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minikube vs K3s: catalog facts
minikube	K3s
Free The open-source application is available without a license fee.	Free The open-source software is available without a license fee. Hosting, hardware and…
Windows, macOS, Linux	Linux, Self-hosted, Command line
Local clusters with common Kubernetes features	Single binary installs a conformant cluster in under a minute Runs comfortably on small ARM boards and low-memory hosts
Requires enough local resources and a supported runtime or driver.	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
Downloadable app	Self-hosted
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License: Apache-2.0
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.