Does Django Work With Kubernetes?

Fully CompatibleLast verified: 2026-02-20

Django runs excellently on Kubernetes with proper containerization; this is a production-ready combination used by many large-scale applications.

Quick Facts

Compatibility

full

Setup Difficulty

Moderate

Official Integration

No — community maintained

Confidence

high

Minimum Versions

Django: 3.2

Kubernetes: 1.19

How Django Works With Kubernetes

Django and Kubernetes work together seamlessly because Django is stateless and containerizable. You package your Django application in a Docker container, then Kubernetes orchestrates multiple replicas, handles load balancing, rolling updates, and auto-scaling based on metrics. The developer experience involves creating a Dockerfile, defining Kubernetes manifests (Deployments, Services, ConfigMaps), and using tools like Helm for templating. Django's ASGI/WSGI servers (Gunicorn, uWSGI) run as container processes, and Kubernetes manages networking between containers. Static files and media are typically served from object storage (S3, GCS) rather than the container filesystem. Database connections should use environment variables for configuration, and you'll want to handle migrations carefully—typically running them as init containers or Jobs before deploying new versions. The main architectural consideration is ensuring your Django app is truly stateless: no session data stored locally, no file uploads to the container filesystem.

Best Use Cases

→Microservices architecture where Django API servers auto-scale based on request volume and CPU usage

→SaaS platforms needing zero-downtime deployments with canary or blue-green strategies via Kubernetes rolling updates

→Multi-tenant applications leveraging Kubernetes namespaces and NetworkPolicies for isolation and resource quotas

→CI/CD pipelines that build, test, and deploy Django containers automatically on every commit

Django Dockerfile + Kubernetes Deployment

bash

pip install django gunicorn

bash

# Dockerfile
FROM python:3.11-slim
WORKDIR /app
COPY requirements.txt .
RUN pip install --no-cache-dir -r requirements.txt
COPY . .
RUN python manage.py collectstatic --noinput
CMD ["gunicorn", "--bind", "0.0.0.0:8000", "--workers", "4", "config.wsgi:application"]

---
# kubernetes-deployment.yaml
apiVersion: apps/v1
kind: Deployment
metadata:
  name: django-app
spec:
  replicas: 3
  selector:
    matchLabels:
      app: django
  template:
    metadata:
      labels:
        app: django
    spec:
      containers:
      - name: django
        image: myregistry/django-app:1.0.0
        ports:
        - containerPort: 8000
        env:
        - name: DEBUG
          value: "False"
        - name: DATABASE_URL
          valueFrom:
            secretKeyRef:
              name: django-secrets
              key: database-url
        livenessProbe:
          httpGet:
            path: /health/
            port: 8000
          initialDelaySeconds: 10
          periodSeconds: 10

Known Issues & Gotchas

critical

Django migrations race conditions when multiple pod replicas initialize simultaneously

Fix: Run migrations as a separate Kubernetes Job that completes before deploying application Pods, or use init containers with proper locking mechanisms

critical

Static files not found in production because containers are ephemeral and don't persist filesystem changes

Fix: Collect static files during Docker build phase, serve from CDN/object storage, or use whitenoise middleware for self-serving

warning

Database connection leaks when Pods are terminated during rolling updates, causing connection pool exhaustion

Fix: Set appropriate CONN_MAX_AGE, implement connection pooling (PgBouncer), and configure preStop hooks to drain connections gracefully

info

Environment variable management becomes complex with secrets, ConfigMaps, and different deployment environments

Fix: Use sealed-secrets, External Secrets Operator, or cloud-native secret managers; avoid hardcoding in manifests

Alternatives

•FastAPI with Kubernetes—modern async Python framework with automatic OpenAPI docs, better for real-time applications
•Flask with Kubernetes—lightweight Python framework for simpler microservices or serverless-first architectures
•Node.js/Express with Kubernetes—JavaScript ecosystem with broader container tooling and potentially smaller image sizes

Resources

docsDjango Official Documentation docsKubernetes Official Documentation docs12 Factor App Principles (Essential for Containerized Django)tutorialRunning Django on Kubernetes - Hands-on Tutorial githubKubernetes Django Helm Chart

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