# rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop

Container Management and Kubernetes on the Desktop

Repository: https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/rancher-desktop
Homepage: https://rancherdesktop.io
Language: TypeScript
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: kubernetes, macos, windows, containers, linux
Last push: 2026-08-26T09:53:21+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 98/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 95, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2140, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 35, "gap_med": 27.0, "n_releases_24m": 19}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 7297, forks 376 (observed 2026-08-28T04:09:58.104878+00:00)

## What it is
Rancher Desktop is an open-source Electron application that provides container management and a local Kubernetes cluster (via k3s) on macOS, Windows, and Linux. It bundles container engines (dockerd/Moby or containerd with nerdctl) plus CLI tools like kubectl, helm, and docker compose behind a GUI and an rdctl command line tool.

## Use cases
- run a local kubernetes cluster on my laptop
- build and run containers on macos without docker desktop
- test kubernetes upgrades locally before production
- manage container images with a gui
- get kubectl and helm bundled on windows
- choose between containerd and docker container engines locally

## When to choose
- you need local Kubernetes and container tooling on macOS, Windows, or Linux in one app
- you want a free open-source alternative to Docker Desktop
- you want to test different Kubernetes versions or container engines locally

## When to avoid
- you need to manage remote or production multi-cluster environments (use Rancher or kubectl directly)
- you only need a lightweight container runtime without Kubernetes
- you require a headless/CI environment (it is a desktop GUI application)

## Facets
- artifact type: application
- maturity: active
- function: container-runtime, developer-tools, gui, cli, deployment
- domain: developer-tools, cloud-computing
- platform: windows, cross-platform
- tags: kubernetes, k3s, containerd, docker, nerdctl, electron-app, local-development, containers, devops, macos, linux, desktop, electron

## Member repositories
- rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop (main) score 98

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:58.104878+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:38:42.339617+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/rancher-sandbox/rancher-desktop (fetched 2026-08-28T04:09:58.104878+00:00, sha 2430ef39f075)
  - homepage: https://rancherdesktop.io (fetched 2026-08-29T08:34:21.439230+00:00, sha 6b24d4be2af3)
  - site_page: https://docs.rancherdesktop.io/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:34:21.448294+00:00, sha 76e7c4e68663)
  - site_page: https://docs.rancherdesktop.io/getting-started/installation (fetched 2026-08-29T08:34:21.450207+00:00, sha 30f4dc3e6223)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.