Free

K3s playground

A single-node k3s Kubernetes cluster with kubectl ready.

1 machine
Start
  • 60-minute sessions
  • Start again any time
  • Wiped when you finish

What you get

  • A single-node K3s cluster, ready when it boots
  • kubectl in the terminal
  • Traefik as the Ingress controller and local-path storage
  • metrics-server, so kubectl top works

Things to try

  • kubectl get nodes -o wide

    See the node and its state

  • kubectl create deployment web --image=nginx --replicas=2

    A first Deployment

  • kubectl expose deployment web --port=80

    Expose it with a Service

  • kubectl get pods -A

    Every pod, system pods included

  • kubectl top pods -A

    CPU and memory use

  • kubectl scale deployment web --replicas=4

    Scale it out

About this playground

The K3s playground gives you a real single-node Kubernetes cluster running K3s, with kubectl. Create a Deployment, expose it with a Service, try Ingress through the Traefik controller K3s ships with, or write manifests by hand and apply them. K3s serves the same Kubernetes API, so what you learn here works on any cluster.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a free Kubernetes playground?

Yes. The K3s playground is free with a free account: a real single-node Kubernetes cluster in your browser, for 60-minute sessions you can start again at once.

What is the difference between K3s and Kubernetes?

K3s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution with the same API, so kubectl and manifests are the same. It starts quickly on a single node, which suits experimenting.

I need a cluster with more than one node.

The Kubernetes playground has a cluster with a control plane and worker nodes, and is part of Academy Pro.

Are my manifests kept?

No. The cluster is deleted when the session ends. Keep your YAML in Git and apply it again next session.

Want graded Kubernetes exercises?

The Kubernetes labs have tasks on a real cluster: Pods, Deployments, Services, Ingress and RBAC, with checks on the result.