Is Kubebay really free?

Yes. Kubebay is fully open-source under the MIT license. There are no paid tiers, no accounts required, and no usage limits. You download it, run it, and it works — forever.

Does Kubebay send any data to the cloud?

No. Kubebay is local-first. All cluster communication happens directly from your machine to your Kubernetes API server. No telemetry, no analytics, and no data ever leaves your workstation.

Which operating systems does Kubebay support?

Kubebay runs on macOS (Apple Silicon and Intel), Windows 10/11, and Linux (Debian/Ubuntu/Fedora/Arch). Download the right build for your platform from the GitHub releases page.

How does Kubebay compare to Lens or Freelens?

Kubebay is a drop-in alternative to Lens and Freelens. Unlike Lens which requires a paid subscription for many features, Kubebay is permanently free and open-source. Unlike Freelens which can feel unmaintained, Kubebay is actively developed with live-streaming views, an integrated pod terminal, and a modern cluster catalog UI.

Is Kubebay a good Lens alternative?

Yes. Kubebay was built specifically as a free, open-source Lens alternative. It provides the same core features — multi-cluster management, pod browsing, log streaming, Helm — without requiring a Lens subscription, an account, or any cloud connectivity.

How does Kubebay compare to K9s?

K9s is a powerful terminal UI, but requires learning keyboard shortcuts and lives in your terminal. Kubebay is a native desktop GUI with live-streaming resource views, an integrated pod terminal, and Helm management — point-and-click, no command memorisation required.

Can I manage multiple Kubernetes clusters with Kubebay?

Yes. Kubebay supports multiple clusters simultaneously. You can add any cluster via kubeconfig, switch between them instantly in the cluster catalog, and view live-streaming resource data from each one.

Does Kubebay support EKS, GKE, and AKS clusters?

Yes. Kubebay works with any Kubernetes cluster that is accessible from your kubeconfig — including AWS EKS, Google GKE, Azure AKS, DigitalOcean DOKS, kind, k3s, minikube, and bare-metal clusters.

Does Kubebay support Helm?

Yes. Kubebay includes built-in Helm release management. You can browse, inspect, upgrade, and roll back Helm releases directly in the UI without running helm CLI commands.

How do I install Kubebay?

Download the installer from the GitHub releases page (https://github.com/RajaSardar/kubebay/releases/latest). Choose the .dmg for macOS, .msi for Windows, or .AppImage for Linux. Install it, open it, and your kubeconfig clusters appear automatically in the catalog.

NEW v0.2.0 Released

Open-Source
Kubernetes IDE
That Respects You

Kubebay gives you a live, streaming view of all your clusters — no accounts,
no subscriptions, no Electron bloat. Just your clusters and a fast local engine.

Download Free Star on GitHub

MIT Licensed No accounts 40 MB installer Go-powered

Cluster Catalog · 8 clusters

Search clusters...

NAME PROVIDER STATUS NODES VERSION

prod-us-east-1 AWS EKS Healthy 12 1.29

prod-eu-west-1 AWS EKS Healthy 8 1.29

staging-us GKE Degraded 4 1.28

dev-local kind Healthy 1 1.30

analytics-prod AKS Healthy 6 1.29

Engine running — 87 MB 5 / 8 clusters connected v0.2.0

Everything you need to manage Kubernetes

Live-streaming views of every resource in your cluster. No refresh. No lag.

Fleet Overview

One view across all your clusters. Node counts, pod health, warnings — live.

Live Resource Streams

Pods, Deployments, Services — all streaming from the Kubernetes watch API in real time.

Helm Manager

Browse releases, inspect chart versions, upgrade or rollback without leaving Kubebay.

RBAC Explorer

Visual permission matrix. See exactly what your service accounts can and can't do.

Topology View

Namespace-scoped graph of pods, services, and deployments. Understand your cluster visually.

Command Palette

⌘K to jump anywhere. Resources, namespaces, clusters — keyboard-first navigation.

Port-Forward Manager

Create and track port-forwards without keeping a terminal open.

