- Home
- Container Orchestration Software
- KubeSphere
KubeSphere
Beijing, China
What it is
KubeSphere is a Kubernetes-based platform for managing cloud-native applications, with an open-source Community Edition and a plug-in architecture for third-party applications and tools. It supports multi-tenancy and multi-cluster management, alongside monitoring, event and audit-log queries, tenant log collection, alerts and notifications. Development workflows include Jenkins-based CI/CD and automated Source-to-Image and Binary-to-Image processes. Deployment options include different infrastructure environments, online or offline installation, one-click upgrades and cluster scaling. Its architecture includes a REST API backend with an API server and controller manager. The free Community Edition is self-managed and costs nothing. Enterprise is offered by on-demand subscription or private deployment, with extensions available by subscription and pricing available through sales. Enterprise features include image security hardening, two-factor authentication, vulnerability fixes and permission controls at platform, cluster and application levels. KubeSphere describes Enterprise as supporting a lightweight setup with 2 CPU cores and 4 GB of memory. The platform is intended for infrastructure teams, developers, operations teams and end users deploying applications on Kubernetes.
For and against
For
- Community Edition is free and self-managed.
- Supports multi-tenancy and multi-cluster management.
- Includes Jenkins-based CI/CD workflows.
- Supports online and offline installation.
- Enterprise adds permission controls across three levels.
Against
- Community Edition is self-managed.
- Enterprise pricing requires contacting sales.
- Enterprise extensions are available by subscription.
The verdict
KubeSphere offers a free self-managed edition and a separate Enterprise option with added security and permission features. Teams should weigh their need for enterprise support and controls against the unlisted Enterprise price.
Who it suits
KubeSphere suits infrastructure, development and operations teams managing cloud-native applications on Kubernetes. Community Edition is for teams prepared to manage their own platform; Enterprise adds paid support and controls.
Plans and prices
KubeSphere Backup Free
2 protected applications · 3-day retention · community support · 10 GB hosted repository
Read 15 Oct 2026 · clouddev.kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Community Edition
multi-cluster management · RBAC and tenant isolation · observability · application lifecycle management
Read 15 Oct 2026 · kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Backup Basic
100 protected applications · 14-day retention · 8 x 5 support · 100 GB hosted repository
Read 15 Oct 2026 · clouddev.kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Backup Standard
500 protected applications · 30-day retention · 8 x 5 support · 500 GB hosted repository
Read 15 Oct 2026 · clouddev.kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Backup Enterprise
1,500 protected applications · 90-day retention · 8 x 5 support · 1 TB hosted repository
Read 15 Oct 2026 · clouddev.kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Backup Exclusive
customizable protected applications · customizable retention · 24 x 7 support · customizable repository quota
Read 15 Oct 2026 · clouddev.kubesphere.io
KubeSphere Enterprise
On-demand subscription or private deployment · extensions available by subscription · contact sales for pricing
Read 3 Oct 2026 · kubesphere.co
On the record
- API
- KubeSphere's architecture includes a REST API backend with an API server and controller manager.kubesphere.io · read 3 Oct 2026
- Application lifecycle
- Its application management layer handles Helm and Operator applications through a unified lifecycle abstraction.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- App Store
- The App Store, powered by OpenPitrix, lets tenants add repositories and manage application submission, review, testing, release, upgrade, and removal.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Cluster management
- The platform provides centralized visual management and operations for multiple Kubernetes clusters across clouds and infrastructure.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Company headquarters
- QingCloud's KubeSphere about page lists Beijing, China as headquarters, while LinkedIn lists KubeSphere headquarters as Hong Kong.kubesphere.co · read 15 Oct 2026
- Company size
- LinkedIn lists KubeSphere as a privately held IT-services company with 51–200 employees.linkedin.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The platform supports deployment on any infrastructure environment, online or offline installation, one-click upgrades and cluster scaling.kubesphere.io · read 3 Oct 2026
- Developer extensibility
- The official site links extension-development documentation, and the project maintains extension samples plus the ksbuilder extension CLI in GitHub.github.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- DevOps
- The DevOps extension supplies end-to-end workflows integrating mainstream continuous-integration and continuous-delivery tools.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Documentation depth
- The documentation includes quick starts, installation and upgrade procedures, air-gapped deployment, high availability, extensions, role management, DevOps pipelines, App Store, service mesh, federation, observability, FAQs, API reference, and release notes.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Enterprise deployment
- KubeSphere Enterprise is offered through on-demand subscription, private deployment and an all-in-one container machine delivery model.kubesphere.co · read 3 Oct 2026
- Enterprise permissions
- KubeSphere Enterprise provides multi-tenant permission controls at platform, cluster and application levels.kubesphere.co · read 3 Oct 2026
- Extensibility
- KubeSphere 4.x decouples DevOps, service mesh, observability, App Store, edge, networking, and storage functions into independently maintained extensions.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Founded and ownership
- The company history records QingCloud's establishment in April 2012, while KubeSphere's about page says the platform has been developed since 2018.qingcloud.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Funding and public status
- Crunchbase lists QingCloud as a Beijing-based public Series-D company with nine investors including Luminous Ventures and CICC, but hides the total funding amount.crunchbase.com · read 15 Oct 2026
- Gateway
- KubeSphere Gateway supports ingress management, layer-7 load balancing, traffic routing, and gateway administration.kubesphere.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Independent adoption evidence
- A CNCF case study reports more than 15,000 KubeSphere GitHub stars, over 5 million downloads, and use in more than 100 countries.cncf.io · read 15 Oct 2026
- Independent editorial assessment
- FAUN.dev scored KubeSphere 72/100, rating built-in add-ons and ease of use highest and pricing transparency lowest.faun.dev · read 15 Oct 2026
