Kubernetes Dashboard Is Archived: What to Use Instead in 2026

The official Kubernetes Dashboard is archived. Its repository is read-only, its last chart release was 7.14.0 on 30 October 2025, and both its README and the kubernetes.io documentation tell new users to install Headlamp instead. The Helm repository URL that most tutorials still use, https://kubernetes.github.io/dashboard/, now returns a 404.

This guide covers what happened, what to do if you still run the Dashboard, and how the alternatives compare. Everything below was checked on 21 October 2026, and each claim names its source. We make one of the tools in the comparison, Berth, so we say where it fits and where it does not.

The short answer

• You need multi-cluster views, SSO, or per-user permissions: use Headlamp. It is the project’s own recommendation, it is free, and it covers multi-cluster and OIDC sign-in.
• You want a desktop app: Freelens (free, open source) or Lens (commercial, with a free personal tier).
• You live in the terminal: k9s.
• You run one cluster and mostly troubleshoot endpoints and capacity: Berth is built for that narrow case, with the limits listed below.
• You still run the Dashboard: it works today, but it will not get fixes. Plan the move, and see the stopgap below.

What happened to the Kubernetes Dashboard

The repository moved to kubernetes-retired/dashboard and was archived, with its last push on 21 January 2026. Its README says the project “is now archived and no longer maintained due to lack of active maintainers and contributors.” It adds: “Please consider using Headlamp instead.”

The Kubernetes documentation page for the Dashboard now carries a banner saying the project is deprecated and unmaintained, and points to Headlamp’s in-cluster installation guide. Headlamp now lives under Kubernetes SIGs (kubernetes-sigs/headlamp), and the Kubernetes project published a review of Headlamp’s 2025 progress around the same time.

Two practical consequences:

1. No security fixes. An archived project does not patch vulnerabilities. A web UI with cluster access is a high-value target, so treat a lingering Dashboard install as a risk to retire, not a tool to keep.
2. The install instructions broke. From version 7.0 the Dashboard supported only Helm installation, and the chart repository at kubernetes.github.io/dashboard is gone. The same index now lives at https://kubernetes-retired.github.io/dashboard/ (we confirmed it returns 200 and lists 7.14.0).

If you still run it: a stopgap, not a plan

If you have to reinstall or upgrade the Dashboard on an existing cluster while you migrate, the retired repository still serves the chart:

helm repo add kubernetes-dashboard https://kubernetes-retired.github.io/dashboard/
helm repo update

Do not start new installations this way. Use the time you buy to inventory what the Dashboard can do in your cluster. The permissions are usually broader than anyone remembers:

# Which bindings give the Dashboard's service accounts access?
kubectl get clusterrolebindings,rolebindings -A -o wide | grep -i dashboard

Whatever replaces it should get the narrowest role that still does the job, not a copy of that binding.

The alternatives, compared

Statuses were read from each project’s repository or vendor page on 21 October 2026. A cell that says “not checked” means we did not verify it, and you should not assume either way.

Tool	Status	Form	Licence	Multi-cluster and sign-in
Kubernetes Dashboard	Archived, last push 21 Jan 2026	In-cluster web	Apache-2.0	Not applicable
Headlamp	Active, v0.46.0 on 15 Oct 2026	In-cluster web or desktop	Apache-2.0	Multi-cluster; UI reflects user roles; OIDC setup guides (Dex, Keycloak, Cognito, Entra ID)
Freelens	Active, v1.10.3 on 7 Jul 2026	Desktop	MIT	Not checked
Lens	Commercial product	Desktop	Proprietary; free Personal tier, paid plans from $25 a month on annual billing	Not checked
k9s	Active, last push 20 Oct 2026	Terminal	Apache-2.0	Not checked
Portainer	Community Edition frozen on 2.45 LTS	Web	CE open source; 3.x is closed-source Business Edition	Not checked
Skooner	No pushes since 30 Jun 2024	In-cluster web	Apache-2.0	Not checked
Octant	Archived 19 Jan 2023	Not checked	Apache-2.0	Not applicable
Berth	Restricted beta, v0.5.0	In-cluster web or local binary	Proprietary, free for viewing and up to 10 nodes	Single cluster; no SSO or per-user permissions

