Kubernetes, also called k8s, is an open-source container orchestrator, meaning that it automates container operation. The Kubernetes platform provides an API that allows you to control when, how, and where your Docker containers will run. Kubernetes' initial purpose was to replace many of the repetitive manual processes required to deploy and scale containerized applications. Originally developed at Google, the platform later became open-source, giving the public access to help contribute to the software. Docker is a containerization platform. Kubernetes is an orchestration software platform, which works with Docker containers. Docker produces its own orchestration platform, called Docker Swarm, which competes with Kubernetes and uses the Docker API. Docker Swarm runs on a single node, while Kubernetes can run across a cluster of nodes. This makes Kubernetes generally a better fit for massive projects that need to coordinate clusters of nodes efficiently at scale.