Yes. Kind is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kubernetes-sigs/kind and is written mainly in Go.

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

Can I self-host Kind?

Yes. Kind can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Kind an alternative to?

Kind is an open-source alternative to OrbStack, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, Docker Desktop and Amazon ECS. Other open-source alternatives to OrbStack include Minikube, Rancher Desktop and Podman.

Is Kind actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Kind was on 13 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.33.0, published on 26 August 2026. The project has 16k stars on GitHub.

Kind: open-source alternative to OrbStack

About Kind

kind is a tool for running local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container nodes. It was primarily designed for testing Kubernetes itself, but may be used for local development or CI. The tool consists of Go packages implementing cluster creation and image build, a command line interface, and Docker images written to run systemd and Kubernetes.

Key features

Runs local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container nodes
Primarily designed for testing Kubernetes itself
Can be used for local development or CI
Bootstraps each node with kubeadm
Supports multi-node clusters with a config file

Good fit for

Testing Kubernetes itself
Local development
CI environments

Built with: Go tools; Kubernetes tools; Docker tools
Tags: kubernetes; docker; testing; local-clusters; devops

Kind: questions and answers

What is Kind used for?: kind is a tool for running local Kubernetes clusters using Docker container nodes, primarily designed for testing Kubernetes itself. It is a good fit for testing Kubernetes itself, local development and CI environments.
Is Kind open source?: Yes. Kind is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kubernetes-sigs/kind and is written mainly in Go.
Is Kind free?: Yes. Kind is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Kind?: Yes. Kind can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Kind an alternative to?: Kind is an open-source alternative to OrbStack, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, Docker Desktop and Amazon ECS. Other open-source alternatives to OrbStack include Minikube, Rancher Desktop and Podman.
Is Kind actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Kind was on 13 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.33.0, published on 26 August 2026. The project has 16k stars on GitHub.