Crossplane vs. Sveltos: A Kubernetes API Extension Comparison

Crossplane and Sveltos both extend the Kubernetes API using Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) to manage resources declaratively. However, they target different domains:

• Crossplane focuses on infrastructure provisioning (e.g., databases, VMs, storage) by enabling Kubernetes-native management of cloud resources across providers.
• Sveltos focuses on Kubernetes add-on and application management by enabling declarative deployment and lifecycle management of add-ons across multiple clusters.

Key Differences

Feature	Crossplane	Sveltos
Purpose	Manages cloud infrastructure (e.g., databases, storage, compute)	Manages Kubernetes add-ons and applications across clusters
API Extension	Extends Kubernetes API to provision cloud resources using CRDs	Extends Kubernetes API to deploy and manage add-ons using CRDs
Multi-Cluster	Works with multiple cloud providers but does not directly handle multi-cluster add-on deployment	Specifically designed for multi-cluster add-on and application deployment
Lifecycle Management	Manages cloud resource lifecycle (e.g., creating, updating, deleting cloud resources)	Automates deployment, updates, and pruning of Kubernetes add-ons
Declarative Model	Uses CRDs to define and manage cloud resources declaratively	Uses CRDs to define and manage add-on policies declaratively
Primary Use Case	Kubernetes-native Infrastructure as Code (IaC)	Kubernetes-native add-on/application management

Summary

• If you need Kubernetes-native infrastructure provisioning, Crossplane is the right tool.
• If you need multi-cluster Kubernetes add-on and application management, Sveltos is the better choice.