---
title: 'KubeSphere Community Edition Released: Free Forever, Enterprise-Grade Container Management Instantly Available!'
tag: 'Product Updates'
keyword: 'KubeSphere, Community Edition'
description: 'KubeSphere Community Edition officially released, free forever.'
createTime: '2025-10-09'
author: 'KubeSphere'
image: 'http://pek3b.qingstor.com/kubesphere-community/images/v4.2.0%20Community%20Edition%20GA.png'
---
Today, we officially announce the release of **KubeSphere Community Edition** — a **free forever** container management platform designed for developers and small-to-medium teams. This marks a major milestone in KubeSphere’s product strategy — representing a concrete step toward lowering the barriers to cloud-native adoption and serving a broader user base.
## Four Key Advantages — Free, Yet Enterprise-Ready
### Free Forever, Enterprise-Grade Experience
**Zero cost, no hidden fees.** KubeSphere Community Edition is permanently free and requires no licensing fees, allowing startups, small businesses, and growing teams to enjoy the benefits of cloud-native technology equally.
But free doesn’t mean limited in capability. The Community Edition provides **long-term support and continuous iteration** at the same level as enterprise offerings. All features are battle-tested across industries, giving your business a reliable cloud-native foundation. We believe accessibility and quality can coexist.
### Easy Installation and Immediate Usability
**Flexible deployment, adaptable to all environments.**
KubeSphere Community Edition supports public cloud, private cloud, and bare metal environments, ensuring seamless compatibility across infrastructures. Whether you’re deploying in a data center, on cloud servers, or on-prem hardware, it runs effortlessly.
**Lightweight and beginner-friendly.**
The platform offers a streamlined installation process that dramatically simplifies Kubernetes cluster setup and management. No complex scripts or pre-configurations are required—installation takes just minutes, allowing your team to focus on development and operations faster.
### Open Architecture, Unlimited Extensibility
**Pluggable design and ecosystem compatibility.**
KubeSphere Community Edition features a highly modular architecture with a UI/API that supports dynamic extensions. You can enable only the extensions you need—keeping the system lightweight and efficient.
Even better, KubeSphere integrates seamlessly with numerous open-source tools, empowering you to extend capabilities and build a cloud-native operating system that best fits your team.
### Full-Featured, Cloud-Native Foundation
KubeSphere Community Edition includes the **core capabilities** for building and managing a cloud-native container platform:
- **Unified Management**: Multi-cluster management, fine-grained RBAC, and tenant isolation for enterprise-grade governance.
- **Powerful Observability**: Multi-dimensional monitoring, alerting, and notification systems for rapid troubleshooting.
- **Efficient Operations**: Full application lifecycle management, DevOps pipelines, and flexible storage/networking solutions.
## Extensions: Covering Key Scenarios
KubeSphere Community Edition includes 16 carefully curated extensions, covering observability, DevOps, security, AI inference, service gateway, and database management:
**Observability Stack**
- WizTelemetry Platform Service
- WizTelemetry Monitoring
- WizTelemetry Alerting
- WizTelemetry Notification
- WizTelemetry Data Pipeline
- Metrics Server
**Gateway & Traffic Management**
- KubeSphere Gateway
- Higress (Cloud-Native API Gateway)
**DevOps & Continuous Delivery**
- DevOps (Full CI/CD Pipeline)
**Security & Compliance**
- Gatekeeper (Policy Engine)
- cert-manager (Certificate Management)
**AI and GPU Support**
- NVIDIA GPU Operator
- DeepSeek (AI Inference)
**Data Management & Storage**
- ob-operator (OceanBase Operator)
- oceanbase-dashboard (OceanBase Management Console)
- Fluid (Dataset Orchestration and Acceleration)
These integrations aren’t simple “bundles” — they’re deeply tested and optimized for plug-and-play use within KubeSphere. Each extension can be installed from the Extension Center with one click, reducing learning and maintenance overhead.
## Quick Start
### Installation & Upgrade
#### Online Installation
If you are **starting from scratch**, follow the [Install Kubernetes and KubeSphere Online Guide](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/02-install-kubesphere/01-online-install-kubernetes-and-kubesphere/) to deploy KubeSphere in an internet-accessible environment.
If **Kubernetes is already installed**, you can install KubeSphere directly via Helm. Refer to the [Install KubeSphere](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/02-install-kubesphere/01-online-install-kubernetes-and-kubesphere/#_install_kubesphere) documentation for steps.
#### Upgrade from Open Source Edition to Community Edition
If you already use the open-source version of KubeSphere and wish to upgrade, note the following:
**Usage recommendation**: For optimal experience, the Community Edition supports up to **128 vCPU** per cluster. Beyond that, the system enters read-only mode (view-only access).
**Before upgrading**:
1. Follow the upgrade guide to run the cluster-size check script.
2. Verify dependency versions according to the documentation.
Refer to [Upgrade from KubeSphere Open Source to Community Edition v4.2.0](https://docs.kubesphere.com.cn/v4.2.0/03-installation-and-upgrade/03-upgrade-kubesphere/05-online-upgrade-to-community-4.2.x/) for details.
### License Activation
**Step 1: Retrieve Cluster ID**
After installing KubeSphere, navigate to **Component Dock → Platform Settings → Licenses** to find your Cluster ID.
**Step 2: Apply for Free License**
Go to [Apply for a Free KubeSphere Community License](https://kubesphere.co/apply-license/), fill in your information and Cluster ID, and submit. The license key will be sent to your email (check your spam folder if you don’t receive it).
**Step 3: Add License**
Copy the authorization code from the email, go to **Component Dock → Platform Settings → Licenses**, click **Add License**, and paste the code to activate.
Your KubeSphere Community Edition is now ready to use!
## Why Choose KubeSphere Community Edition?
**Truly Zero Barrier**
No purchase or approval required — start your cloud-native journey immediately.
**Production-Grade Reliability**
Built on Kubernetes best practices and validated by enterprise users, stable and ready for production.
**Smooth Upgrade Path**
As your business grows, simply switch your license to upgrade to the Enterprise Edition for advanced features and support.
## Start Your Cloud-Native Journey Today
Unlock the full potential of Kubernetes with KubeSphere Community Edition — the easiest way to manage your cloud-native applications efficiently!