KIWI NG vs Shipwright
KIWI NG
osinside.github.ioShipwright
shipwright.ioSide by side
| Figure | KIWI NG | Shipwright |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 0 |
| Spec score · Container Build Tools | 8.2 (#10) | 7.1 (#29) |
| Build workflow | It uses a prepare step to create a root tree and a create step to produce one or more image artifacts. | A Build defines the source code, output image, and build strategy, while a BuildRun invokes the build. |
| Installation | KIWI NG can be installed through a distribution package manager, from the Open Build Service, or with Python's pip package manager. | Shipwright Build APIs and controllers can be installed from a release deployment or with an operator. |
| Purpose | KIWI NG is a command-line image builder that creates bootable, reproducible Linux images for virtual machines, cloud platforms, removable media, containers, and specialized deployment targets. | Shipwright is an extensible framework for building container images on Kubernetes. |
| Support | The project lists an open kiwi-images mailing list and a Matrix room for contact. | The project lists a user mailing list, developer mailing list, and Kubernetes Slack as community channels. |
Plans
In their own words
KIWI NG
KIWI NG is a free, daemonless command-line image builder for Linux. It turns versioned image descriptions and package repositories into bootable, reproducible artifacts. A prepared root tree can produce disk images, ISO files, or containers for virtual machines, cloud platforms, removable media, and specialized targets. Descriptions define metadata, repositories, packages, users, storage, target configuration, and image types, using config.xml or a .kiwi file. Overlays, archives, and scripts add customization. Documented package managers include apk, apt, dnf4, dnf5, microdnf, pacman, and zypper. Supported distributions include Fedora, CentOS Stream, openSUSE, Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch Linux. Builds support multiple architectures and a local cache backend. Installation is available through distribution packages, Open Build Service, or pip. A recent Linux host, Python 3.9 or newer, Git, and at least 15 GB recommended free disk space are required. QEMU can optionally boot and inspect outputs; GPL-3.0 governs the source.
Shipwright
Shipwright has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.