What is Kite used for?

Kite is a lightweight open-source Kubernetes dashboard for managing multiple clusters, with metrics, logs, terminals, Helm releases, RBAC, and an AI assistant. It is a good fit for platform teams managing several clusters and troubleshooting workloads without local kubectl setup.

Yes. Kite is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kite-org/kite and is written mainly in TypeScript.

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

Can I self-host Kite?

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

What is Kite an alternative to?

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

Is Kite actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Kite was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.15.1, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 3.2k stars on GitHub.

Kite: open-source alternative to Lens

About Kite

Kite is an open-source Kubernetes workspace that brings several clusters into a single web interface. It is designed for multi-cluster operations, observability, access control, and troubleshooting with an optional AI assistant, and the project describes itself as lightweight. It is released under the Apache-2.0 license.

For observability it shows CPU, memory, and network usage through per-cluster Prometheus integrations, streams and filters pod logs, and shows events, conditions, and related resources in context. For operations you can manage core resources, custom resource definitions, and Helm releases, edit live YAML, scale or restart workloads, and open browser-based terminals for pods, nodes, and kubectl, plus global search across resources.

Access can be governed with OAuth, LDAP, local accounts, MFA, and passkeys, along with RBAC, per-cluster permissions, and audit logs. The AI assistant can inspect resources, logs, and metrics and asks you to confirm write operations while respecting RBAC. Installation is by Helm chart, and it suits platform and DevOps teams that manage more than one cluster.

Key features

Multi-cluster management in one workspace
Prometheus-backed CPU, memory, and network charts
Live pod log streaming and filtering
Browser-based pod, node, and kubectl terminals
Helm release and CRD management
RBAC, audit logs, and OAuth or LDAP login
AI assistant with confirmation for writes

Good fit for

→Platform teams managing several clusters
→Troubleshooting workloads without local kubectl setup

Built with: TypeScript; Kubernetes
Tags: kubernetes; dashboard; multi-cluster; devops; helm; monitoring; prometheus; rbac

Kite: questions and answers

What is Kite used for?: Kite is a lightweight open-source Kubernetes dashboard for managing multiple clusters, with metrics, logs, terminals, Helm releases, RBAC, and an AI assistant. It is a good fit for platform teams managing several clusters and troubleshooting workloads without local kubectl setup.
Is Kite open source?: Yes. Kite is open source under the Apache-2.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at kite-org/kite and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Kite free?: Yes. Kite is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Kite?: Yes. Kite can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Kite an alternative to?: Kite is an open-source alternative to Lens. Other open-source alternatives to Lens include KDash, Portainer and Kubebox.
Is Kite actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Kite was on 1 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.15.1, published on 8 September 2026. The project has 3.2k stars on GitHub.