With GitOps, the desired state of the clusters lives in Git and a controller applies it. The two most widely used tools are Argo CD and Flux; both are CNCF Graduated projects (Argo on 6 December 2022, Flux on 30 November 2022). Source: Argo on CNCF and Flux on CNCF.
Versions in October 2026
- Argo CD: the releases page shows v3.5.2 of 27 August 2026; minor versions are released every quarter and the three most recent are supported.
- Flux: v2.9.5 of 31 August 2026; 2.9 (30 June) declares support for Kubernetes 1.34-1.36 and OpenShift 4.21.
- OpenShift GitOps 1.21.4 (3 September 2026) includes Argo CD 3.4.3 and supports OpenShift from 4.18 to 4.22.
Versions should be reconfirmed on the official pages before deciding. Source: Argo CD releases, Flux releases, OpenShift GitOps notes.
Verifiable differences
| Aspect | Argo CD | Flux |
|---|---|---|
| Interface | Web UI included, with real-time status | No UI in the core; ecosystem interfaces and Flux Operator |
| Multiple clusters | One instance manages several clusters; ApplicationSet with generators | A Kustomization can apply to a remote cluster with kubeConfig |
| Multiple teams | Argo projects and RBAC | Service account impersonation and Kubernetes RBAC |
| Images | Argo CD Image Updater, a separate project | Image controllers in the toolkit |
| Progressive delivery | With external tools | Flagger, which supports Gateway API (HTTPRoute) |
Source: official documentation of Argo CD and Flux. On Gateway API, displaying Gateway and HTTPRoute in the network view of Argo CD appears to be an open request; as managed resources they work like any other CRD.
What the adoption data say
A CNCF survey of Argo CD users (24 July 2025) reports that almost 60% of respondents’ clusters are managed with Argo CD, but it states neither sample size nor method. The CNCF annual survey 2025 reports that 82% of container users run Kubernetes in production, with no shares per GitOps product. There is no comparable figure for Flux: do not use these numbers to say “the most widely used”.
Criteria for choosing
- You need a central interface for non-technical teams or for audit: Argo CD.
- Many clusters and many similar applications: ApplicationSet (Argo CD) or Kustomization with
kubeConfig(Flux). - OpenShift constraint with vendor support: OpenShift GitOps, based on Argo CD.
- Preference for small, Kubernetes-native components, built-in image automation, per-tenant RBAC: Flux.
- Team skills: choose the one your team can run and fix.
How to try them
Two weeks are enough for a comparison: same application, same repository, one test cluster. Measure the time to add an application, to roll back after an error and to read the status.
What has not been verified
September 2026 releases, Flux adoption shares, official Gateway API pages and performance benchmarks: not verified or not available.
To set up GitOps and continuous delivery in your environment, see Orchestration and automation.