k9s
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 3 Kubernetes UIs
Fast, keyboard-driven terminal interface for managing Kubernetes clusters, praised for speed and efficiency over browsers and GUI tools. Caveat: terminal-only with a steep learning curve.
Fast, keyboard-driven terminal interface for managing Kubernetes clusters, praised for speed and efficiency over browsers and GUI tools. Caveat: terminal-only with a steep learning curve.
34 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 31
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 91%
Recommended in 11 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 31 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 10 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 11 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Respected among terminal UI fans
“after trying lazygit, lazydocker, k9s and a few more TUI programs, I can see the value”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS” “I've always been a big fan of TUI applications like lazygit, k9s, and dive”
Comment from 23 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Whosthere: A LAN discovery tool with a modern TUI, written in Go” “That team created a really great product for people who want to TUI.”
Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Luxury Yacht is a desktop app for managing Kubernetes clusters” - Comment from 22 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: What is your opinion on TUI applications”
- Comment from 3 May 2026 in “Why TUIs Are Back”
- Comment from 20 Jan 2026 in “Luxury Yacht is a desktop app for managing Kubernetes clusters”
Keyboard-driven, single-keypress actions
“shelling into an instance from k9s cli is pressing "s" with the instance highlighted in the TUI. it's great.”
Comment from 24 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud” “Once you get comfy in a well designed TUI, you can fly through this process in 10 seconds.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS” “it's all keyboard driven and most actions are single keypresses”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS” - Comment from 8 Oct 2026 in “Show HN: K10s – A Clickable Kubernetes TUI (Go, Bubble Tea)”
Faster and more convenient than GUIs
“good showcases how a TUI reduces mental load and are superior to browsers and / or other GUI tools”
Comment from 13 Mar 2026 in “TUI Studio – visual terminal UI design tool” “I often find kubectl and related tools like k9s more ergonomic than systemctl/journalctl”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud” “something I find much easier than most other management tools”
Comment from 16 Jul 2026 in “Rebuilding My Homelab with Compose, Ruby, IPv6, and No Kubernetes” - Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS”
Widely used for monitoring and logs
“If you trust k9s (which clearly works, given how widely it's used), the same logic applies here.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “Show HN: Terminal UI for AWS” “k9s is my new favourite infra monitoring tool”
Comment from 23 Apr 2026 in “I Am Building a Cloud” “Tooling i.e. k9s for looking at logs etc.”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “I run multiple $10K MRR companies on a $20/month tech stack”
Other Kubernetes UIs people recommend
The two most recommended other Kubernetes UIs, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
See all 3 Kubernetes UIs, rankedWhat people said
32 of the 36 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I was sick of k9s being slow, buggy, and consuming all my memory.”
“I'm fine with K9s and lazygit key-driven interfaces.”
“It feels more immediate than launching a separate app from the terminal”
“some are simply too good versus the alternative”
“something I find much easier than most other management tools”
“there's nothing better to migrate off it”
“it iss the best tui I've seen before the AI era”
“I believe that specialized tools are simpler and more robust to maintain”
“I haven't felt like I downgraded when I moved to k9s”
“those are such amazinng tools”
“Shoutout to k9s. Fantastic tool.”
“shelling into an instance from k9s cli is pressing "s" with the instance highlighted in the TUI. it's great.”
“I often find kubectl and related tools like k9s more ergonomic than systemctl/journalctl”
“k9s is my new favourite infra monitoring tool”
“Tooling i.e. k9s for looking at logs etc.”
“good showcases how a TUI reduces mental load and are superior to browsers and / or other GUI tools”
“I can't stream k9s output into a pipe or variable”
“k9s is solid but terminal-only with a steep learning curve”
“I've always been a big fan of TUI applications like lazygit, k9s, and dive”
“That team created a really great product for people who want to TUI.”
“Also a huge fan of k9s myself.”
“I've struggled with K9s and OpenLens”
“after trying lazygit, lazydocker, k9s and a few more TUI programs, I can see the value”
“Once you get comfy in a well designed TUI, you can fly through this process in 10 seconds.”
“The exact same use cases manifest with that tool.”
“It's just faster and more convenient.”
“it's all keyboard driven and most actions are single keypresses”
“If you trust k9s (which clearly works, given how widely it's used), the same logic applies here.”
“That's really how I use k9s and wouldn't be able to stand k8s without it.”
“All kinds of nifty features built-in, and highly customizable.”
“Honerable mentions: k9s, lens”
“K9s is great for visual people who are used to vim.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.