compare
KubeSphere vs Rancher
The same facts for both, read from GitHub every night, and the relation a person reviewed.
| Fact | KubeSphere | Rancher |
|---|---|---|
| Language | Go | Go |
| Licence | Other | Apache-2.0 |
| Stars | 17k | 26k |
| Latest | v4.1.3 | v2.15.2 |
| Last push | 2026-07-15 | 2026-10-17 |
| Release cadence | about 25 days between releases | about 1 day between releases |
| Active contributors | 0 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days | 44 commit authors on the default branch in the last 90 days |
| Flags | none | none |
How they relate
KubeSphere replaces Rancher. Alternatives to Rancher →
Full replacementMulti-cluster management, multi-tenancy and RBAC, with built-in DevOps pipelines and monitoring.
Both replace Lens. Alternatives to Lens →
PartialKubeSphereWeb console for workloads and resources rather than a desktop app.
Full replacementRancherA web UI served from a management cluster, which also provisions and upgrades clusters.
KubeSphere
- helm-chart-1.1.52025-04-18fix: add PersistentVolumeClaim definition to prepare upgrade job
- v4.1.32025-03-24helm upgrade --install -n kubesphere-system --create-namespace ks-core --debug --wait
- v4.1.3-rc.02025-03-21[release-4.1] config/ks-core: fix the CronJob API version determination issuepre-release
- helm-chart-1.1.32024-10-18helm upgrade --install -n kubesphere-system --create-namespace ks-core --debug --wait
- v4.1.22024-09-26helm upgrade --install -n kubesphere-system --create-namespace ks-core --debug --wait
KubeSphere
✓ signed The latest release, v4.1.3, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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Rancher
✓ signed The latest release, v2.15.2, carries a signature GitHub verified.
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