StackRadar vs Fairwinds Insights
Fairwinds Insights is a Kubernetes governance and cost platform — Polaris policies, deprecated-API detection, right-sizing — that includes container vulnerability scanning by wrapping Trivy.
Facts last checked . Prices and features change — verify with the vendor before deciding.
What Fairwinds Insights does well
- Broad Kubernetes governance: policy enforcement, deprecated-API detection (Pluto), Helm chart currency (Nova) and right-sizing in one product.
- A generous free tier: up to 20 nodes and two clusters.
- Automated fix pull requests for many findings.
- Backed by a Kubernetes consultancy with a long open-source track record.
How Fairwinds Insights and StackRadar differ
The differences are about how the two are built and sold, not a feature checklist. Each point below is a structural fact you can verify on the vendor's own documentation.
- Vulnerability scanning is one checkbox in a governance product: no SBOM surface, and no EPSS or KEV in the ranking.
- Paid pricing is quote-based and reported around $100 per node per month; StackRadar is per cluster.
- The product’s centre of gravity is configuration, cost and policy; StackRadar’s is the dependency inventory and what is exploitable in it.
Side by side
| Axis | StackRadar | Fairwinds Insights |
|---|---|---|
| Where it runs | One Helm chart in the cluster; self-hosted (AGPL-3.0) or reporting to the cloud dashboard | Agent in the cluster; vendor SaaS |
| Kubernetes runtime inventory | Yes — every running image, with its workload, Helm release and ArgoCD application | Yes |
| SBOM | CycloneDX 1.6 per running image (Syft), stored and re-checked as new advisories land | No SBOM surface |
| Prioritisation | Radar Score — CVSS, EPSS and CISA KEV combined in a published formula | CVSS severity (wrapped Trivy) |
| History and trends | 1 year (Pro), 2 years (Business); 1 year self-hosted | Yes |
| Multi-cluster view | One cloud dashboard across every cluster in the organisation; self-hosted is one cluster | Yes |
| Scanner source | Open source: scanner Apache-2.0, server and dashboard AGPL-3.0; releases signed and version-pinned | Trivy is open source; platform is closed |
| Pricing | Free to self-host · Cloud: 14-day free trial, then Pro $59/mo · Business $199/mo at beta price ($99 / $299 standard) | Free ≤20 nodes; quote-only above |
| Data residency | Self-hosted: stays in your cluster. Cloud: EU only, and only the SBOM leaves the cluster | US SaaS |
Pricing
Fairwinds Insights: Fairwinds Insights is free for up to 20 nodes across two clusters. Paid tiers are quote-based; marketplace anchors sit around $100 per node per month. StackRadar is free to self-host for one cluster of any size, and cloud plans are flat per cluster.
StackRadar: Free to self-host for one cluster (AGPL-3.0). The cloud starts with a 14-day free trial; then Pro at $59 per month for up to five clusters and one year of history; Business at $199 per month for up to fifteen clusters and two years. Those are beta prices, for the first 10 Pro and 5 Business subscriptions; after that Pro is $99 and Business $299 a month. Every plan scans every image you run. Full details on the pricing page.
Which should you choose?
Choose Fairwinds Insights if
- Your main problem is configuration, policy and cost, and vulnerabilities are secondary.
- You want deprecated-API and chart-currency checks alongside security.
- You fit inside the 20-node free tier.
Choose StackRadar if
- You want a real SBOM per running image, stored and re-checked as advisories land.
- You want findings ranked by EPSS and KEV, not CVSS alone.
- You have large clusters where per-node pricing hurts.
Frequently asked questions
Does Fairwinds Insights generate SBOMs?
No. Insights reports Trivy vulnerability results per image but does not expose or store a software bill of materials.
How much does Fairwinds Insights cost?
Free for up to 20 nodes and two clusters. Above that, pricing is quote-based, with marketplace listings around $100 per node per month.