What is KDash used for?

KDash is a fast terminal dashboard for Kubernetes written in Rust, with resource views, logs, and actions such as scaling, restarting, and port forwarding. It is a good fit for inspecting a cluster from an SSH session and quickly restarting or scaling workloads.

Is KDash open source?

Yes. KDash is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kdash-rs/kdash and is written mainly in Rust.

Yes. KDash is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

What is KDash an alternative to?

KDash is an open-source alternative to Lens. Other open-source alternatives to Lens include Kubebox, Kite and Portainer.

Is KDash actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to KDash was on 24 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.1.1, published on 22 July 2026. The project has 2.5k stars on GitHub.

KDash: open-source alternative to Lens

About KDash

KDash is a terminal user interface for Kubernetes, built in Rust. It gives a quick overview of cluster resources and lets you work with them from the keyboard without leaving the terminal. It is released under the MIT license.

Version 2.0 added resource management actions: delete any resource, edit a resource in your editor, rollout-restart workloads, view the logs of previous containers, scale workloads, cordon nodes, and suspend, resume, or trigger CronJobs from an action menu. Impactful actions ask for confirmation. You can also port-forward a pod or service, and list and stop active forwards, with forwards running in the background.

The README covers installation, usage, keybindings, configuration, flags, known limitations, and screenshots. KDash suits Kubernetes administrators and developers who prefer a lightweight terminal tool, a role similar to other TUI dashboards, over a browser-based console.

Key features

Terminal dashboard for Kubernetes resources
Delete and edit resources in place
Rollout restart and workload scaling
Previous container log viewing
Node cordon and CronJob controls
Pod and service port forwarding

Good fit for

→Inspecting a cluster from an SSH session
→Quickly restarting or scaling workloads

Built with: Rust; Kubernetes
Tags: kubernetes; tui; dashboard; rust; terminal; k8s; devops; monitoring

KDash: questions and answers

What is KDash used for?: KDash is a fast terminal dashboard for Kubernetes written in Rust, with resource views, logs, and actions such as scaling, restarting, and port forwarding. It is a good fit for inspecting a cluster from an SSH session and quickly restarting or scaling workloads.
Is KDash open source?: Yes. KDash is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kdash-rs/kdash and is written mainly in Rust.
Is KDash free?: Yes. KDash is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
What is KDash an alternative to?: KDash is an open-source alternative to Lens. Other open-source alternatives to Lens include Kubebox, Kite and Portainer.
Is KDash actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to KDash was on 24 September 2026, and the latest release is v2.1.1, published on 22 July 2026. The project has 2.5k stars on GitHub.