Compare

How Radar compares to the tools you already run.

Line-by-line comparisons against the tools platform engineers actually run. Where the other tool wins, we mark it as a win.

At a glance

Nine dimensions. Four tools. One table.

The deep comparisons below go further; this is the fast version.

Feature
Radar
Lens
k9s
Headlamp
Open source core
Free forever tier
OSS unlimited · Cloud 3 clusters
Personal only
Multi-cluster view
Partial
Dropdown + compare
Long-term retention
Cloud
Team collaboration
Paid
Shared instance
SSO (SAML/OIDC)
Enterprise
OIDC only
Published pricing
Self-hostable
Pricing model
Per cluster
Per user
Free
Free
Full comparisons

Pick the tool you're weighing. Read the detailed take.

Radar vs Lens

Desktop IDE

Lens is a mature Electron-based Kubernetes IDE (1M+ users per Mirantis). Great for solo engineers on a single cluster. Radar adds multi-cluster, team collaboration, and long-term retention on a different architecture (single Go binary, no Electron).

The short version

Lens for the solo desktop experience. Radar for team-shared, multi-cluster, historically-aware views.

Key difference: Desktop app vs hosted SaaS; per-user vs per-cluster pricing

Radar vs k9s

Terminal CLI · Open source

k9s is an open-source, keyboard-first Kubernetes TUI. Free, fast, and beloved by SREs. Radar isn't trying to replace k9s - it adds the team layer k9s wasn't designed for.

The short version

k9s wins on speed, keyboard-first workflow, and being free. Radar wins on team collaboration, historical retention, multi-cluster, and SSO.

Key difference: Terminal TUI vs hosted SaaS; single-user vs team-native

Radar vs Headlamp

CNCF Sandbox · Apache 2.0

Headlamp is an extensible Kubernetes dashboard under kubernetes-sigs - vendor-neutral, plugin-driven. Same Apache 2.0 license as Radar, very different architecture: plugin-extensible vs plugin-less by design.

The short version

Headlamp wins on vendor-neutral CNCF governance and a mature plugin SDK. Radar wins on integrated topology + timeline + traffic + GitOps + cost in core, single Go binary, and persistent event history.

Key difference: Plugin-extensible dashboard vs plugin-less integrated platform
Radar OSS vs Radar Cloud

What's in OSS vs what Radar Cloud adds.

A line-by-line matrix of what's in the free, Apache 2.0 Radar OSS vs what hosted Radar Cloud adds on top.

Radar OSS vs Radar Cloud

Comparison done. Time to try.

Apache 2.0 OSS or hosted free for 3 clusters. Install in 60 seconds.

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Apache 2.0 OSS · Unlimited clusters self-hosted · Hosted free tier for up to 3 clusters