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AKS desktop vs Headlamp: catalog facts
AKS desktop	Headlamp
Free The app is free and open source; the AKS clusters it manages are billed by Azure.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license.
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, macOS, Linux, Web, Self-hosted
Guided deployment flows built on supported AKS features Based on the open-source Headlamp dashboard	Works as a desktop app or deployed in-cluster Multi-cluster support using an existing kubeconfig
Only useful with Azure Kubernetes Service Requires an Azure account and AKS cluster	Desktop apps are unsigned and trigger OS warnings Limited-permission tokens may not show all resources
Downloadable app	Downloadable app, Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: Apache-2.0
Account needed	No account needed
Needs internet	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.