About Helm
Helm is the package manager for Kubernetes, using Charts to define, install, and manage applications. It handles versioning, dependency resolution, and release lifecycle management, simplifying application deployment and maintenance on Kubernetes clusters.
Key features
- 01Add and manage Helm Charts from repositories
- 02Install, upgrade, and uninstall Kubernetes applications
- 03View, list, and track application release versions
- 04Package custom Charts and publish to registries
Use cases
- 01Rapidly deploy standard applications like databases and monitoring tools to Kubernetes
- 02Manage application configurations and version upgrades across environments
- 03Automate application deployment in CI/CD pipelines
Install
Pick your OS or package manager and run the command in a terminal.
Once installed, runhelm --versionto confirm it works.
Example commands
Common commands in the order you’d use them.
Details
From the project READMEHelm
Helm is a tool for managing Charts. Charts are packages of pre-configured Kubernetes resources.
Use Helm to:
- Find and use popular software packaged as Helm Charts to run in Kubernetes
- Share your own applications as Helm Charts
- Create reproducible builds of your Kubernetes applications
- Intelligently manage your Kubernetes manifest files
- Manage releases of Helm packages
Helm in a Handbasket
Helm is a tool that streamlines installing and managing Kubernetes applications. Think of it like apt/yum/homebrew for Kubernetes.
- Helm renders your templates and communicates with the Kubernetes API
- Helm runs on your laptop, CI/CD, or wherever you want it to run.
- Charts are Helm packages that contain at least two things:
- A description of the package (
Chart.yaml) - One or more templates, which contain Kubernetes manifest files
- A description of the package (
- Charts can be stored on disk, or fetched from remote chart repositories (like Debian or RedHat packages)
Helm Development and Stable Versions
Helm v4 is the current stable release, developed on the main branch.
Helm v3 is in support mode on the dev-v3 branch: bug fixes until July 8th 2026, security fixes until November 11th 2026.
Install
Binary downloads of the Helm client can be found on the Releases page.
Unpack the helm binary and add it to your PATH and you are good to go!
If you want to use a package manager:
- Homebrew users can use
brew install helm. - Chocolatey users can use
choco install kubernetes-helm. - Winget users can use
winget install Helm.Helm. - Scoop users can use
scoop install helm. - Snapcraft users can use
snap install helm --classic. - Flox users can use
flox install kubernetes-helm. - Mise-en-place users can use
mise use -g helm@latest
To rapidly get Helm up and running, start with the Quick Start Guide.
See the installation guide for more options, including installing pre-releases.
Docs
Get started with the Quick Start guide or plunge into the complete documentation.
Roadmap
The Helm roadmap uses GitHub milestones to track the progress of the project.
Helm v4 development happens on the main branch. Helm v3 is in support mode on the dev-v3 branch and receives only bug and security fixes.
Community, discussion, contribution, and support
You can reach the Helm community and developers via the following channels:
- Kubernetes Slack:
- Mailing List:
- Developer Call: Thursdays at 9:30-10:00 Pacific (meeting details)
Contribution
If you're interested in contributing, please refer to the Contributing Guide before submitting a pull request.
Code of conduct
Participation in the Helm community is governed by the Code of Conduct.