Event Timeline

Chronological Kubernetes event stream with warning filter. Know what happened and when.

Why switch?

The Kubernetes UI you've been waiting for

Lens went closed-source. Freelens is Electron-heavy. The official Dashboard was archived in January 2026. It's time for something better.

Truly Local-First

No accounts, no cloud control plane, no mandatory telemetry. Your kubeconfig stays on your machine. Your clusters stay yours — always.

Zero account required
No telemetry by default
Offline-capable

Built to Perform

Go engine. Not Electron. ≤150 MB idle RAM, ≤1.5s cold start, 40 MB installer. Fast enough to keep up with your cluster, lean enough to leave in the background.

≤150 MB idle RAM
≤1.5s cold start
40 MB installer

Permanently Free

MIT licensed. No freemium tier. No bait-and-switch subscription. Public roadmap, community-governed. Free today, free in five years — that's a promise in the license.

MIT license
No freemium traps
Community-governed

The Kubernetes UI landscape

2016

Kubernetes Dashboard

Official dashboard — archived Jan 2026

2019

Lens IDE

Open-source launch — went closed-source + subscription in 2023

2023

OpenLens / Freelens

Community fork — Electron-heavy, maintenance burden

2025

Kubebay

Native Go engine. Local-first. MIT. Free forever.

One-liner install

curl -fsSL https://github.com/RajaSardar/kubebay/releases/latest/download/install-mac.sh | bash

Download .dmg

Homebrew

brew install rajasardar/tap/kubebay

Universal binary — Apple Silicon and Intel

Download .exe Installer

or via winget

Windows Package Manager

winget install Kubebay.Kubebay

Architecture: x86_64

Download .AppImage Download .deb

One-liner install

curl -fsSL https://github.com/RajaSardar/kubebay/releases/latest/download/install-linux.sh | bash

Architectures: x86_64, ARM64

Add the Helm repo and install

helm repo add kubebay https://rajasardar.github.io/kubebay
helm install kubebay kubebay/kubebay

Deploys the web engine into your cluster — access Kubebay from any browser without installing a desktop app.

Feature	Kubebay	Lens	Freelens	k9s	Headlamp
License	MIT	Proprietary	MIT	MIT	Apache 2
Price	Free forever	Subscription ($30+/mo)	Free	Free	Free
Account required	None	Mandatory	None	None	None
Telemetry	Opt-in only	Required	Partial	None	Opt-in
RAM usage	≤150 MB	400–800 MB	400–800 MB	≤30 MB	~200 MB
Cold start	≤1.5 s	8–15 s	8–15 s	<1 s	~3 s
Installer size	40 MB	500+ MB	500+ MB	10 MB	100 MB
Desktop app	macOS / Win / Linux
In-cluster deploy	Helm chart
Live streaming
Helm manager
RBAC explorer		Limited	Limited
Open roadmap			Limited

⭐ Stars GitHub

🍴 Forks GitHub

Contributors and growing

MIT License

Coming next

Multi-pod log streaming, YAML edit + diff, network policy visualization

View full roadmap

Open-Source
Kubernetes IDE
That Respects You

Everything you need to manage Kubernetes

Fleet Overview

Live Resource Streams

Helm Manager

RBAC Explorer

Topology View

Command Palette

Port-Forward Manager

Event Timeline

The Kubernetes UI you've been waiting for

Truly Local-First

Built to Perform

Permanently Free

The Kubernetes UI landscape

Get Kubebay in 30 seconds

How Kubebay compares

Join the community. Shape what's next.

GitHub Issues

Contributing

Discussions

Open-Source Kubernetes IDE That Respects You

Fleet Overview

Live Resource Streams

Helm Manager

RBAC Explorer

Topology View

Command Palette

Port-Forward Manager

Event Timeline

Truly Local-First

Built to Perform

Permanently Free

The Kubernetes UI landscape

Get Kubebay in 30 seconds

How Kubebay compares

GitHub Issues

Contributing

Discussions

Open-Source
Kubernetes IDE
That Respects You