A native Kubernetes desktop client — keyboard-driven, streaming-first, multi-cluster.
Lives between k9s and Lens, doing the ops both punt to a shell alias.
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k9s gave us keyboard muscle memory. Lens gave us scope — multi-cluster, CRDs, the whole API. VorPilot keeps both and adds the operations they punt to a shell: pause a whole namespace, X-ray a workload's real dependency graph, deploy from a manifest catalog in one keystroke, browse a container's filesystem, drop a privileged debug pod onto a node.
Native desktop — no Electron, no browser tab. macOS, Windows, and Linux.
- ⌨️ A complete keyboard system — command + filter modes, quick-access slots
1–9, deploy macros, context-aware actions per kind (⇧Eedit,⇧Llogs,⇧Sexec/scale).F1for the full map. - 🕸️ Resource topology — pick any Deployment / Service / Pod and see its full dependency graph, auto-laid-out and color-coded by health, with optional network-policy checks.
- 🗂️ Whole-namespace inventory — every Kind in a namespace discovered and grouped on one pane, with live counts and one-click drill-in.
- ⏸️ Suspend / resume a namespace — scale every workload to zero, park DaemonSets, suspend CronJobs, drop HPAs — then restore it exactly as it was. Cut idle cost, lose nothing.
- 🔍 Three filter systems at once — type-to-filter with AND/OR/NOT, stackable label & field selectors, and any label promotable to a sortable column.
- 🐞 Node debugging — one keystroke schedules a privileged toolbox pod onto a node (host FS at
/host, ~30 tools), tolerating any taint. - 📁 Container file browser — browse, upload, download, delete inside a running container — no
kubectl cp, no tar gymnastics. - 🖥️ Integrated shell — a real terminal already scoped to the selected cluster's context.
An instant X-ray of any workload — owners, Services, Ingress, config, storage, RBAC, and scaling, auto-laid-out and color-coded by health. And the whole namespace as one browsable inventory instead of clicking type by type.
Type-to-filter with AND / OR / NOT and per-column matches, stack real label and field selectors from any chip, and watch results narrow live. Promote any label to a sortable, persisted column. Pin the views you live in to numbered slots.
A complete, discoverable hotkey system covers everything — command and filter modes, panels and dialogs, quick-access slots 1–9, deploy macros, and context-aware actions per resource kind. Learn it once, then never reach for the mouse.
Pause an entire namespace and resume it precisely as it was — original replica counts, selectors, and HPAs restored from annotations. Edit env, image, and labels through focused dialogs that apply a minimal patch; secret values stay masked.
Drop a privileged toolbox onto any node with one keystroke — host filesystem at /host, kubectl / crictl / tcpdump / nsenter / strace already there. Browse a container's filesystem like Finder. Open a real terminal already pointed at the right cluster.
More screenshots — filtering, the keyboard map, node debugging, the file browser and the shell
Filtering a Deployments table live, with stacked label chips and the full action bar.
The keyboard shortcut map, reachable from anywhere with F1.
A privileged debug pod scheduled onto a specific node, with Files / Exec / Port-forward actions.
The container file browser — folders, sizes, Unix permissions, with upload / download / delete.
An integrated shell, already scoped to the selected cluster's context.
An honest, feature-by-feature look at the tools we ourselves use. Full table on vortilis.com/compare.
| VorPilot | Lens | k9s | Headlamp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Suspend / resume namespace | ✅ | – | – | – |
| Container file browser | ✅ | – | – | – |
| Trigger Job from a Job | ✅ | – | – | – |
| Resource topology graph | ✅ | via extension | XRay | ✅ Map view |
| Whole-namespace list (one pane) | ✅ | – | – | – |
| Labels → sortable table columns | ✅ | – | via view | labels column |
| Vim-style keyboard navigation | ✅ | – | ✅ | – |
Command palette (⌘K) |
✅ | navigation | :cmds |
search only |
| Native desktop (no Electron) | ✅ | Electron | terminal | Electron |
| Self-hosted team server + OIDC SSO | ✅ Server | cloud / paid | – | ✅ |
| Free · all features unlocked | ✅ beta | Personal · login | ✅ | ✅ |
Checked 31 August 2026 against Headlamp 0.45, Lens Desktop 2026.x and the current k9s documentation. Every column but ours is read off the vendor's own public documentation — if a cell is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
k9s gave us keyboard. Lens gave us scope. We kept both, dropped the Electron overhead, and added the operations neither ships — plus a Server edition that serves the very same app to your team in the browser, behind your own OIDC.
Same app, two delivery models — both open during the beta.
| Desktop | Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Native client on your machine | Self-hosted, browser-delivered to your team | |
| Runs against | your local kubeconfig |
every cluster your team operates, centrally configured |
| Auth | — | your OIDC SSO (Dex, Keycloak, Okta, Google…) → cluster RBAC |
| Delivery | macOS · Windows · Linux | Helm chart — you run it, you own it |
| Status | Beta — available now | Coming soon · Q4 2026 |
Server deploys once into a single infrastructure cluster and talks to all the rest; each engineer signs in through your identity provider and their token is forwarded to every cluster API, so existing Kubernetes RBAC — not VorPilot — decides who can do what. Nothing phones home; it runs entirely on your infrastructure.
→ vortilis.com/download — macOS (Apple Silicon & Intel), Windows x64, Linux (x86_64 & ARM64).
No account, no license key. brew and winget at public launch.
Warning
Spain — our site, downloads, updates and licence checks can be unreachable during football matches: collateral damage from court-ordered IP blocking that hits shared infrastructure, not something wrong with your connection. Retry after the match. An installed VorPilot keeps working through it: it tolerates a licence check that cannot reach us.
Is it really free?
Yes. Desktop and Server alike are free during the beta, with every feature unlocked — no accounts, no license keys, no payment of any kind.
What's the difference between Desktop and Server?
Desktop is the native app on your laptop, talking to clusters via your local kubeconfig. Server is an app you deploy once into any cluster and point at all the clusters your team operates — engineers open a browser, sign in through OIDC, and get the exact same UI against every connected cluster. Their SSO token is forwarded to each cluster API, so existing Kubernetes RBAC decides what's allowed.
Does Server only manage the cluster it's installed in?
No — that's the point. The cluster you install it on is just a host. Server holds credentials for every cluster you want your team to reach: prod-eu, prod-us, staging, k3s on the edge, EKS, on-prem. One Server, N clusters.
Where does my data go?
Desktop is local — your kubeconfig and manifests never leave your machine. Server runs entirely on your own infrastructure; there's no SaaS dependency and nothing phones home. You host it, you own the data.
Is VorPilot open source?
No. VorPilot is proprietary software, distributed under our EULA — the Desktop app and Server ship as ready-to-run binaries (and a Helm chart for Server); the source isn't published. It's free to use during the beta, with every feature unlocked. Third-party components and their licenses are listed at vortilis.com/licenses.
Found a bug or have a feature request? Open an issue — please include your OS, VorPilot version (bottom-left of the app), and Kubernetes distribution/version. This repository is for downloads, issues, and discussion; the source is not published.
Proprietary — © 2026 Vortilis. Use is governed by the EULA. Third-party notices: vortilis.com/licenses.