Compare software

ko vs pack: catalog facts
ko	pack
Free Free to use; the source is published on GitHub.	Free Free and open source under the Apache 2.0 licence.
Command line	Windows, Command line
No Dockerfile or Docker installation needed Multi-platform builds and SBOMs by default	Builds container images from source without a Dockerfile Official CLI of the Cloud Native Buildpacks project
Only for Go applications Not suited to images needing cgo or OS packages	Needs a container runtime and builder images to be useful Buildpack concepts take time to learn
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: Apache-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

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