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K9s vs Portainer: catalog facts
K9s	Portainer
Free The open-source application is available without a license fee.	Freemium Community Edition is free and open source. Business Edition is a paid subscription, free…
Windows, macOS, Linux	Windows, Linux, Web, Self-hosted
Live cluster navigation and log inspection	One console for Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes across several hosts Deploys Compose stacks and Helm charts from the browser
Requires access credentials and permissions for a Kubernetes cluster.	Role-based access control and several fleet features are Business Edition only The agent needs access to the Docker socket, which is effectively root on the host
Downloadable app	Self-hosted, Web application
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is 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 22, 2026

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