compare
cert-manager vs lego
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | cert-manager | lego |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Go |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Stars | 14k | 10k |
| Latest | v1.21.2 | v5.5.2 |
| Last push | 2026-10-18 | 2026-10-17 |
| Release cadence | about 21 days between releases | about 8 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 30 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 3 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Both replace Certbot. Alternatives to Certbot →
Partialcert-managerIssues and renews ACME certificates for Kubernetes ingresses and services only.
Full replacementlegoACME client and Go library, with many DNS providers built in.
cert-manager
- v1.20.42026-09-16cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.22026-09-11cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.12026-07-29cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.02026-07-08cert-manager is the easiest way to automatically manage certificates in Kubernetes and OpenShift clusters.
- v1.21.0-beta.02026-07-01> [!NOTE]pre-release
lego
- v5.5.22026-09-23lego is an independent, free, and open-source project, if you value it, consider supporting it! ❤️
- v5.5.12026-09-17lego is an independent, free, and open-source project, if you value it, consider supporting it! ❤️
- v5.5.02026-09-17lego is an independent, free, and open-source project, if you value it, consider supporting it! ❤️
- v5.4.12026-08-31lego is an independent, free, and open-source project, if you value it, consider supporting it! ❤️
- v5.4.02026-08-21lego is an independent, free, and open-source project, if you value it, consider supporting it! ❤️
cert-manager
✓ signed The latest release, v1.21.2, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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lego
✓ signed The latest release, v5.5.2, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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