k3s VS minikube

Compare k3s vs minikube and see what are their differences.

k3s

Lightweight Kubernetes [Moved to: https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s] (by rancher)
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k3s minikube
7 78
15,937 28,361
- 0.4%
9.2 10.0
about 3 years ago 7 days ago
Go Go
Apache License 2.0 Apache License 2.0
The number of mentions indicates the total number of mentions that we've tracked plus the number of user suggested alternatives.
Stars - the number of stars that a project has on GitHub. Growth - month over month growth in stars.
Activity is a relative number indicating how actively a project is being developed. Recent commits have higher weight than older ones.
For example, an activity of 9.0 indicates that a project is amongst the top 10% of the most actively developed projects that we are tracking.

k3s

Posts with mentions or reviews of k3s. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2022-12-02.
  • Kubernetes: Multi-cluster communication with Flomesh Service Mesh (Part 2)
    5 projects | dev.to | 2 Dec 2022
    In this demo, we will be using k3d a lightweight wrapper to run k3s (Rancher Lab’s minimal Kubernetes distribution) in docker, to create 4 separate clusters named control-plane, cluster-1, cluster-2, and cluster-3 respectively.
  • Pipy: Protecting Kubernetes Apps from SQL Injection & XSS Attacks
    5 projects | dev.to | 3 Nov 2022
    To run the demo locally, we recommend k3d a lightweight wrapper to run k3s (Rancher Lab’s minimal Kubernetes distribution) in docker.
  • When a node goes down, how long should k8s wait before migrating pods to other nodes?
    1 project | /r/kubernetes | 9 Sep 2022
    I've been messing around with k8s (k3s) lately, and got to the "issue" of downtime/inconsistencies caused by one of multiple workers being down, who had pods running on them. I found a couple useful parameters here that helped me reduce the time needed to redeploy the old pods on other nodes, as well as stop sending requests to the NotReady node. But that got me thinking, how long should k8s wait before doing these things? Or is there perhaps a better option for increasing avaliability?
  • Kubernetes Development Environments – A Comparison
    5 projects | dev.to | 16 Jun 2022
    Local Kubernetes clusters are clusters that are running on the individual computer of the developer. There are many tools that provide such an environment, such as Minikube, microk8s, k3s, or kind. While they are not all the same, their use as a development environment is quite comparable.
  • Local Cluster vs. Remote Cluster for Kubernetes-Based Development
    5 projects | dev.to | 16 Jun 2022
    Since the developer is the only one who has to access this cluster for development, local clusters can be a feasible solution for this purpose. Over time, several solutions have emerged that are particularly made for running Kubernetes in local environments. The most important ones are Kubernetes in Docker (kind), MicroK8s, minikube and k3s. For a comparison of these local Kubernetes options, you can look at this post.
  • Kubernetes: Virtual Clusters As Development Environments
    5 projects | dev.to | 16 Jun 2022
    With local Kubernetes environments such as minikube or k3s, developers can create their own Kubernetes clusters on their local computers. This often leads to developers struggling with the management and setup of these pared-down Kubernetes technologies that are also not completely realistic compared to “real-world”, cloud-based environments. The upside of this approach is that the developers have full control over their environment and can independently create it whenever they need it.
  • [Recap] The API Hangout #31
    2 projects | /r/apiafterparty | 30 Nov 2021
    K3d - a lightweight wrapper to run k3s in docker.

minikube

Posts with mentions or reviews of minikube. We have used some of these posts to build our list of alternatives and similar projects. The last one was on 2024-04-08.
  • Building Llama as a Service (LaaS)
    14 projects | dev.to | 8 Apr 2024
    With the containerized Node.js/Express API, I could run multiple containers, scaling to handle more traffic. Using a tool called minikube, we can easily spin up a local Kubernetes cluster to horizontally scale Docker containers. It was possible to keep one shared instance of the database, and many APIs were routed with an internal Kubernetes load balancer.
  • Can I scale my dockerized Flask solution with Kubernetes?
    2 projects | dev.to | 6 Apr 2024
    Install Minicube - a tool that allows us to spin up a Kubernetes cluster in a local machine Run minikube start to start your Kubernetes cluster Run minikube dashboard to spin up a web-based user interface that allows you to manage your Kubernetes cluster
  • K3s – Lightweight Kubernetes
    17 projects | news.ycombinator.com | 11 Oct 2023
    If you're just messing around, just use kind (https://kind.sigs.k8s.io) or minikube if you want VMs (https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io). Both work on ARM-based platforms.

    You can also use k3s; it's hella easy to get started with and it works great.

