SBOMs and individual packages for known vulnerabilities. | Kyverno is a cloud-native policy engine for automating Kubernetes security, compliance, governance and best-practice checks. |
Plans
In their own words
Grype
Grype is a free, Apache-2.0-licensed scanner for known vulnerabilities in container images, filesystems, and software bills of materials (SBOMs). It can also scan directories, individual files, archives, and packages identified by PURL or CPE. Coverage includes major operating-system package ecosystems and language packages such as Ruby, Java, JavaScript, Python, .NET, Go, PHP, and Rust; supported image formats include Docker, OCI, and Singularity. Grype uses EPSS, KEV, and risk scoring to help prioritize findings. OpenVEX can filter results or add context. Reports can be emitted as a table, JSON, SARIF, or a custom Go template. The project supports SBOM generation and runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, or in a self-hosted setup. Installation options include a Docker image and community packages such as Homebrew, MacPorts, Winget, Scoop, and Snapcraft. Individual package scanning is described as useful for lightweight vulnerability checks and compliance scanning of specific dependencies. Security updates are applied only to the most recent release, and vulnerability-report support is described as best effort.
Kyverno
Kyverno is a free, open-source policy engine for defining and enforcing policy as code in Kubernetes. Its stable policy types can validate, mutate, generate or delete resources, and verify container image signatures and attestations. The Kyverno CLI can test policies against Kubernetes resource manifests in CI before they are applied to a live cluster. Documentation describes use with Helm, YAML manifests, GitHub Actions and GitOps tools such as ArgoCD. Kyverno is installed in a Kubernetes cluster; Helm is recommended for production, and YAML manifests are also available. A standard installation requires an admission controller, while background, reports and cleanup controllers are optional. Production installations should use high availability mode. The project supports CEL-based policy types and describes applying Kubernetes-style policies outside Kubernetes as part of its mission. Its webhooks default to fail-closed, so matching requests can fail if the API server cannot reach Kyverno. The project documents Cosign signatures for images and manifests, and lists CLI binaries for Linux, macOS and Windows.