Krust vs k9s
Two of the best ways to manage Kubernetes clusters from your local machine. k9s is a powerful terminal UI that has earned a loyal following. Krust is a native macOS GUI built on a Rust core. This page offers an honest comparison to help you decide which fits your workflow — or whether to use both.
Quick Comparison
| Capability | Krust | k9s |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Native macOS GUI (SwiftUI + AppKit) | Terminal UI (TUI) |
| Platforms | macOS | macOS, Linux, Windows |
| Price | Free tier + Pro upgrade | Free and open source |
| Resource browsing | 23+ types with real-time watchers | Extensive resource support |
| Multi-cluster | Side-by-side simultaneous view | Single context at a time |
| Resource topology | Interactive visual graph | Not available |
| Log viewer | Search, bookmarks, level coloring, export, multi-pod aggregation | Tail with basic filtering |
| Terminal exec | Native terminal emulator with shell detection | Launches external terminal |
| YAML editing | Syntax-highlighted editor with diff view | Opens in $EDITOR |
| Helm management | List, inspect, rollback with UI | Via plugin |
| Port forwarding | One-click, auto-reconnect, bookmarks | Basic support |
| Metrics | Visual CPU/memory gauges per pod and workload | Inline CPU/memory columns |
| Event notifications | macOS system notifications | In-app event viewer |
| Plugin/extensibility | Not available | Plugin system, Popeye integration |
| SSH access | Requires desktop | Works over SSH |
| Memory usage | ~150–250 MB | ~50–100 MB |
| Navigation style | Mouse + keyboard, command palette, context menus | Vim-style keyboard shortcuts |
Where Krust Excels
Visual overview without memorizing commands
Krust gives you a full graphical interface with sortable tables, drag-and-drop, right-click context menus, and a command palette (Cmd+K). You can see resource status at a glance without typing a single keystroke. For teams onboarding new engineers or for operators who manage clusters infrequently, the learning curve is significantly lower.
Resource topology graph
Select any Deployment, StatefulSet, or Service and Krust renders an interactive tree of related resources — ReplicaSets, Pods, ConfigMaps, Secrets, PVCs, and more. This visual map makes it easy to understand how resources connect, which is difficult to piece together from text output alone.
Side-by-side multi-cluster
Krust can connect to multiple clusters simultaneously and display them in the same window. Compare staging and production resources side by side, or monitor several clusters at once. k9s works with one context at a time, so you would need multiple terminal windows and manual switching.
Advanced log viewer
Krust's log viewer supports full-text search across a 100K-line buffer, log level coloring, regex filtering, bookmarks for important lines, and export to file. The Pro tier adds multi-pod log aggregation (streaming all pods in a Deployment at once) and structured JSON/logfmt parsing. k9s provides log tailing with basic filtering, which covers simple cases but can fall short during complex debugging sessions.
Built-in terminal emulator
When you exec into a pod, Krust opens a native terminal emulator inside the app with full TTY support. It automatically detects available shells (bash, ash, sh) using a single WebSocket connection. k9s shells out to your system terminal, which works but breaks the single-window workflow.
YAML editor with diff
Krust includes a syntax-highlighted YAML editor that shows a diff of your changes before applying them. You can open multiple editor windows for different resources. k9s delegates editing to your $EDITOR, which is flexible if you have a preferred editor but lacks the integrated diff experience.
Port forwarding with persistence
Set up port forwards with one click, bookmark them for reuse, and let Krust auto-reconnect if the pod restarts. You can optionally auto-open the browser when a forward starts. k9s supports port forwarding but without the bookmark or auto-reconnect workflow.
Helm rollback UI
View all Helm releases, browse revision history, inspect values YAML, and roll back to any revision — all from the GUI. k9s can integrate with Helm via plugins, but the experience is less integrated.
Visual metrics
CPU and memory usage are displayed as visual gauges at both the pod and workload level, updated every 30 seconds from the metrics-server API. k9s shows metrics as text columns, which is functional but less scannable at a glance.
macOS integration
Krust delivers native macOS notifications for Kubernetes events, watches your kubeconfig for changes automatically, and follows macOS design conventions. It feels like a first-party Apple app rather than a cross-platform tool.
Where k9s Excels
Free and open source
k9s is 100% free under the Apache 2.0 license. There is no paid tier, no feature gating, and no vendor lock-in. The source code is on GitHub and accepts community contributions. If cost is a primary concern, k9s is hard to beat.
Cross-platform
k9s runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows. Krust is macOS-only. If your team uses mixed operating systems, k9s is the tool everyone can standardize on.
Works over SSH
Because k9s is a terminal application, you can use it on remote servers over SSH. This is valuable for managing clusters from jump boxes, bastion hosts, or CI/CD environments. Krust requires a desktop with a display.
Speed for power users
k9s uses Vim-style navigation with single-key commands. Experienced users can navigate resources, filter, describe, and delete without touching a mouse. If you already think in Vim keybindings, k9s can feel faster than any GUI. Krust supports keyboard shortcuts (including k9s-style single-key shortcuts), but the GUI interaction model is inherently different.
Lower resource usage
k9s typically uses 50–100 MB of memory. As a terminal application with no GUI rendering, it has a smaller footprint. Krust's GUI and real-time watchers use more memory, typically 150–250 MB depending on cluster size.
Plugin system
k9s supports custom plugins that let you extend its functionality with shell commands. You can add context-specific actions for any resource type. Krust does not currently offer a plugin system.
Popeye integration
k9s integrates with Popeye, a cluster sanitizer that scans for potential issues and misconfigurations. This gives k9s a built-in cluster health check that Krust does not replicate (though Krust's AI diagnostic agent covers some of the same ground).
Lightweight and dependency-free
k9s is a single binary with no GUI framework dependencies. It installs via Homebrew, snap, or a direct download, and runs anywhere a terminal exists. Krust requires macOS 14+ and a full application bundle.
Using Both Together
Many Kubernetes operators use both tools. Krust on the Mac for daily visual monitoring, multi-cluster overview, and log analysis. k9s over SSH when working on remote servers or when a quick terminal session is all you need. The two tools complement each other well.
A common workflow:
- Use Krust's multi-cluster view to monitor staging and production side by side throughout the day
- Use Krust's topology graph and log viewer when debugging an incident
- Use k9s when SSH'd into a bastion host or working in a pure terminal environment
- Use k9s for quick, muscle-memory operations when you know exactly what you need
Who Should Choose Krust
- Teams that want a visual overview of their clusters without terminal complexity
- Engineers who prefer GUI tools and mouse-driven workflows
- Operators managing multiple clusters who need side-by-side comparison
- Anyone who spends significant time reading logs and wants search, bookmarks, and export
- macOS users who value native app design and system integration
Who Should Choose k9s
- Terminal power users who are fastest with Vim-style navigation
- Teams on Linux or Windows who need a cross-platform tool
- Engineers who work primarily over SSH
- Users who want a completely free, open-source solution
- Environments where minimal resource usage matters
Get Started with Krust
If you are a k9s user curious about a GUI approach, Krust's free tier covers resource browsing, terminal exec, log viewing, Helm, YAML editing, metrics, and multi-cluster. You can try it without commitment and keep using k9s alongside it.