Best Container Management Software for Kubernetes

Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) is a comprehensive container orchestration platform that is fully managed. Notable clients like Duolingo, Samsung, GE, and Cook Pad rely on ECS to operate their critical applications due to its robust security, dependability, and ability to scale. There are multiple advantages to utilizing ECS for container management. For one, users can deploy their ECS clusters using AWS Fargate, which provides serverless computing specifically designed for containerized applications. By leveraging Fargate, customers eliminate the need for server provisioning and management, allowing them to allocate costs based on their application's resource needs while enhancing security through inherent application isolation. Additionally, ECS plays a vital role in Amazon’s own infrastructure, powering essential services such as Amazon SageMaker, AWS Batch, Amazon Lex, and the recommendation system for Amazon.com, which demonstrates ECS’s extensive testing and reliability in terms of security and availability. This makes ECS not only a practical option but a proven choice for organizations looking to optimize their container operations efficiently.

Deploy sophisticated applications using a secure and managed Kubernetes platform. GKE serves as a robust solution for running both stateful and stateless containerized applications, accommodating a wide range of needs from AI and ML to various web and backend services, whether they are simple or complex. Take advantage of innovative features, such as four-way auto-scaling and streamlined management processes. Enhance your setup with optimized provisioning for GPUs and TPUs, utilize built-in developer tools, and benefit from multi-cluster support backed by site reliability engineers. Quickly initiate your projects with single-click cluster deployment. Enjoy a highly available control plane with the option for multi-zonal and regional clusters to ensure reliability. Reduce operational burdens through automatic repairs, upgrades, and managed release channels. With security as a priority, the platform includes built-in vulnerability scanning for container images and robust data encryption. Benefit from integrated Cloud Monitoring that provides insights into infrastructure, applications, and Kubernetes-specific metrics, thereby accelerating application development without compromising on security. This comprehensive solution not only enhances efficiency but also fortifies the overall integrity of your deployments.

Portainer Business makes managing containers easy. It is designed to be deployed from the data centre to the edge and works with Docker, Swarm and Kubernetes. It is trusted by more than 500K users. With its super-simple GUI and its comprehensive Kube-compatible API, Portainer Business makes it easy for anyone to deploy and manage container-based applications, triage container-related issues, set up automate Git-based workflows and build CaaS environments that end users love to use. Portainer Business works with all K8s distros and can be deployed on prem and/or in the cloud. It is designed to be used in team environments where there are multiple users and multiple clusters. The product incorporates a range of security features - including RBAC, OAuth integration and logging, which makes it suitable for use in large, complex production environments. For platform managers responsible for delivering a self-service CaaS environment, Portainer includes a suite of features that help control what users can / can't do and significantly reduces the risks associated with running containers in prod. Portainer Business is fully supported and includes a comprehensive onboarding experience that ensures you get up and running.

Introducing K8 Studio, the premier cross-platform client IDE designed for streamlined management of Kubernetes clusters. Effortlessly deploy your applications across leading platforms like EKS, GKE, AKS, or even on your own bare metal infrastructure. Enjoy the convenience of connecting to your cluster through a user-friendly interface that offers a clear visual overview of nodes, pods, services, and other essential components. Instantly access logs, receive in-depth descriptions of elements, and utilize a bash terminal with just a click. K8 Studio enhances your Kubernetes workflow with its intuitive features. With a grid view for a detailed tabular representation of Kubernetes objects, users can easily navigate through various components. The sidebar allows for the quick selection of object types, ensuring a fully interactive experience that updates in real time. Users benefit from the ability to search and filter objects by namespace, as well as rearranging columns for customized viewing. Workloads, services, ingresses, and volumes are organized by both namespace and instance, facilitating efficient management. Additionally, K8 Studio enables users to visualize the connections between objects, allowing for a quick assessment of pod counts and current statuses. Dive into a more organized and efficient Kubernetes management experience with K8 Studio, where every feature is designed to optimize your workflow.