  • Developer’s Guide to Building Kubernetes Cloud Apps ☁️🚀
    2 projects | dev.to | 10 Oct 2023
    $ minikube addons enable dashboard 💡 dashboard is an addon maintained by Kubernetes. For any concerns contact minikube on GitHub. You can view the list of minikube maintainers at: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/blob/master/OWNERS ▪ Using image docker.io/kubernetesui/dashboard:v2.7.0 ▪ Using image docker.io/kubernetesui/metrics-scraper:v1.0.8 🌟 The 'dashboard' addon is enabled $ minikube addons enable metrics-server 💡 metrics-server is an addon maintained by Kubernetes. For any concerns contact minikube on GitHub. You can view the list of minikube maintainers at: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/blob/master/OWNERS ▪ Using image registry.k8s.io/metrics-server/metrics-server:v0.6.4 🌟 The 'metrics-server' addon is enabled $ minikube addons enable ingress 💡 ingress is an addon maintained by Kubernetes. For any concerns contact minikube on GitHub. You can view the list of minikube maintainers at: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/blob/master/OWNERS 💡 After the addon is enabled, please run "minikube tunnel" and your ingress resources would be available at "127.0.0.1" ▪ Using image registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/kube-webhook-certgen:v20230407 ▪ Using image registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/controller:v1.8.1 ▪ Using image registry.k8s.io/ingress-nginx/kube-webhook-certgen:v20230407 🔎 Verifying ingress addon... 🌟 The 'ingress' addon is enabled
  • Implementing TLS in Kubernetes
    13 projects | dev.to | 1 Aug 2023
    A Kubernetes distribution: You need to install a Kubernetes distribution to create the Kubernetes cluster and other necessary resources, such as deployments and services. This tutorial uses kind (v0.18.0), but you can use any other Kubernetes distribution, including minikube or K3s.
  • Sites you should know: Part One
    1 project | dev.to | 25 Jun 2023
    3.Minikube ( https://minikube.sigs.k8s.io ):
  • Cannot stop 10 containers after Kubernetes minikube tutorial
    1 project | /r/codehunter | 20 Jun 2023
    CONTAINER ID IMAGE COMMAND CREATED STATUS PORTS NAMES7523fd2c20c7 gcr.io/google\_containers/k8s-dns-sidecar-amd64 "/sidecar --v=2 --..." 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_sidecar\_kube-dns-86f6f55dd5-qwc6z\_kube-system\_c1333ffc-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_09bd438011406 gcr.io/google\_containers/k8s-dns-dnsmasq-nanny-amd64 "/dnsmasq-nanny -v..." 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_dnsmasq\_kube-dns-86f6f55dd5-qwc6z\_kube-system\_c1333ffc-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_05c35e00a5a27 gcr.io/google\_containers/k8s-dns-kube-dns-amd64 "/kube-dns --domai..." 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_kubedns\_kube-dns-86f6f55dd5-qwc6z\_kube-system\_c1333ffc-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_077ef463642b7 gcr.io/google\_containers/pause-amd64:3.0 "/pause" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_POD\_kube-dns-86f6f55dd5-qwc6z\_kube-system\_c1333ffc-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_039f618666205 gcr.io/google\_containers/kubernetes-dashboard-amd64 "/dashboard --inse..." 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_kubernetes-dashboard\_kubernetes-dashboard-vgpjl\_kube-system\_c1176a44-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_0023b7b554a8c gcr.io/google\_containers/pause-amd64:3.0 "/pause" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_POD\_kubernetes-dashboard-vgpjl\_kube-system\_c1176a44-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_01c3bdb7bdeb1 gcr.io/google-containers/kube-addon-manager "/opt/kube-addons.sh" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_kube-addon-manager\_kube-addon-manager-tpad\_kube-system\_7b19c3ba446df5355649563d32723e4f\_08a00feefa754 gcr.io/google\_containers/pause-amd64:3.0 "/pause" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_POD\_kube-addon-manager-tpad\_kube-system\_7b19c3ba446df5355649563d32723e4f\_0b657eab5f6f5 gcr.io/k8s-minikube/storage-provisioner "/storage-provisioner" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_storage-provisioner\_storage-provisioner\_kube-system\_c0a8b187-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_067be5cc1dd0d gcr.io/google\_containers/pause-amd64:3.0 "/pause" 18 hours ago Up 18 hours k8s\_POD\_storage-provisioner\_kube-system\_c0a8b187-e4d6-11e7-bccf-0021ccbf0996\_0 I just did the Kubernetes minikube tutorial at https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube, and I cannot stop or remove these containers, they always get recreated.
  • DNS issue of Alpine/musl solved?
    1 project | /r/kubernetes | 13 May 2023
  • DevOps experience without Kubernetes
    1 project | /r/sre | 4 May 2023
    https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube for local learning that's lightweight.
  • x509: certificate signed by unknown authority
    1 project | /r/kubernetes | 1 May 2023
    Haven’t dabbled with minikube yet, but there’s a whole thread about this error here: https://github.com/kubernetes/minikube/issues/9798

What are some alternatives?

When comparing k3s and minikube you can also consider the following projects:

devspace-plugin-loft - Loft Plugin for DevSpace - adds commands like `devspace create space` or `devspace create vcluster` to DevSpace

colima - Container runtimes on macOS (and Linux) with minimal setup

cilium - eBPF-based Networking, Security, and Observability

lima - Linux virtual machines, with a focus on running containers

multi-tenancy - A working place for multi-tenancy related proposals and prototypes.

kind - Kubernetes IN Docker - local clusters for testing Kubernetes

kubefwd - Bulk port forwarding Kubernetes services for local development.

kubespray - Deploy a Production Ready Kubernetes Cluster

fsm - Lightweight service mesh for Kubernetes East-West and North-South traffic management, uses ebpf for layer4 and pipy proxy for layer7 traffic management, support multi cluster network.

k9s - 🐶 Kubernetes CLI To Manage Your Clusters In Style!

k3v - Virtual Kubernetes

helm - The Kubernetes Package Manager