Rancher vs Knative

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

Rancher is a Network & Admin solution with tags like kubernetes, docker, containers, orchestration, cloud-native.

It boasts features such as Multi-cluster management, Simplified Kubernetes deployment, Centralized access control, Load balancing and service discovery, Storage orchestration, Monitoring and alerting and pros including Intuitive UI for managing Kubernetes, Supports multiple cloud providers and on-prem, Automates complex tasks like upgrades, Built-in security policies and access control, Open source and free to use.

On the other hand, Knative is a Development product tagged with kubernetes, serverless, containers, open-source.

Its standout features include Serverless containers, Event-driven scale to zero, Autoscaling, Revision tracking, Traffic splitting, Service discovery, and it shines with pros like 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.

To help you make an informed decision, we've compiled a comprehensive comparison of these two products, delving into their features, pros, cons, pricing, and more. Get ready to explore the nuances that set them apart and determine which one is the perfect fit for your requirements.

Rancher

Rancher

Rancher is an open-source container management platform that allows users to deploy and manage Kubernetes clusters across multiple cloud providers or on-premises infrastructure. It provides a graphical user interface and API for managing containers and services across multiple clusters.

Categories:
Network & Admin Container Management
kubernetes docker containers orchestration cloud-native

Rancher Features

  1. Multi-cluster management
  2. Simplified Kubernetes deployment
  3. Centralized access control
  4. Load balancing and service discovery
  5. Storage orchestration
  6. Monitoring and alerting

Pricing

  • Open Source
  • Subscription-Based

Pros

Intuitive UI for managing Kubernetes

Supports multiple cloud providers and on-prem

Automates complex tasks like upgrades

Built-in security policies and access control

Open source and free to use

Cons

Steep learning curve

Upgrades can be disruptive

Limited native support for Windows

Additional management layer on top of Kubernetes

Knative

Knative

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.

Categories:
Development Serverless Computing
kubernetes serverless containers open-source

Knative Features

  1. Serverless containers
  2. Event-driven scale to zero
  3. Autoscaling
  4. Revision tracking
  5. Traffic splitting
  6. Service discovery

Pricing

  • Open Source

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