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K3s vs k3d: catalog facts
K3s	k3d
Free The open-source software is available without a license fee. Hosting, hardware and…	Free Free and open source, supported by sponsorships.
Linux, Self-hosted, Command line	Command line
Single binary installs a conformant cluster in under a minute Runs comfortably on small ARM boards and low-memory hosts	Creates single- and multi-node Kubernetes clusters in seconds Runs entirely inside Docker
Defaults to SQLite for a single server; high availability needs etcd or an external database Bundled Traefik and ServiceLB have to be disabled if you prefer your own	Requires Docker and kubectl Aimed at development rather than production clusters
Self-hosted	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026

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