Harbor vs Helm: What are the differences?

Harbor and Helm are two popular open-source solutions used in the world of containerization. Harbor is a container image registry while Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes.

1. Integration with Container Registry: The key difference between Harbor and Helm lies in their primary function. Harbor acts as a container image registry, allowing users to store and manage their container images. On the other hand, Helm is a package manager that provides a way to define, install, and manage applications running on Kubernetes clusters.

2. Dependency Management: Another significant difference is that Harbor does not have dependency management capabilities. It focuses solely on the storage and distribution of container images. In contrast, Helm excels in managing complex deployments, including handling dependencies between different Kubernetes resources, making it a powerful tool for application packaging and deployment.

3. Image Scanning and Security: Harbor puts a strong emphasis on security by providing vulnerability scanning and image signing features. It allows users to scan images for vulnerabilities and enforce security policies, ensuring that only trusted and secure images are used in production environments. Helm, on the other hand, does not offer built-in image scanning capabilities but can leverage external tools or plugins to perform similar security checks.

4. Version Control: Harbor has extensive version control capabilities, allowing users to manage different versions of container images and roll back to previous versions if needed. This is particularly useful when there is a need to track changes or revert to a known working state. In contrast, Helm primarily focuses on versioning and managing Kubernetes resources rather than container images.

5. User Management and Access Control: Harbor provides robust user management and access control features, allowing organizations to define roles, permissions, and authentication methods. This ensures that only authorized users can access and modify container images. Helm, on the other hand, does not have built-in user management and relies on Kubernetes RBAC (Role-Based Access Control) for authentication and authorization.

6. Community Support and Adoption: Both Harbor and Helm have a thriving community and are widely adopted in the container ecosystem. However, Helm has gained more popularity and has a larger user base due to its convenience in managing complex deployments and its extensive support for Kubernetes resources.

In Summary, Harbor is a container image registry that focuses on image storage, security, and version control, while Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes that excels in managing application deployments, including dependency handling and versioning.