KIWI NG vs Tilt
KIWI NG
osinside.github.io
Tilt
tilt.devSide by side
| Figure | KIWI NG | Tilt |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | — |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Build Tools | 8.2 (#10) | 8.0 (#13) |
| 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. | Tilt powers microservice development by automating file watching, container image builds, and bringing development environments up to date. |
| Support | The project lists an open kiwi-images mailing list and a Matrix room for contact. | The project directs questions to the #tilt channel in Kubernetes Slack or to GitHub issues. |
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.
Tilt
Tilt is a free, open-source development environment for teams building microservice applications that deploy to Kubernetes. It watches files, builds container images and updates the development environment when code changes. Its live_update feature deploys changes to running containers in seconds, including compiled-language code or dependency changes. Tilt can start the application and automate rebuilds, with logs, broken builds and runtime errors in its feedback loop. Its UI collects service logs and shows the development environment's state.
Teams configure services and workflows with Tiltfiles using Kubernetes YAML and Docker images; documentation also describes integrating Bazel builds. Tilt has an extension system for sharing Tiltfile functionality, such as team scripts and custom buttons, and provides editor support for VS Code, selected JetBrains IDEs and other editors through an embedded language server. It runs on macOS, Linux and Windows. The standard setup requires Docker, kubectl and a local Kubernetes cluster, though workflows can also use options such as Helm, Podman or local processes. Tilt is maintained as open source by Docker, Inc. under the Apache-2.0 license and costs nothing.