cert-manager/cert-manager
Automatically provision and manage TLS certificates in Kubernetes observed · 2026-08-28
Health v2 · maintenance only
98/100
- Activity 99
- Release rhythm 95
- Longevity 100
How is this computed?
round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10) — computed 2026-09-02. Adoption (stars, forks) is never an input.
- gap_med: 8.0
- age_days: 3388
- days_rel: 35
- days_push: 7
- n_releases_24m: 37
Adoption not part of the score
14052 stars · 2438 forks observed · 2026-08-28
What it is AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, 2026-08-29, confidence not recorded
cert-manager is a Kubernetes controller that adds Certificate and Issuer resource types to clusters and automates obtaining, renewing, and using X.509 TLS certificates. It supports issuers such as Let's Encrypt (ACME), HashiCorp Vault, CyberArk Certificate Manager, and local private PKI, storing certificates in Kubernetes Secrets or delivering them via CSI drivers.
Use cases
- automatically provision TLS certificates for Kubernetes Ingress with Let's Encrypt
- renew certificates before they expire without manual toil
- secure pod-to-pod communication with mTLS using a private CA
- issue certificates from HashiCorp Vault or CyberArk Certificate Manager
- manage certificates as Kubernetes resources with declarative YAML
- serve certificates to workloads via CSI driver without storing keys in Secrets
- enable HTTPS on web services running in EKS, GKE, or AKS
When to choose
- you run workloads on Kubernetes or OpenShift and need automated TLS certificate lifecycle management
- you want Let's Encrypt/ACME certificates issued and renewed automatically for Ingress resources
- you need a private in-cluster PKI for mTLS between services
- you want certificates managed declaratively as CRDs
When to avoid
- you are not running Kubernetes or OpenShift
- you need certificates for a single standalone server where a simple ACME client like certbot suffices
- you require a full web UI for certificate management rather than Kubernetes resources
Facets
service · maturity stable
security deployment infrastructure-as-code configuration-management security cloud-computing self-hosted cloud self-hosted go tls-certificates letsencrypt acme x509 kubernetes-operator cncf certificate-renewal mtls private-pki devops containers kubernetes docker
4 sources
- readme: https://github.com/cert-manager/cert-manager · fetched 2026-08-28 · 47587ecd1fca
- homepage: https://cert-manager.io · fetched 2026-08-29 · e6f2673d1e42
- site_page: https://cert-manager.io/docs · fetched 2026-08-29 · c3efcb0ad546
- site_page: https://cert-manager.io/docs/getting-started · fetched 2026-08-29 · e34a79a16c5f
Member repositories
| Repository | Role | Health v2 |
|---|---|---|
| cert-manager/cert-manager | main | 98 |
For agents
markdown · JSON · MCP: product_card(name="cert-manager/cert-manager")
Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00 · Report a problem