A few notes behind the table:

• Headlamp describes itself as a vendor-independent web UI that works in-cluster or as a desktop app, extensible through plugins. Its AI assistant is a plugin that you configure with your own API keys. Per Headlamp’s announcement, it can also take actions, such as restarting a deployment, with your permission.
• Lens offers a free Personal tier for students, hobbyists and engineers at small organisations. Organisations with more than $10 million in annual revenue or funding need a paid subscription. For individuals, Plus is $25 a month on annual billing ($30 monthly). For organisations, Pro is $25 per seat a month on annual billing and Enterprise is $50 per seat.
• Portainer: according to coverage of the company’s announcement, Community Edition will stay on the 2.45 LTS release, the last in the 2.x line, while the new Kubernetes-focused 3.x work lands only in the closed-source Business Edition. The free route onto 3.x is Portainer’s “3 Nodes Free” license.
• Skooner and Octant are in the table because they still appear in older “best dashboard” lists. Neither is a safe default today.

Which one for which team

A platform team with several clusters, or anyone who needs SSO. Headlamp. It is the recommended successor, it is free, and it has documented OIDC integrations. It is the only free web option in this list with multi-cluster support that we confirmed.

An engineer who wants a polished desktop app. Freelens if you want open source with no commercial terms, Lens if you want vendor support and are inside its licence conditions.

Terminal-first operators. k9s is a widely used terminal UI. It does not give a team a shared web view.

A small team with one cluster and a Gateway API setup. This is where Berth is aimed. It shows each exposed hostname’s chain (DNS, TLS, Gateway, route, service, backend pods) and names the first broken link, groups capacity by node pool with the binding constraint, and has an optional AI assistant whose tools cannot change the cluster. It runs as one container in your cluster, and license keys are verified offline.

Where Berth does not fit

We would rather you pick the right tool than a worse one. Berth is a restricted beta (the latest release is v0.5.0). It is a single-cluster tool for trusted administrators, and everyone who signs in shares the dashboard’s Kubernetes permissions. It has no SSO or OIDC, no per-user authorization, no audit viewer, and no multi-cluster management. It runs as a single replica and shows live state, not history. It is proprietary software, and the free Community key covers up to 10 nodes.

If any of those is a deal breaker, choose Headlamp. Our install guide and the Berth overview have the details if you want to try it.

A migration checklist

1. Inventory. List the Dashboard’s service accounts and role bindings with the command above, and note how it is exposed (ingress, Gateway or port-forward).
2. Pick the replacement from the decision list, and give it a role that matches what your team actually does in it.
3. Install and verify before removing anything, and keep access behind authentication. A cluster UI is a cluster credential in a browser tab.
4. Remove the Dashboard with helm uninstall in its namespace, then delete the namespace and any leftover cluster-wide role bindings.
5. Remove the old Helm repository from your CI and runbooks, so nobody follows a stale tutorial back into it.

Sources, and what we did not check

All read on 21 October 2026:

• Kubernetes Dashboard repository and README: github.com/kubernetes-retired/dashboard
• Kubernetes documentation for the Dashboard: kubernetes.io/docs/tasks/access-application-cluster/web-ui-dashboard/
• Chart repository: kubernetes-retired.github.io/dashboard/index.yaml (200) and kubernetes.github.io/dashboard/index.yaml (404)
• Headlamp repository, in-cluster documentation and AI Assistant announcement (7 August 2025)
• Freelens, k9s, Skooner and Octant repositories (status and dates from the GitHub API)
• Lens pricing page, lenshq.io/pricing
• Portainer Community Edition coverage at itsfoss.com/news/portainer-community-edition-freeze/

We did not run any competitor’s software for this comparison, and cells marked “not checked” are open questions, not weaknesses. Prices and licence terms change, so confirm them on the vendor’s page before you decide. If we got something wrong, tell us and we will correct it with a dated note.