Kubeletto vs Porter
Porter is a Kubernetes-native PaaS that deploys onto your own AWS, GCP, or Azure Kubernetes cluster. Kubeletto is a fully managed Kubernetes PaaS — no cloud account required. Porter gives you more control over the underlying cluster; Kubeletto removes the cluster entirely from your concern.
Why Kubeletto?
Developers and small teams who want Kubernetes-grade scalability without managing their own cloud Kubernetes cluster or understanding Porter's infrastructure provisioning.
Why Porter?
Engineering teams with specific compliance requirements that mandate keeping workloads within their own AWS/GCP/Azure account, or who need Kubernetes primitives like custom CRDs.
Feature Matrix
Compare side-by-side features of Kubeletto and Porter. Kubeletto delivers direct container deployments with built-in scale-to-zero autoscaling, whereas Porter focuses on complex multi-resource canvas mapping.
| Feature | Kubeletto | Porter |
|---|---|---|
| Cluster ownership | Fully managed by Kubeletto — no cloud account needed | Deployed to your own EKS/GKE/AKS cluster — you own the infrastructure |
| Scale to zero | Built-in via Knative — zero cost when idle | Not built-in — minimum replica count keeps pods running |
| Setup time | Under 5 minutes — connect GitHub and deploy | 30–60 minutes — provision cloud account, create cluster, install Porter |
| Observability | Built-in logs and metrics | Integrates with Datadog, Grafana, or your own observability stack |
Developer Workflow
Deploying applications on Kubeletto is fully automated via direct Git integration or a single CLI command, whereas Porter relies on manual project creation on a visual workspace canvas.
Deploy on Kubeletto
- 1
Sign up, connect GitHub, deploy.
- 2
Kubeletto provisions the runtime, networking, and TLS automatically.
- 3
Monitor everything from the Kubeletto console.
Deploy on Porter
- 1
Connect your AWS/GCP/Azure account to Porter.
- 2
Provision a managed Kubernetes cluster through Porter's UI.
- 3
Deploy apps to your cluster via Porter's dashboard or CLI.
Pricing Comparison
Porter charges a platform fee plus the cost of your underlying cloud Kubernetes cluster (EKS baseline ~$73/month + worker nodes). Kubeletto charges only for compute consumed with scale-to-zero, and is free during beta.
Migration Guide
Migrating your deployment from Porter to Kubeletto is a simple, three-step process: export your environment variables, link your repository commit branch, and trigger the deploy.
- 1
Export your environment variables and Helm values from Porter.
- 2
Create a new Kubeletto app and connect your GitHub repository.
- 3
Set environment variables in Kubeletto and trigger a deployment.
- 4
Update DNS to point to your new Kubeletto subdomain.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can Kubeletto replace Porter for production Kubernetes workloads?
Yes, for the majority of stateless web apps, APIs, and microservices. Kubeletto uses Kubernetes internally (Knative Serving) and provides production-grade scaling, rollbacks, and observability.
Does Kubeletto support Helm charts like Porter?
Kubeletto abstracts Helm and Kubernetes manifests entirely. You deploy containers via CLI or GitHub — no Helm knowledge required. For advanced Kubernetes use cases requiring custom CRDs, Porter may be more appropriate.