Source: https://seerepo.com/compare/k3s-io/k3s/vs/pingcap/tidb
Markdown source: https://seerepo.com/compare/k3s-io/k3s/vs/pingcap/tidb.md
Description: k3s and tidb share 7 technologies: net/http, etcd, go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3, go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3, Prometheus, go.uber.org/zap, and github.com/prometheus/common. Both are written in Go.

# k3s vs tidb

k3s and tidb share 7 technologies: net/http, etcd, go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3, go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3, Prometheus, go.uber.org/zap, and github.com/prometheus/common. Both are written in Go.

- [k3s-io/k3s](https://seerepo.com/r/k3s-io/k3s): Lightweight Kubernetes
- [pingcap/tidb](https://seerepo.com/r/pingcap/tidb): TiDB is built for agentic workloads that grow unpredictably, with ACID guarantees and native support for transactions, analytics, and vector search. No data silos. No noisy neighbors. No infrastructure ceiling.

## What they share and what sets them apart

- In common: net/http, etcd, go.etcd.io/etcd/server/v3, go.etcd.io/etcd/client/pkg/v3, Prometheus, go.uber.org/zap, github.com/prometheus/common
- Only in k3s: go.etcd.io/etcd/client/v3, github.com/ipfs/go-ds-leveldb, MinIO, k8s.io/apiserver, github.com/sirupsen/logrus, containerd, Kubernetes, k8s.io/klog/v2, github.com/go-logr/logr, github.com/coreos/go-systemd/v22, k8s.io/kubelet, Docker, github.com/natefinch/lumberjack, github.com/containerd/zfs/v2, github.com/google/cadvisor/lib, github.com/ipfs/go-log/v2, github.com/Microsoft/hcsshim, k8s.io/kube-proxy
- Only in tidb: Gorilla, s3, TiDB, MySQL, github.com/cockroachdb/pebble, go.etcd.io/etcd/api/v3, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/feature/s3/manager, Dgraph, github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/storage/azblob, github.com/jellydator/ttlcache/v3, Google, github.com/cheggaaa/pb/v3, github.com/jedib0t/go-pretty/v6, gorm.io/gorm, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/credentials, github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azidentity, github.com/go-ldap/ldap/v3, golang.org/x/oauth2, openai-go, go.opencensus.io, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2, github.com/prometheus/client_model, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/config, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/cloudwatch, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/ec2, github.com/aws/aws-sdk-go-v2/service/sts, github.com/Azure/azure-sdk-for-go/sdk/azcore, github.com/grafana/pyroscope-go, github.com/prometheus/prometheus, github.com/tencentcloud/tencentcloud-sdk-go/tencentcloud/common

## Side by side

| | k3s | tidb |
|---|---|---|
| Size | 61,448 lines written, 244 code files | 1,752,108 lines written, 1,549 code files |
| Who writes it | 0.1% of its commits signed by AI. With Claude Code | 0% of its commits signed by AI. With GitHub Copilot |
| Activity | Last push November 7, 2026, 3,674 commits, 34,351 stars | Last push November 6, 2026, 27,911 commits, 40,711 stars |
| Tests | 107 test files. 33.2% of its code files have a test that imports them | 2,905 test files. 90.3% of its code files have a test that imports them |

- Size: Lines written by people and agents, without generated ones; code files, without tests.
- Who writes it: A commit counts as AI's when it carries its signature: a Co-Authored-By line, its author name or the merge of its branch.
- Activity: From GitHub and its history, on the day SeeRepo read it.
- Tests: The files that test the code, and the share of code files a test imports.

## Frequently asked questions

### Which is bigger, k3s or tidb?

tidb, with 1,752,108 lines written; k3s has 61,448.

The proof: [pingcap/tidb's code at commit a5a597d](https://github.com/pingcap/tidb/tree/a5a597dfb7921e43a43065f197d064b2af92d85e)

### Which has more GitHub stars, k3s or tidb?

tidb, with 40,711 stars; k3s has 34,351.

The proof: [pingcap/tidb on GitHub](https://github.com/pingcap/tidb)

### Which has more tests, k3s or tidb?

tidb, with 2,905 test files; k3s has 107.

The proof: [pingcap/tidb's code at commit a5a597d](https://github.com/pingcap/tidb/tree/a5a597dfb7921e43a43065f197d064b2af92d85e)

### Which was updated more recently, k3s or tidb?

k3s: its last push was on November 7, 2026, and tidb's on November 6, 2026.

The proof: [k3s-io/k3s's commits on GitHub](https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/commits)

### Which has more commits signed by AI, k3s or tidb?

k3s: an AI signed 0.1% of its commits, with Claude Code.

## Sources

- k3s-io/k3s: Read on November 7, 2026, at commit dca306c (https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/tree/dca306c81c44fed1dd0621d5579785c980080ae8)
- pingcap/tidb: Read on November 6, 2026, at commit a5a597d (https://github.com/pingcap/tidb/tree/a5a597dfb7921e43a43065f197d064b2af92d85e)

## What is your repo built with?

Any public repo, with no account: https://seerepo.com/r/owner/repo/built, with the owner and name it has on GitHub.