Knative vs Kubernetes

Struggling to choose between Knative and Kubernetes? Both products offer unique advantages, making it a tough decision.

Knative is a Development solution with tags like kubernetes, serverless, containers, open-source.

It boasts features such as Serverless containers, Event-driven scale to zero, Autoscaling, Revision tracking, Traffic splitting, Service discovery and pros including Simplifies deploying and running serverless workloads on Kubernetes, Built-in autoscaling, Open source and cloud agnostic, Integrates with Istio for traffic management, Active community and contributor support.

On the other hand, Kubernetes is a Network & Admin product tagged with containers, orchestration, deployment, scaling, management.

Its standout features include Automatic binpacking, Self-healing, Horizontal scaling, Service discovery and load balancing, Automated rollouts and rollbacks, Secret and configuration management, Storage orchestration, Batch execution, and it shines with pros like Portable across public, private, and hybrid clouds, Extensible and modular architecture, Automation reduces human error, Built-in health checks and self-healing, Efficient resource utilization, Rapid application deployment.

Feature	Knative	Kubernetes
Overall Score	N/A	2
Primary Category	Development	Network & Admin

Product Overview

Knative

Description: Knative is an open source Kubernetes-based platform for deploying and running serverless workloads. It simplifies event-driven or scale-to-zero architectures on Kubernetes clusters.

Kubernetes

Description: Kubernetes is an open-source container orchestration system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It groups containers into logical units for easy management and discovery.

Key Features Comparison

Knative Features

• Serverless containers
• Event-driven scale to zero
• Autoscaling
• Revision tracking
• Traffic splitting
• Service discovery

Kubernetes Features

• Automatic binpacking
• Self-healing
• Horizontal scaling
• Service discovery and load balancing
• Automated rollouts and rollbacks
• Secret and configuration management
• Storage orchestration
• Batch execution

Pros & Cons Analysis

Knative

Pros

• Simplifies deploying and running serverless workloads on Kubernetes
• Built-in autoscaling
• Open source and cloud agnostic
• Integrates with Istio for traffic management
• Active community and contributor support

Cons

• Steep learning curve
• Less flexibility than managing Kubernetes directly
• Still maturing technology
• Limited monitoring and debugging capabilities

Kubernetes

Pros

• Portable across public, private, and hybrid clouds
• Extensible and modular architecture
• Automation reduces human error
• Built-in health checks and self-healing
• Efficient resource utilization
• Rapid application deployment

Cons

• Complex installation and configuration
• Steep learning curve
• Version skew and compatibility issues
• Monitoring and troubleshooting difficult
• Upgrading between versions can be challenging
• Hosted Kubernetes offerings can get expensive

Pricing Comparison

Knative

• Open Source

Kubernetes

• Open Source
• Managed Services