Directory DevOps & Platform EngineeringInfrastructure as CodeCDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s)

CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s)

Open Source

About CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s)

CDK8s is an open-source software development framework for defining Kubernetes applications and reusable abstractions. It uses familiar programming languages and object-oriented APIs. cdk8s apps synthesize into standard Kubernetes manifests. These manifests can be applied to any Kubernetes cluster. It runs locally in the development environment. It is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation Sandbox Project.

Used for

Defining Kubernetes applications for any cluster running anywhere, including cloud or on-premises.
Importing objects from any Kubernetes API version and custom resource definitions.
Writing entire Kubernetes applications and keeping them up to date as applications change.
Composing and sharing reusable components through code libraries.

Who it is for

Built for any developer who uses Kubernetes to define their applications.

From CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s)'s own website, read 2026-10-23. How we build listings.

How to evaluate Infrastructure as Code

This is how the CIOPages Research Team evaluates this category. It is not an assessment of CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s). It comes from our Infrastructure as Code (IaC) Platforms buyer guide.

25%

Language & Authoring Model

Declarative DSL (HCL) vs. general-purpose language (TypeScript, Python, Go, C#); readability for reviewers vs. expressive power (loops, conditionals, abstractions); module/component reuse and registry maturity; testing and IDE support; learning curve for the people who will actually write infrastructure

20%

State Management & Drift

Where state is stored, remote-state locking to prevent concurrent-apply corruption, state encryption and secret handling, plan/preview fidelity, drift detection and continuous reconciliation, import of existing resources, and blast-radius controls on apply

20%

Policy-as-Code & Governance

OPA/Rego and Sentinel support, pre-apply guardrails (block non-compliant resources, mandatory tags, region/cost limits), RBAC and SSO/SAML/SCIM, audit logging, approval workflows, and integration with cost-estimation and security scanning in the pipeline

15%

Provider Ecosystem & Portability

Breadth and quality of providers/resource coverage, day-one support for new cloud services, multi-cloud and on-prem reach, third-party SaaS providers, and how locked-in the resulting code is to one vendor or one cloud

10%

Collaboration & Workflow (TACOS)

Run orchestration and queuing, VCS/PR-driven plans, stack dependencies, self-service environments with TTL/ephemeral teardown, drift remediation workflows, and whether you self-host in CI (Atlantis-style) or buy a managed platform

10%

Licensing & Project Health

License (open-source MPL/Apache vs. source-available BUSL vs. proprietary), governance and ownership after recent M&A, release cadence and roadmap, community/foundation backing (CNCF, Linux Foundation), and how easily you could exit or fork

Other Infrastructure as Code Vendors

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Quick Facts

cdk8s.io

CategoryDevOps & Platform Engineering

SubcategoryInfrastructure as Code

PricingOpen source

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