Should we use Argo CD or Flux CD for multi-cluster GitOps orchestration in 2024?

All answers to this question.

After managing a fleet of over 80 clusters, I can say that Argo CD’s centralized "Hub-and-Spoke" model is fantastic for visibility. Being able to see every application’s health across regions in one dashboard is a lifesaver for our SRE team. However, at that scale, you have to be careful with the resource consumption of the Argo controller. Flux CD is technically more decentralized, which some purists prefer for security, but we found that the lack of a native, robust UI made it harder for our developers to self-serve. For 50+ clusters, I’d recommend Argo CD but look into the new "ApplicationSet" controller to automate the creation of apps across your fleet.

   Answered 2024-03-15 by Deborah Mitchell

Are you prioritizing a visual dashboard for your developers, or is your team comfortable managing everything via CLI and YAML manifests?

   Answered 2024-03-17 by Michael Thompson

• Our developers definitely prefer a UI. They aren't all Kubernetes experts, so being able to click "Sync" or view the logs of a failing pod directly in Argo CD saves our DevOps team a lot of support tickets. Does Flux have any third-party UI options that are actually comparable to Argo's native experience, or would we just be making things harder for the dev teams?

     Commented 2024-03-19 by Steven Clark

We switched to Flux because of its native support for OCI artifacts. It feels much more "Kubernetes-native" since it uses standard CRDs for everything.

   Answered 2024-03-21 by Brian Miller

• That's a valid point, Brian. If you're already heavily invested in Helm and OCI registries, Flux’s modular controllers are incredibly efficient for those specific workflows.

     Commented 2024-03-22 by Kimberly Adams