Lightweight Kubernetes: K3s and MicroK8s for Local and Edge Deployments

Not every Kubernetes cluster has to be massive. Sometimes, what’s needed is something that installs quickly, runs with minimal overhead, and doesn’t turn a dev box or edge node into a fan-blowing heater. That’s where K3s and MicroK8s come in.

Both offer streamlined ways to run Kubernetes — without skipping key features. They’re small, fast to get going, and more than capable of hosting real workloads, especially for dev environments, testbeds, or single-node edge setups.

What Each One Brings

Why These Two Are Often Compared

They aim for similar goals — but take slightly different paths.

K3s comes pre-packaged with sensible defaults. It removes legacy alpha APIs, bundles core components, and uses SQLite by default for storage (though it can use etcd too). It’s aggressively trimmed — meant to run where other clusters wouldn’t even start.

MicroK8s is more like stock Kubernetes, but wrapped in a Snap. It supports enabling/disabling components like DNS, ingress, registry, etc. That modularity makes it easier to mimic production clusters — without running everything at once.

Neither needs a multi-node cluster to get started. Both work just fine on a laptop or single VM.

Quick Start (Single Node)

K3s

1. Run this on any Linux host:

curl -sfL https://get.k3s.io | sh –

2. The kubeconfig ends up at:
   /etc/rancher/k3s/k3s.yaml
   Use it with kubectl — or symlink it to ~/.kube/config.

That’s it. No fancy orchestration needed.

MicroK8s

1. On Ubuntu:

sudo snap install microk8s –classic

2. Add user to the group:

sudo usermod -a -G microk8s $USER
newgrp microk8s

3. Enable modules:

microk8s enable dns ingress

Kubeconfig can be accessed with:
microk8s config > ~/.kube/config

Where These Tools Fit Best

– Spinning up disposable Kubernetes clusters for development
– CI pipelines that need container orchestration without full cluster complexity
– Testing Helm charts or Kubernetes manifests offline
– Running edge services on Raspberry Pi or low-power nodes
– Teaching or learning Kubernetes without cloud accounts

Strengths and Limitations

K3s strengths:

– Fast startup, even on old hardware
– Very low memory footprint
– Simple install and upgrade
– Built-in Traefik and CRDs out of the box

MicroK8s strengths:

– Closer to upstream Kubernetes structure
– Easy to toggle services via enable / disable
– Snap updates can be seamless
– More visibility into internal components

Caveats (shared or separate):

– Snap packages in MicroK8s can clash with classic paths
– K3s can feel too “opinionated” if customization is needed
– Neither is meant for large-scale production — but can get close
– Networking defaults may differ from cloud clusters (e.g. Flannel vs Calico)

Final Thought

K3s and MicroK8s both solve the same problem: how to run Kubernetes without needing a datacenter. They trade some flexibility for simplicity — and in most small setups, that’s a good trade. Pick K3s if minimalism and embedded use matter more. Go with MicroK8s if you want something that behaves more like a trimmed-down copy of production clusters. Either way, the install takes minutes — and the learning that follows is the same.