compare
k3d vs kind
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | k3d | kind |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Go |
| Licence | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 6.6k | 16k |
| Latest | v5.9.0 | v0.33.0 |
| Last push | 2026-10-05 | 2026-09-30 |
| Release cadence | about 26 days between releases | about 105 days between releases |
| Active contributors | 0 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 11 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
Both replace minikube. Alternatives to minikube →
Full replacementk3dLightweight k3s clusters in Docker.
Full replacementkindClusters as Docker containers, built for CI.
k3d
- v5.9.02026-06-02Fix docker registry auth example
- v5.9.0-rc.02025-10-01Fix docker registry auth examplepre-release
- v5.8.32025-02-15Exclude s390x as arch-specific tag from version list
- v5.8.22025-02-12fixing the makefile; enforcing the registry port match;
- v5.8.12025-01-17chore(config): migrate renovate config
kind
- v0.33.02026-08-26This release contains critical dependency updates, bug fixes, and defaults to Kubernetes 1.37.0.
- v0.32.02026-06-02This release contains critical dependency updates, bug fixes, and defaults to Kubernetes 1.36.1.
- v0.31.02025-12-18This release contains dependency updates and defaults to Kubernetes 1.35.0.
- v0.30.02025-08-27This is small release containing patched dependencies and Kubernetes 1.34, as well as a bugfix for Kubernetes v1.33.0+…
- v0.29.02025-05-21This is a quick security release to pickup the containerd 2.1.1 CVE-2025-47290 fix.
k3d
unsigned The latest release, v5.9.0, carries no signature GitHub could verify.
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kind
✓ signed The latest release, v0.33.0, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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