Kubernetes monitoring tools with a free plan in 2026
Cluster, node, pod and container health, and the events that explain it. This list has 23 Kubernetes monitoring tools. Of these, 21 are open source, 23 have a free plan and 23 can be self-hosted. Checked by hand on 30 September 2026.
- 1
Botkube
Kubernetes ChatOps bot that posts cluster events and alerts to Slack, Discord or Mattermost and lets you run kubectl from chat.
- 2
cAdvisor
Google's container advisor: a daemon that collects resource usage and performance data for running containers and exposes it to Prometheus. Built into the kubelet.
- 3
Checkmk
Infrastructure monitoring for servers, networks, cloud and containers with automatic service discovery; the base edition is open source and paid editions add more.
- 4
Coroot
Open source observability that uses eBPF to build service maps and collect metrics, logs, traces and profiles without code changes, with root-cause hints.
- 5
Dozzle
Small web UI that streams and searches live Docker container logs across hosts, with no log storage. Optional Dozzle Cloud adds grouped alerts and log analysis.
- 6
Freelens
Community-maintained open source Kubernetes desktop IDE, forked from OpenLens, for managing clusters and viewing workloads, metrics and logs.
- 7
groundcover
Kubernetes observability that uses an eBPF sensor and runs in your own cloud account, covering logs, traces, metrics and APM without code changes.
- 8
Headlamp
Kubernetes web UI and desktop app, now a Kubernetes SIG UI project, for browsing cluster resources, logs and events, extensible with plugins.
- 9
Hubble
Network observability layer for Cilium that shows service dependencies, network flows and DNS and HTTP traffic between Kubernetes workloads, using eBPF.
- 10
Inspektor Gadget
CNCF project of eBPF-based tools (gadgets) for inspecting and debugging Kubernetes workloads and Linux hosts, from network traces to process and file activity.
- 11
K8sGPT
CLI and operator that scans Kubernetes clusters for problems and explains them in plain language using an LLM backend of your choice. CNCF sandbox project.
- 12
k9s
Terminal UI for Kubernetes that lists and watches cluster resources in real time and lets you view logs, exec into pods and act on resources with keystrokes.
- 13
kube-state-metrics
Kubernetes add-on that listens to the API server and exposes the state of objects such as deployments, pods and nodes as Prometheus metrics.
- 14
Kubernetes Dashboard
The former official web UI for viewing and managing workloads and resources in a Kubernetes cluster.
- 15
kubernetes-event-exporter
Exports Kubernetes events to sinks such as Slack, Opsgenie, Elasticsearch, Kafka or webhooks, so events can be kept and alerted on.
- 16
Kubeshark
Captures and dissects API traffic between Kubernetes pods (HTTP, gRPC, Kafka, DNS and more) so you can inspect requests cluster-wide, like Wireshark for Kubernetes.
- 17
Kubewatch
Kubernetes watcher that reports resource changes in the cluster to Slack, Mattermost and other chat channels or to a webhook.
- 18
Lens
Desktop Kubernetes IDE for browsing clusters, resource metrics and logs across many clusters. Free for individuals and small organizations; paid plans add team and enterprise features.
- 19
Metrics Server
Cluster-wide aggregator of CPU and memory usage from kubelets, serving the Metrics API used by kubectl top and the Horizontal Pod Autoscaler.
- 20
Netdata
Per-second metrics for servers, containers and applications from an agent with built-in dashboards and alerts, plus the optional hosted Netdata Cloud.
- 21
Pixie
Kubernetes observability that uses eBPF to capture service traffic, metrics and CPU profiles automatically; a CNCF sandbox project.
- 22
Prometheus Operator
Kubernetes operator that deploys and configures Prometheus and Alertmanager from custom resources. Its kube-prometheus project and the kube-prometheus-stack Helm chart bundle a full cluster monitoring setup.
- 23
Robusta
Kubernetes alert enrichment and routing on top of Prometheus: adds pod logs, events and graphs to alerts and sends them to Slack, Teams and other sinks. Open source core plus a paid SaaS.
Side by side
| Tool | Pricing | Free plan | Open source | Self-hosted | Cluster, node and pod metrics | Kubernetes events | Pod logs | Cluster view | Requests and limits advice | Change timeline | Network visibility | Alerting | Multi-cluster | Runs in your cluster |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Botkube | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | - | Yes | No | Yes | - | Yes |
| cAdvisor | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Checkmk | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | Yes | - | - | - | Yes | Yes | - |
| Coroot | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Dozzle | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | - | No | - | No | Yes | - | Yes |
| Freelens | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | No | Yes | No |
| groundcover | Free plan | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Headlamp | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | No | Yes | Yes |
| Hubble | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | No | Yes | - | Yes | Yes |
| Inspektor Gadget | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | - | Yes | No | - | Yes |
| K8sGPT | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | No | - | - | No | Yes | - | Yes |
| k9s | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | - | - | No | No | - | No |
| kube-state-metrics | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Kubernetes Dashboard | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | No | - | No | No | No | Yes |
| kubernetes-event-exporter | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | - | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Kubeshark | Free plan | Community: up to 3 nodes and 60 pods | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | Yes | No | - | Yes | Yes | - | Yes |
| Kubewatch | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Lens | Free plan | Personal plan: orgs under $10M revenue or funding | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | - | - | No | Yes | No |
| Metrics Server | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Netdata | Free plan | 5 nodes, non-commercial use | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | Yes | - | - | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pixie | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | - | Yes | - | - | Yes | No | - | Yes |
| Prometheus Operator | Free | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | - | Yes |
| Robusta | Free plan | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | - | Yes | Yes | Yes |
Yes: confirmed in the tool's documentation. No: documented as not offered. -: not confirmed. Plans and prices change; check each tool's own site before you decide.
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