HashiCorp Nomad vs K3s
HashiCorp Nomad
hashicorp.comK3s
k3s.ioSide by side
| Figure | HashiCorp Nomad | K3s |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 6 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Orchestration Software | 8.8 (#3) | 7.7 (#13) |
| Integrations | Nomad integrates with Terraform, Consul, Vault and Waypoint, and its catalog lists 86 integrations including task drivers, observability plugins, packs and autoscaler components. | The upgrade documentation describes Kubernetes-native automated upgrades using Rancher's system-upgrade-controller. |
| Security | Nomad's security mechanisms include mutual TLS, access control lists, namespaces, and Sentinel policies; some multi-tenant features are Enterprise-only. | The security documentation provides hardening guidance and CIS benchmark self-assessment guides, which assume K3s runs with embedded etcd. |
Plans
HashiCorp Nomad
- Nomad Community EditionPriced on request
- Nomad EnterprisePriced on request
- Nomad Community EditionFree
- Enterprise Self ManagedPriced on request
- FlexPriced on request
- Pay-as-You-GoPriced on request
In their own words
HashiCorp Nomad
HashiCorp Nomad has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
K3s
K3s is a certified, lightweight Kubernetes distribution for IoT and edge computing. It runs self-hosted on Linux and is released for x86_64, ARMv7, and ARM64. The distribution arrives as one binary or a minimal container image; the site describes the binary as under 70 MB, while documentation says under 100 MB. Documented uses include edge systems, homelabs, IoT, continuous integration, development, ARM single-board computers, air-gapped environments, and embedded Kubernetes. SQLite is the default datastore, with etcd, MySQL, and Postgres available. K3s packages containerd or cri-dockerd, Flannel, CoreDNS, Traefik, ServiceLB, Kube-router, local-path-provisioner, and Spegel. High-availability deployments can use embedded storage or external MySQL, PostgreSQL, or etcd. Air-gapped installation supports private registries, manually deployed images, or an embedded registry mirror. Security guidance includes hardening and CIS self-assessment material. Automated Kubernetes-native upgrades use Rancher’s system-upgrade-controller.