The Virtuozzo platform is designed and built as a solution for running your own cloud business. It enables cloud hosting service providers to transform their business to differentiate among competitors by offering heterogeneous infrastructure platform, full-featured DevOps PaaS, containers hosting, a wide variety of packaged clusters (like Magento, WordPress, Kubernetes, replicated SQL and NoSQL databases, etc) and auto-scalable Elastic VPS to their customers. Also, we deliver the required tools to manage the platform, support customers, and monitor ROI growth. Virtuozzo is an industry pioneer who developed the first commercially available container technology 21 years ago. Our technology is used in over one million virtual environments, and we have accumulated over 100 patents to date. Virtuozzo is a large contributor to numerous open-source projects including KVM, Docker, OpenStack, OpenVZ, CRIU and the Linux kernel. These innovations have led to us having a commanding, about 40% market share in VPS hosting globally.

While many Kubernetes platforms enable users to create and oversee Kubernetes clusters, Loft takes a different approach. Rather than being a standalone solution for managing clusters, Loft serves as an advanced control plane that enhances your current Kubernetes environments by introducing multi-tenancy and self-service functionalities, maximizing the benefits of Kubernetes beyond mere cluster oversight. It boasts an intuitive user interface and command-line interface, yet operates entirely on the Kubernetes framework, allowing seamless management through kubectl and the Kubernetes API, which ensures exceptional compatibility with pre-existing cloud-native tools. The commitment to developing open-source solutions is integral to our mission, as Loft Labs proudly holds membership with both the CNCF and the Linux Foundation. By utilizing Loft, organizations can enable their teams to create economical and efficient Kubernetes environments tailored for diverse applications, fostering innovation and agility in their workflows. This unique capability empowers businesses to harness the true potential of Kubernetes without the complexity often associated with cluster management.

Our platform allows you create distributed coding and data science processes with contractors, freelancers, and developers located anywhere. They work on their own devices, while auditing your data and ensuring data security. Strong Network has created a multi-cloud platform we call Virtual Workspace Infrastructure. It allows companies to securely unify their access to their global data science and coding processes via a simple web browser. The VWI platform is an integral component of their DevSecOps process. It doesn't require integration with existing CI/CD pipelines. Process security is focused on data, code, and other critical resources. The platform automates the principles and implementation of Zero-Trust Architecture, protecting the most valuable IP assets of the company.

8gears Container Registry is a Harbor-based container registry as a service offered and operated by the project's maintainer and contributors

A pay-as-you-go security and observability software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution designed for containers, Kubernetes, and cloud environments provides users with a real-time overview of service dependencies and interactions across multi-cluster, hybrid, and multi-cloud setups. This platform streamlines the onboarding process and allows for quick resolution of Kubernetes security and observability challenges within mere minutes. Calico Cloud represents a state-of-the-art SaaS offering that empowers organizations of various sizes to secure their cloud workloads and containers, identify potential threats, maintain ongoing compliance, and address service issues in real-time across diverse deployments. Built upon Calico Open Source, which is recognized as the leading container networking and security framework, Calico Cloud allows teams to leverage a managed service model instead of managing a complex platform, enhancing their capacity for rapid analysis and informed decision-making. Moreover, this innovative platform is tailored to adapt to evolving security needs, ensuring that users are always equipped with the latest tools and insights to safeguard their cloud infrastructure effectively.

Helm simplifies the management of Kubernetes applications, while Helm charts allow users to define, install, and upgrade even the most intricate Kubernetes applications. These charts are not only user-friendly to create and publish, but they also facilitate easy versioning and sharing, making Helm an essential tool to eliminate redundant copy-and-paste efforts. By detailing even the most sophisticated applications, charts ensure consistent installation practices and act as a central authoritative source. They also ease the update process through in-place upgrades and customizable hooks. Furthermore, charts can be easily versioned and hosted on both public and private servers, allowing for flexibility in deployment. Should you need to revert to a previous version, the helm rollback command makes this process straightforward. Helm operates using a packaging format known as charts, which consist of a collection of files that outline a related group of Kubernetes resources. Notably, a single chart can manage the deployment of a simple element, such as a memcached pod, or orchestrate a comprehensive web application stack, including HTTP servers, databases, and caches, showcasing its versatility and power in the Kubernetes ecosystem. This capability to handle both simple and complex deployments makes Helm an indispensable tool for developers and operators alike.

