Aptakube is the Best Lens Alternative Right Now
I am a big nerd when it comes to trying out different tools and new utilities for managing things. I think all of us in IT and DevOps are guilty of always looking for something better and the “next big thing” in terms of tools that make our life easier. I have been using the Lens tool for quite some time now and have really liked it. However, I got a great tip from a user on my Discord server @t3hbeowulf who recommended trying out a tool called Aptakube. I hadn’t used it before, but was excited to take a look. Let’s look closer at this tool and see what it is and what you can do with it.
Table of contents
Brief overview of Aptakube
If you haven’t heard of Aptakube, it is a Kubernetes tool that runs from your desktop and allows you to basically work with the Kubernetes API with a really nice GUI frontend. It is definitely a competitor to something like Lens. So if you have used Lens before, you will understand what the use case is here.
Aptakube has features that really stand out in a crowded world of Kubernetes management tools. However, I think the most significant of these is its ability to connect to multiple Kubernetes clusters at once. With this ability, you can select multiple clusters to manage at the same time, compare resources, and configure.
Also, you don’t have to install an agent pod of sorts for Aptakube. It uses what Aptakube calls a zero-config model that requires nothing to be installed in your cluster. It uses your existing kubeconfig file.
Aptakube is built with a more secure alternative to Electron, called Tauri. You can tell this with the small download binaries for Aptakube. It also makes the app perform really well, even with large clusters.
It includes things like a built in YAML editor and resource comparison tool. The feedback loop with their development staff is noted to be very good. They are quick to listen to what customers need to have when managing their Kubernetes clusters and implement these features into Aptakube.
Is it free?
There is no free for home labs, individuals just testing, or something similar, which is a bit of a bummer. When you download Aptakube, you will have 14 days to trial out the software for free. After that, there are 3 tiers of licensing:
- $9/month – Individual subscription license. You will receive updates as long as you maintain your subscription
- $99/year – Perpetual license. You own the software, but will need to pay the $99 each year to continue getting updates.
- $7/seat/month – Teams license for organizations who want to have a license for each engineer
In looking at the pricing though, I think Aptakube is a great value for the tool you get
Installing Aptakube
The installation process is a next-next-finish process that will have the application up and running very quickly. Below are screenshots from my installation of the app on my workstation.
Next, select your destination directory. Defaults are fine for most.
Ready to install.
For me, the installation finished very quickly and you can automatically launch Aptakube after the installation.
Using Aptakube with Kubernetes
With Aptakube, you can get node metrics in the interface, including CPU and memory metrics for nodes and pods. This is extremely helpful and useful for “at a glance” health overviews. Unlike Lens which has a “cluster settings” that you can toggle for metrics, Aptakube directs you to install the metrics-server which you can find here: kubernetes-sigs/metrics-server.
Once installed, you will start to see metrics streamed to your Aptakube interface.
I like the quick look at pods, deployments, replicasets, daemonsets, statefulsets, cronjobs, and jobs. It will quickly tell you if something is wrong somewhere.
A look at the deployments screen.
Viewing pods in the Aptakube interface.
You can also view ingresses and other important network configurations.
viewing the YAML definition for a deployment of phpipam.
You can easily view events in the Aptakube interface.
Quick actions
There are several quick actions. These include the following:
- Restart Pods: You can do this in Deployments, ReplicaSets, StatefulSets and DaemonSets.
- Scale In/Out: This action is available on Deployments, ReplicaSets and StatefulSets.
- View Logs: You can look at logs on Pods, Deployments, ReplicaSets, StatefulSets and DaemonSets.
- View YAML: You can see this on all resources, including CRDs.
- Delete Resource: You can see this option on all resources, including CRDs.
- Trigger new Job: You can do this on CronJobs
- Resume/Suspend CronJob: You can do this on CronJobs
Below is the scaling screen on a deployment.
Aptakube as a Lens alternative
In my opinion in a short time of using Aptakube, it is the best Len alternative for several reasons:
- The interface is quick and uncluttered and I found it to be easier to navigate than Lens
- You can admin and configure multiple clusters at the same time which is something you can’t do with Lens.
- The create resource workflow I think is less clunky
- It has better visibility in the interface on things like Flux and objects are much easier to see there
If Open Lens was still around I would say go with Open Lens. But, since Lens closed off the source for Lens and Open Lens is no longer viable, Aptakube is the strongest contender here.
Lens has more bells and whistles since it has been around longer and it does have a free version which I think is a great reason to go with Lens if you don’t want to spend any money on a Kubernetes tool. However, Aptakube is gaining steam and is certainly a tool to watch and play around with. I think it is well worth the $9/mo if you are working with Kubernetes to any notable extent.
Here’s a comparison table of Aptakube and Lens, two Kubernetes management tools, highlighting their key features and differences:
| Feature | Aptakube | Lens |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Unified Kubernetes cluster management | Kubernetes IDE with advanced visualization |
| Interface | Lightweight, minimalistic UI | Feature-rich, detailed UI |
| Platform | Desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux) | Desktop app (Mac, Windows, Linux) |
| Resource Visualization | Focuses on simplicity with metrics viewing across nodes, and pods | Provides detailed metrics and dashboards across nodes and pods |
| Cluster Access | Supports kubeconfig, multiple cluster views at the same time | Manages kubeconfig and multi-cluster views |
| Performance | Optimized for speed and low resource usage | Can be heavier on system resources |
| Extensions | Limited extensibility at the moment | Supports custom extensions and plugins |
| Authentication | Relies on kubeconfig | Built-in RBAC and authentication tools |
| Monitoring | Resource monitoring with metrics-server and Prometheus | Advanced monitoring with Prometheus support |
| Pricing | Free trial, commercial license available | Free and open-source (some Pro features) |
| Key Differentiator | Fast, simple, and user-friendly management. Can manage multiple clusters at the same time | Robust tool with many visualization |
| Target Audience | Developers and admins wanting simplicity | Power users needing comprehensive tools |
| Customizations | UI customization in areas | Can customize using plugins and other settings |
| Setup Complexity | Easy setup and configuration and it just works by reading your kubeconfigs and displaying your cluster. | More cumbersome setup. Installer is much larger |
| Community Support | Smaller user base. Development is very quick to respond to new feature requests | Large and active user community. Part of Mirantis and not as in tune with individual users or organizations |
Recommendations:
- Choose Aptakube if you prioritize simplicity, speed, and a lightweight management tool.
- Choose Lens if you need a Kubernetes IDE with detailed metrics, dashboards, and extensibility.
Wrapping up
Aptakube is a great tool for Kubernetes management, configuration, and troubleshooting. For automation and scripting, use kubectl. But, for a day-to-day tool that allows you to effectively manage your containerized workloads in Kubernetes, using something like Aptakube makes life much easier. Let me know in the comments which tool is on your go to list or do you use something else entirely?
Hi Brandon. OpenLens is still a good choise. But the work has ended for the community project. Why not using the new sandbox cncf project “Heandlamp” to solve the gap? Give it a try: https://headlamp.dev/ I use it now instead of openlens or k9s.
Thx for your great work for the community! Greetings from germany.
Frank,
I have tried Headlamp in the past, but it was still very early on. I need to revisit it for sure. I will give this one a try again. Thank you for the suggestion!
Take care,
Brandon