Helm and Kustomize are two popular tools used in the Kubernetes ecosystem. They both offer different functionalities but can be used together to enhance the deployment of applications.
Helm is a package manager for Kubernetes. It helps to manage, install and upgrade applications on the Kubernetes cluster. With Helm, you can create charts that define your application, its dependencies, and other necessary settings. This chart can then be easily distributed and installed on any Kubernetes cluster.
Helm is useful when you need to deploy complex applications with multiple components, as it simplifies the installation process. You can also use Helm to manage the different versions of your applications, as well as to roll back to previous versions if necessary.
Kustomize is a tool for customizing Kubernetes configurations. It provides a simple and flexible way to customize Kubernetes configurations without modifying the original YAML files. Kustomize uses patches and overlays to apply changes to the base configuration.
Kustomize is useful when you need to customize the configuration of an existing application. It is particularly helpful when you want to deploy the same application to different environments with slightly different configurations.
Helm and Kustomize can be used together to enhance the deployment process of your applications. For example, you can use Helm to manage the installation and upgrading of your application, and Kustomize to customize the configuration of the different components of your application.
This combination can be particularly useful when you need to deploy the same application to different environments with slightly different configurations. You can use Helm to manage the deployment, and Kustomize to make the necessary changes to the configuration for each environment.
In conclusion, Helm and Kustomize are two powerful tools that can be used together to enhance the deployment process of your applications on Kubernetes.
I'd say that for internal use only Kustomize is your friend because of greater (imo) readability and with internal tools you don't always need that much customization that helm provides. My team uses helm beacuse we also distribute the software to clients if they want to setup the applications themselves + there are only two people in my team that are kubernetes oriented (except from me) and they feel better with helm
r/kubernetes - Comment by u/homingsoulmass on ”Kustomize vs Helm charts”