Launch production-ready Kubernetes clusters within just a few days and facilitate the swift onboarding of users and applications. Tackle the complexities of Kubernetes using a robust and user-friendly DevOps solution that minimizes friction among teams, fosters better collaboration, and increases overall productivity. With Nirmata's Kubernetes Policy Manager, you can ensure the appropriate security measures, compliance, and governance for Kubernetes, enabling you to scale operations smoothly. Manage all your Kubernetes clusters, policies, and applications seamlessly in a single platform, while optimizing operations through the DevSecOps Platform. Nirmata’s DevSecOps platform is designed to integrate effortlessly with various cloud providers such as EKS, AKS, GKE, OKE, and offers support for infrastructure solutions like VMware, Nutanix, and bare metal. This solution effectively addresses the operational challenges faced by enterprise DevOps teams, providing them with comprehensive management and governance tools tailored for Kubernetes environments. By implementing Nirmata, organizations can improve their workflow efficiency and streamline their Kubernetes operations.

Kubernetes serves as the operating system for the cloud environment. A multitude of companies and individuals utilize Lens, recognized as the most expansive and sophisticated Kubernetes platform globally, to develop and manage their Kubernetes instances. Lens Desktop seamlessly integrates with any Kubernetes setup, streamlining processes and enhancing productivity. Its user base spans a wide range, including developers, operations teams, startups, and large enterprises alike. Additionally, Lens Spaces, a cloud-based service, enhances its capabilities by organizing existing Kubernetes environments and offering Managed Dev Clusters for collaborative team use. Rooted in open-source principles, Lens thrives within a dynamic community and is supported by trailblazers in the Kubernetes and cloud-native ecosystems. The intelligent terminal includes kubectl and helm, ensuring that the kubectl version automatically syncs with the selected Kubernetes cluster's API version. Furthermore, Lens simplifies configuration management by automatically setting the kubeconfig context to correspond with the chosen K8s cluster, making it a powerful tool for cloud-native development and operations. This level of integration and ease of use makes Lens an essential resource for anyone engaged in Kubernetes management.

Efficiently manage multicluster environments for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) that involve tasks such as workload distribution, north-south traffic load balancing for incoming requests to various clusters, and coordinated upgrades across different clusters. The fleet cluster offers a centralized management system for overseeing all your clusters on a large scale. A dedicated hub cluster manages the upgrades and the configuration of your Kubernetes clusters seamlessly. Through Kubernetes configuration propagation, you can apply policies and overrides to distribute resources across the fleet's member clusters effectively. The north-south load balancer regulates the movement of traffic among workloads situated in multiple member clusters within the fleet. You can group various Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) clusters to streamline workflows involving Kubernetes configuration propagation and networking across multiple clusters. Furthermore, the fleet system necessitates a hub Kubernetes cluster to maintain configurations related to placement policies and multicluster networking, thereby enhancing operational efficiency and simplifying management tasks. This approach not only optimizes resource usage but also helps in maintaining consistency and reliability across all clusters involved.

Karpenter streamlines Kubernetes infrastructure by ensuring that the optimal nodes are provisioned precisely when needed. As an open-source and high-performance autoscaler for Kubernetes clusters, Karpenter automates the deployment of necessary compute resources to support applications efficiently. It is crafted to maximize the advantages of cloud computing, facilitating rapid and seamless compute provisioning within Kubernetes environments. By promptly adjusting to fluctuations in application demand, scheduling, and resource needs, Karpenter boosts application availability by adeptly allocating new workloads across a diverse range of computing resources. Additionally, it identifies and eliminates underutilized nodes, swaps out expensive nodes for cost-effective options, and consolidates workloads on more efficient resources, ultimately leading to significant reductions in cluster compute expenses. This innovative approach not only enhances resource management but also contributes to overall operational efficiency within cloud environments.

CloudPlex serves as a comprehensive platform for enterprises to effectively transition and manage their applications in the cloud, catering to both technical requirements and business objectives. It oversees critical elements such as governance, security, orchestration, and cost management, ensuring a seamless experience. The platform supports a variety of application types, including cloud-native, containerized, and traditional legacy systems across all prominent public cloud providers in a cohesive manner. By automating the entire application provisioning and orchestration process, CloudPlex streamlines operations significantly. Furthermore, it addresses corporate financial concerns by offering a thorough workflow for estimating, reviewing, approving, and managing cloud expenses, alongside complete license management. This holistic approach empowers organizations to optimize their cloud usage while maintaining control over costs and compliance.

