compare
gVisor vs Kata Containers
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | gVisor | Kata Containers |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Licence | Apache-2.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 20k | 8.9k |
| Latest | release-20260928.0 | 4.2.0 |
| Last push | 2026-10-06 | 2026-10-06 |
| Release cadence | about 7 days between releases | about 30 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 49+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 39+ commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Both replace runc. Alternatives to runc →
Drop-ingVisorOCI runtime that runs containers on a user-space kernel for isolation, at some cost in syscall speed.
Drop-inKata ContainersOCI runtime that runs each container or pod in a lightweight virtual machine.
gVisor
- release-20260928.02026-09-30gVisor 20260928.0
- release-20260921.02026-09-23gVisor 20260921.0
- release-20260914.02026-09-16gVisor 20260914.0
- release-20260907.02026-09-11gVisor 20260907.0
- release-20260831.02026-09-04gVisor 20260831.0
gVisor
unsigned The latest release, release-20260928.0, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
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Kata Containers
✓ signed The latest release, 4.2.0, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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