kratos
Kratos is a lightweight Go framework for building cloud-native microservices with built-in support for HTTP and gRPC transport. It emphasizes API-first development using Protobuf, composable middleware, and pluggable components for registry, configuration, and logging.
Key facts
Objective fields from the source. Values we can't verify are shown as “Unknown” rather than guessed.
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | go-kratos/kratos |
| Owner | go-kratos |
| Primary language | Go |
| License | MIT — OSI-approved |
| Stars | 25.8k |
| Forks | 4.2k |
| Open issues | 80 |
| Latest release | v3.0.0 (2026-06-26) |
| Last updated | 2026-07-01 |
| Source | https://github.com/go-kratos/kratos |
What kratos is
Kratos provides a unified transport abstraction over HTTP and gRPC, Protobuf-based code generation, composable middleware stack (recovery, logging, validation, tracing, metrics, auth), and pluggable backends for service discovery, configuration management, and encoding. Core dependencies were reduced in v3, making previously implicit behavior explicit.
Get the kratos source
Clone the repository and explore it locally.
git clone https://github.com/go-kratos/kratos.gitcd kratos# follow the project's README for install & configurationNeed it deployed, integrated, or customized instead? DEV.co ships production installs.
Best use cases
Implementation considerations
- v3 introduced breaking changes from v2 (reduced dependencies, explicit behavior). Existing v2 deployments require careful review of the migration guide before upgrade.
- Requires Go 1.25+, protoc, protoc-gen-go, and the Kratos CLI for code generation. Ensure your build environment supports these dependencies.
- Middleware composition and pluggable components follow a callback/functional pattern; review contrib packages to understand available registry, config, and encoding backends before design.
- Service discovery and configuration require explicit integration (e.g., Consul, etcd, Nacos). There is no built-in discovery; you must choose and integrate a backend.
- OpenAPI and metadata workflows are built-in; validate that generated specs and error handling align with your API contract requirements.
When to avoid it — and what to weigh
- Monolithic or Legacy Application Migration — Kratos is purpose-built for microservices. If you are modernizing a monolith or need to integrate tightly coupled legacy code, the overhead of service boundaries and Protobuf schemas may not align with your constraints.
- Minimal Dependencies or Embedded Scenarios — Although v3 reduced core dependencies, Kratos still brings Go's standard library and Protobuf tooling. Projects requiring a minimal footprint or embedded deployment should evaluate lighter alternatives.
- Non-Protobuf-Native Workflows — Kratos leans heavily on Protobuf for code generation and API definition. Teams committed to JSON/REST-only contracts or OpenAPI-first approaches will find friction in the framework's design.
- Very High Throughput, Sub-Millisecond Latency Workloads — No benchmark data provided. If you require proven ultra-low-latency guarantees, independent performance testing against your workload is mandatory before committing.
License & commercial use
MIT License. Permissive, OSI-approved license allowing use, modification, and distribution with minimal restrictions.
MIT License explicitly permits commercial use. Redistribution requires preserving the license notice and disclaimer. No warranty is provided by the authors. Suitable for commercial deployments, but verify your compliance with MIT terms (no proprietary restriction, inclusion of license text in distributions).
DEV.co evaluation signals
Editorial assessment — not user reviews. Directional, with an explicit confidence level.
| Signal | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Maintenance | Active |
| Documentation | Adequate |
| License clarity | Clear |
| Deployment complexity | Moderate |
| DEV.co fit | Good |
| Assessment confidence | High |
Security contact ([email protected]) and private disclosure policy stated. No audits, CVE history, or specific threat mitigations are documented in provided data. Middleware framework allows auth, validation, and recovery implementations, but their security posture depends on your integration. Standard library log/slog and OpenTelemetry reduce attack surface from third-party logging. Requires independent security review before processing sensitive workloads.
Alternatives to consider
go-kit/kit
Mature, battle-tested microservices toolkit with strong middleware and observability support. Lighter weight than Kratos; less opinionated on transport and code generation. Choose if you prefer minimal framework overhead.
go-zero
Chinese-origin framework emphasizing code generation, API design, and full-stack microservices support. Similar Protobuf-first approach; stronger focus on DevOps tooling. Choose if you need deeper code generation and scaffolding.
Echo / Chi (standard library + middleware)
Lightweight HTTP routers without opinionated microservices structure. Suitable if you are building simple REST APIs and want to avoid framework overhead. Requires manual gRPC, service discovery, and middleware setup.
Build on kratos with DEV.co software developers
If you are building cloud-native APIs with Go and Protobuf, Kratos offers a solid foundation. Review the documentation, assess the v3 migration impact, and prototype with the quick-start examples. Contact us to discuss integration with your architecture.
Talk to DEV.coRelated open-source tools
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kratos FAQ
Does Kratos require Kubernetes?
Can I use Kratos without Protobuf?
Is Kratos production-ready?
What is the migration path from v2 to v3?
Work with a software development agency
DEV.co is a software development agency delivering custom software development services to companies building on open source. Our software developers and web developers design, integrate, and ship production systems — spanning web development, APIs, AI, data, and cloud. If kratos is part of your mcp servers roadmap, our team can implement, customize, migrate, and maintain it.
Evaluate Kratos for Your Microservices
If you are building cloud-native APIs with Go and Protobuf, Kratos offers a solid foundation. Review the documentation, assess the v3 migration impact, and prototype with the quick-start examples. Contact us to discuss integration with your architecture.