Spot Ocean empowers users to harness the advantages of Kubernetes while alleviating concerns about infrastructure management, all while offering enhanced cluster visibility and significantly lower expenses. A crucial inquiry is how to effectively utilize containers without incurring the operational burdens tied to overseeing the underlying virtual machines, while simultaneously capitalizing on the financial benefits of Spot Instances and multi-cloud strategies. To address this challenge, Spot Ocean is designed to operate within a "Serverless" framework, effectively managing containers by providing an abstraction layer over virtual machines, which facilitates the deployment of Kubernetes clusters without the need for VM management. Moreover, Ocean leverages various compute purchasing strategies, including Reserved and Spot instance pricing, and seamlessly transitions to On-Demand instances as required, achieving an impressive 80% reduction in infrastructure expenditures. As a Serverless Compute Engine, Spot Ocean streamlines the processes of provisioning, auto-scaling, and managing worker nodes within Kubernetes clusters, allowing developers to focus on building applications rather than managing infrastructure. This innovative approach not only enhances operational efficiency but also enables organizations to optimize their cloud spending while maintaining robust performance and scalability.

IBM Cloud® Kubernetes Service offers a certified and managed Kubernetes platform designed for the deployment and management of containerized applications on IBM Cloud®. This service includes features like intelligent scheduling, self-healing capabilities, and horizontal scaling, all while ensuring secure management of the necessary resources for rapid deployment, updating, and scaling of applications. By handling the master management, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service liberates users from the responsibilities of overseeing the host operating system, the container runtime, and the updates for the Kubernetes version. This allows developers to focus more on building and innovating their applications rather than getting bogged down by infrastructure management. Furthermore, the service’s robust architecture promotes efficient resource utilization, enhancing overall performance and reliability.

Utilize a fully managed private registry to store and distribute container images efficiently. You can push these private images to seamlessly run within the IBM Cloud® Kubernetes Service and various other runtime environments. Each image undergoes a security assessment, enabling you to make well-informed choices regarding your deployments. To manage your namespaces and Docker images in the IBM Cloud® private registry through the command line, install the IBM Cloud Container Registry CLI. You can also utilize the IBM Cloud console to examine potential vulnerabilities and the security status of images housed in both public and private repositories. It is essential to monitor the security condition of container images provided by IBM, third-party vendors, or those added to your organization's registry namespace. Furthermore, advanced features offer insights into security compliance, along with access controls and image signing options, ensuring a fortified approach to container management. Additionally, enjoy the benefits of pre-integration with the Kubernetes Service for streamlined operations.

Deploy, operate, and manage Kubernetes clusters across various environments centrally with a robust container orchestration solution that fulfills the promises of Kubernetes. Tailored for large enterprises, Kublr facilitates multi-cluster deployments and provides essential observability features. Our platform simplifies the complexities of Kubernetes, allowing your team to concentrate on what truly matters: driving innovation and generating value. Although enterprise-level container orchestration may begin with Docker and Kubernetes, Kublr stands out by offering extensive, adaptable tools that enable the deployment of enterprise-class Kubernetes clusters right from the start. This platform not only supports organizations new to Kubernetes in their adoption journey but also grants experienced enterprises the flexibility and control they require. While the self-healing capabilities for masters are crucial, achieving genuine high availability necessitates additional self-healing for worker nodes, ensuring they match the reliability of the overall cluster. This holistic approach guarantees that your Kubernetes environment is resilient and efficient, setting the stage for sustained operational excellence.

Provisioning and overseeing cloud-native infrastructure can be straightforward rather than a daunting challenge. With the intuitive point-and-click interface of Mirantis Container Cloud, both administrators and developers can seamlessly deploy Kubernetes and OpenStack environments from one central dashboard, whether it's on-premises, hosted bare metal, or in the public cloud. Say goodbye to the hassle of scheduling workarounds for updates, as you can access new features promptly while ensuring zero downtime for clusters and workloads. Empower your developers to easily create, monitor, and manage Kubernetes clusters within a framework of customized guardrails. Mirantis Container Cloud serves as a unified console to oversee your entire hybrid infrastructure landscape. Furthermore, this platform enables the deployment, management, and maintenance of both Mirantis Kubernetes Engine for container-based applications and Mirantis OpenStack for virtualization environments tailored for Kubernetes. This comprehensive approach streamlines operations and enhances efficiency across the board.

