KubeClipper vs KubeSphere
KubeClipper
kubeclipper.io
KubeSphere
kubesphere.ioSide by side
| Figure | KubeClipper | KubeSphere |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | $65/mo |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 8 |
| Spec score · Kubernetes Management Platforms | 7.7 (#14) | 8.9 (#1) |
| Intended users | The overview describes KubeClipper as a tool intended to help operations engineers manage multiple Kubernetes clusters across regions and infrastructure. | The product site describes benefits for infrastructure teams, developers, operations teams and end users deploying applications on Kubernetes. |
| Purpose | KubeClipper is a lightweight web service for Kubernetes cluster lifecycle management, with a web console, APIs, and a CLI tool. | KubeSphere is a Kubernetes-based distributed operating system for cloud-native application management with a plug-and-play architecture for third-party applications. |
Plans
KubeSphere
- KubeSphere Backup FreeFree
- KubeSphere Community EditionFree
- KubeSphere Community EditionFree
- KubeSphere Backup Basic$65 a month
- KubeSphere Backup Standard$200 a month
- KubeSphere Backup Enterprise$340 a month
- KubeSphere Backup ExclusivePriced on request
- KubeSphere EnterprisePriced on request
In their own words
KubeClipper
KubeClipper is a free, open-source service for managing Kubernetes clusters on an organization’s own infrastructure. Its web interface, APIs, and kcctl command-line tool support cluster deployment and lifecycle operations across cloud, hypervisor, and bare-metal environments. Users can create, delete, upgrade, back up, restore, and scale clusters, and register clusters built elsewhere. Deployment can be online, offline, or through a proxy; a graphical wizard helps set up clusters and required plugins. Node tools include automatic registration, information collection, and a terminal. Access controls include role-based and custom permissions, with OIDC login for external users. Backups cover etcd data and Kubernetes resource objects, using filesystem or S3 storage such as NFS or MinIO; files produced by resources and files on persistent volumes are outside that backup scope. The project lists x86/64 and arm64 support and extensible management of CRI, CNI, CSI, and CRD components. Worker-node addition and removal are the currently supported node changes.
KubeSphere
KubeSphere is a Kubernetes-based platform for managing cloud-native applications, with a plug-in architecture for third-party applications and open-source tools. Its Community Edition is an open-source container platform and costs nothing, with free-forever availability for a self-managed Kubernetes platform. The platform supports multi-tenancy and multi-cluster management, with monitoring, event and audit-log queries, tenant log collection, alerting and notifications. Delivery features include Jenkins-based CI/CD and automated Source-to-Image and Binary-to-Image workflows. KubeSphere supports online or offline installation, one-click upgrades and cluster scaling across infrastructure environments. Its REST API backend includes an API server and controller manager. Enterprise adds image security hardening, two-factor authentication, vulnerability fixes and permission controls at platform, cluster and application levels. Enterprise is available by on-demand subscription or private deployment, with extensions available by subscription; pricing is available from sales. Its lightweight architecture can run with 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory.