k0s vs Kube Inspector

k0s is a free, self-hosted Kubernetes distribution for deploying workloads across public and private clouds, on-premises systems, bare metal, edge locations, and IoT environments. It comes as a single binary and needs no host operating-system components beyond the kernel. The project describes it as CNCF-certified Kubernetes and lists support for x86-64, ARM64, ARMv7, and RISC-V. Installation options include single-node, multi-node, air-gapped, and Docker methods. The k0sctl tool supports cluster lifecycle tasks such as upgrades and backup and restore. Kube-Router is the default networking option; custom CNI plugins are supported, with Calico listed as a preconfigured alternative. Datastore choices include etcd, SQLite, MySQL, and PostgreSQL. Listed security features include kube-bench, RBAC, network policies, control plane isolation, and OpenID provider support. Minimum requirements are 1 vCPU and 1 GB RAM. The project aims to keep the base versatile by limiting bundled add-ons such as ingress, service meshes, and storage. Mirantis offers support services and subscriptions.

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.