Alternatives to k3d
A command-line tool for running lightweight K3s Kubernetes clusters inside Docker containers. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
k3d
A command-line tool for running lightweight K3s Kubernetes clusters inside Docker containers.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as k3d.
kind
A command-line tool that runs local Kubernetes clusters using Docker containers as the cluster nodes.
kind runs full Kubernetes clusters with Docker, Podman or nerdctl as nodes, documents offline and rootless use, and is still pre-1.0.
minikube
Run a local Kubernetes cluster for development and testing.
minikube runs a local Kubernetes cluster for development through a supported runtime or driver, and installs on Windows, macOS and Linux.
MicroK8s
Canonical's low-footprint Kubernetes for workstations, edge sites and CI.
MicroK8s is Canonical's low-footprint Kubernetes with one-command add-ons, installed through snap directly on the host rather than inside Docker containers.
K3s
Certified lightweight Kubernetes distribution packaged as a single binary.
K3s is the lightweight single-binary distribution k3d wraps, run directly on Linux hosts instead of inside Docker, and suited to small ARM boards.
OpenShift Local
A tool that runs a small OpenShift, MicroShift or Podman environment in a local virtual machine.
OpenShift Local runs an OpenShift, MicroShift or Podman environment in a managed local virtual machine, needing substantially more local resources than k3d.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Kubernetes
An open-source system for automating deployment, scaling and management of containerized applications across machines.
Tilt
An open-source tool that rebuilds and live-updates multi-service apps during development, locally or in Kubernetes.
Skaffold
A command-line tool that automates building, pushing and deploying applications during Kubernetes development.
Docker Engine
The container runtime that builds, packages and runs applications in Docker containers.
vCluster
A tool that creates virtual Kubernetes clusters running inside namespaces of a host cluster.
k0s
Zero-dependency Kubernetes distribution shipped as one self-contained binary.