AWS App2Container (A2C) serves as a command line utility designed to facilitate the migration and modernization of Java and .NET web applications into containerized formats. This tool systematically evaluates and catalogs applications that are hosted on bare metal servers, virtual machines, Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, or within cloud environments. By streamlining the development and operational skill sets, organizations can significantly reduce both infrastructure and training expenses. The modernization process is accelerated through the tool's capability to automatically analyze applications and generate container images without requiring code modifications. It enables the containerization of applications that reside in on-premises data centers, thereby enhancing deployment consistency and operational standards for legacy systems. Additionally, users can leverage AWS CloudFormation templates to set up the necessary computing, networking, and security frameworks. Moreover, A2C supports the utilization of pre-established continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD) pipelines for AWS DevOps services, further simplifying the deployment process and ensuring a more efficient workflow. Ultimately, AWS A2C empowers businesses to transition smoothly into the cloud, fostering innovation and agility in their application management.

Doctor Droid is an innovative AI-powered platform aimed at transforming how engineering teams monitor and resolve issues. It streamlines intricate investigations by adhering to established procedures, analyzing data from various integrations, pinpointing root causes, and implementing standardized runbooks for automated recovery. By actively monitoring alerts, Doctor Droid equips teams with pertinent data and insights, thereby cutting down on-call time by as much as 80% and enabling quick responses from engineers. Additionally, it enhances the onboarding experience for new engineers by automating document searches, familiarizing them with new tools, and helping them understand data, which allows them to take on primary on-call responsibilities right from the start. Furthermore, Doctor Droid is capable of conducting spontaneous investigations, such as scrutinizing Kubernetes clusters or reviewing recent deployments, while also adapting to create new strategies based on user recommendations and existing documentation. It boasts seamless integration with over 40 different tools throughout the technology stack, which significantly enhances its functionality and versatility. As a result, engineering teams can operate more efficiently and effectively in a rapidly evolving environment.

Plural is an advanced Kubernetes management platform driven by AI that streamlines intricate operations, making upgrades, compliance oversight, visibility, and troubleshooting in Kubernetes environments much simpler. It serves as a cohesive application deployment solution, enabling the seamless launch of both open-source applications and proprietary services on Kubernetes through established standards such as Helm and Terraform. Among its standout features is a fleet-scale GitOps engine that supports secure and scalable deployment practices, along with extensive visibility provided by a secure Auth Proxy. Additionally, it integrates with various tools like Podman to enhance local development and deployment workflows. Tailored specifically for DevOps and platform engineering teams, Plural significantly boosts operational efficiency by automating repetitive tasks and fine-tuning processes, ultimately empowering teams to focus on more strategic initiatives. By adopting Plural, organizations can improve their Kubernetes management while reducing the time spent on manual operations.

SC//Platform delivers faster time to value in the data centre, distributed enterprise, or at the edge. Scale Computing Platform combines simplicity, high availability, and scalability. It replaces the existing infrastructure and provides high availability for running VMs on a single, easy to manage platform. Fully integrated platform for running your applications. No matter what your hardware requirements are, the same innovative software and user interface gives you the ability to manage infrastructure efficiently at the edge. Reduce administrative tasks and save valuable time for IT administrators. SC//Platform's simplicity directly impacts IT productivity and costs. You can't predict the future, but you can plan for it. Mix and match old and newly developed hardware and applications to create a future-proof environment that can scale as needed.

The Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), which is fully managed, simplifies the process of deploying and overseeing containerized applications. It provides serverless Kubernetes capabilities, a seamless CI/CD experience, and robust security and governance features suited for enterprises. By bringing together your development and operations teams on one platform, you can swiftly build, deliver, and expand applications with greater assurance. Additionally, it allows for elastic provisioning of extra resources without the hassle of managing the underlying infrastructure. You can implement event-driven autoscaling and triggers using KEDA. The development process is expedited through Azure Dev Spaces, which integrates with tools like Visual Studio Code, Azure DevOps, and Azure Monitor. Furthermore, it offers sophisticated identity and access management via Azure Active Directory, along with the ability to enforce dynamic rules across various clusters using Azure Policy. Notably, it is accessible in more regions than any competing cloud service provider, enabling wider reach for your applications. This comprehensive platform ensures that businesses can operate efficiently in a highly scalable environment.