DigitalOcean Kubernetes

DOKS monitoring,
right from your desktop

Keep your DigitalOcean Kubernetes clusters one click away - in the macOS menu bar and Windows tray. Health at a glance, live pod logs, one-click restarts and scaling. Connects through doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save and your existing kubeconfig.

Download for freePricing

14-day free trial · from 12 € a year · no account required

Monitor DOKS without a dashboard

Connects to DOKS in seconds. Uses the context that doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save writes - switch between DigitalOcean clusters from the menu bar.
Nothing runs in your cluster. No Helm release, no operator, no scrape targets. Your worker nodes stay free for your workloads.
Health at a glance. A status dot in your menu bar / tray; desktop alerts for crashes and high CPU/memory.
Logs & actions. Stream pod logs, restart pods, scale deployments, rollout restart/undo, cordon/drain - with confirmations.
Multi-cloud too. Manage DOKS alongside AKS, EKS, GKE and local clusters in one app.
Billed yearly, not per seat. From 12 € a year - no monthly per-user subscription.

The RAM argument, specific to DigitalOcean

People choose DOKS because it is straightforward and cheap. Clusters here are often two or three nodes with a few gigabytes of RAM each - and that is exactly where an in-cluster monitoring stack hurts most. Prometheus plus Grafana plus exporters can claim a meaningful slice of a small node pool, which means either less room for your workloads or a bigger droplet than you wanted.

Kubebar moves that job to the machine you are already sitting at. It talks to the API server through your kubeconfig, so the cost on the cluster side is a few API calls - not a workload you have to size, patch and pay for.

In-cluster Prometheus & GrafanaKubebar
Runs onYour worker nodesYour desktop
Node resources usedNoticeable on small poolsNone
To install1-Click stack or Helm releaseNothing in the cluster
Metric history & dashboardsYes - its main strengthRecent CPU/RAM sparklines only
Alert rules (PromQL)YesNo - threshold alerts only
“Is anything broken right now?”Open a dashboardStatus dot, always visible
Act on a problemSwitch to a terminalRestart or scale in one click

These are complements, not substitutes: keep Prometheus if you need history and PromQL alerting. Kubebar covers the everyday question of whether something needs attention right now.

DigitalOcean Kubernetes cluster overview in Kubebar
DOKS pod logs streaming in Kubebar

Set up DOKS monitoring in three steps

  1. Save your cluster credentials. doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save <cluster-name> merges the cluster into ~/.kube/config and handles the authentication token for you.
  2. Open Kubebar. It reads your existing kubeconfig automatically - no extra setup, no account, nothing deployed into the cluster.
  3. Pick your context. Select the DigitalOcean context from the menu bar or tray and start monitoring.

What you can do from the menu bar

Once your DOKS context is loaded, everything happens from the menu bar or tray - no control panel tab required.

Health at a glance. A status dot turns red the moment a pod crashes or CPU and memory run high - with desktop alerts, so you notice without watching a dashboard.
Live pod logs. Stream logs from any pod in a real-time window, filter them, and copy or save exactly what you need.
One-click actions. Restart pods, scale deployments, roll out restart or undo, and cordon or drain nodes - each with a confirmation step.
Switch clusters instantly. Every context from your kubeconfig is one click away, including clusters on other providers.
Optional AI, your own key. Explain logs, diagnose unhealthy pods and right-size requests via Anthropic, OpenAI or Ollama - or keep it off.
Native and private. No account and no cloud backend - your DigitalOcean credentials and kubeconfig never leave your machine.

Why a desktop app instead of the DigitalOcean control panel?

The control panel is the right place to create clusters, resize node pools and manage tokens. It is not where you want to be when a pod is crash-looping: you sign in, navigate to the cluster, and still end up in a terminal to fix it. Kubebar keeps cluster health visible without signing in, and the fix - restart, scale, rollout undo - is a click away in the same menu.

Related comparisons

Kubebar is compared against a few different tools - these pages go into the detail of each.

Monitor your DOKS clusters

Free for 14 days. Then from 12 € a year.

Download Kubebar

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Kubebar work with DigitalOcean Kubernetes?

Yes. Run doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save <cluster> to merge the cluster into your kubeconfig, and Kubebar picks the context up automatically. Nothing is installed into the cluster.

Do I still need the Prometheus and Grafana stack?

It depends on what you need. DigitalOcean's 1-Click monitoring stack gives you metric history, dashboards and alert rules, and Kubebar does not replace that. What Kubebar replaces is opening a dashboard to answer “is anything broken right now” - and it does so without running anything on your worker nodes.

Why does that matter on DigitalOcean specifically?

DOKS clusters are often small and cost-optimised - a couple of nodes with a few gigabytes of RAM each. An in-cluster Prometheus and Grafana stack takes a noticeable share of that. A desktop client uses your own machine instead, so your node budget goes to your workloads.

What can I do with DOKS from the menu bar?

Cluster health at a glance with desktop alerts, live pod logs, one-click pod restarts, deployment scaling, rollout restart or undo, and cordon or drain on nodes - each behind a confirmation.