K3s vs MicroShift

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.

MicroShift is a small-footprint OpenShift Kubernetes platform designed for edge computing. It aims to conserve CPU, memory, network, and storage resources and tolerate severe networking constraints. It runs as a single systemd service with a minimal OpenShift control plane and worker node. Included infrastructure services are DNS, an ingress router, service CA, OVN-Kubernetes CNI, and LVMS storage; optional components such as OLM, Gateway API, cert-manager, and SR-IOV come as separate RPM packages. The upstream build is for development and testing and runs without Red Hat subscriptions or pull secrets. Its listed operating-system options include CentOS 9 and 10, Fedora, Ubuntu, and macOS, with macOS using Podman machine in rootful mode. Minimum requirements include x86_64 or aarch64, Red Hat Enterprise Linux with Extended Update Support, 2 CPU cores, 2GB RAM, and 2GB free root storage. Production deployment can use bare metal or hypervisors supported and certified for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. The upstream build is free; pricing for other use is on request.