Kubeless vs OpenFaaS: What are the differences?

Introduction:

Kubeless and OpenFaaS are both serverless frameworks that allow developers to deploy and run functions in a containerized environment. While they share similar goals, there are several key differences between the two platforms that set them apart.

1. Language Support: Kubeless supports a wider range of programming languages compared to OpenFaaS. With Kubeless, developers can write functions in languages such as Python, Node.js, Ruby, PHP, and more. In contrast, OpenFaaS primarily focuses on supporting functions written in Go and also provides support for other languages through community-contributed templates.

2. Deployment Options: Kubeless is tightly integrated with Kubernetes and relies on it for deployment and scaling. This means that Kubeless functions are deployed as Kubernetes deployments and benefit from features like scaling, auto-healing, and rolling deployments. On the other hand, OpenFaaS provides more deployment flexibility as it can be deployed on any Kubernetes cluster, as well as other container orchestration platforms like Docker Swarm and Kubernetes in managed cloud services.

3. Event Sources: Kubeless has a built-in event source mechanism that allows functions to be triggered by various events such as HTTP requests, message queues, or cron jobs. It provides out-of-the-box integrations with popular event sources like Kafka, NATS, RabbitMQ, and more. OpenFaaS, on the other hand, doesn't offer a native event source mechanism. Developers need to rely on external tools or services to trigger functions based on events.

4. Scalability: Kubeless leverages the scalability features of Kubernetes to scale functions automatically based on demand. It supports both horizontal and vertical scaling, allowing functions to handle increased traffic or workload. OpenFaaS also provides scalability through worker nodes that can be added or removed to handle varying workloads, but it doesn't have the same level of integration with Kubernetes for automatic scaling.

5. Community and Ecosystem: OpenFaaS has a larger and more active community compared to Kubeless. It has a wide range of community-contributed templates and plugins that extend its functionality and make it easier to integrate with popular tools and services. Kubeless, while still having an active community, doesn't have the same level of ecosystem maturity as OpenFaaS.

6. Ease of Use: OpenFaaS provides a more user-friendly and intuitive user interface (UI) called the Gateway UI. The Gateway UI allows users to manage and deploy functions without the need for writing YAML files directly. Kubeless, on the other hand, requires users to interact with Kubernetes resources directly, which can be more complex and intimidating for beginners.

In summary, Kubeless and OpenFaaS differ in terms of language support, deployment options, event sources, scalability mechanisms, community and ecosystem support, as well as ease of use.