Compare software

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

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