Broadcom to discontinue free Bitnami Helm charts
Hacker NewsFriday, July 18, 2025 at 7:29:52 PM
Broadcom, which recently acquired VMware, is pulling the plug on free Bitnami Helm charts—a popular tool for deploying apps on Kubernetes. This means developers who relied on these pre-packaged, open-source templates will now have to pay up or find alternatives. The move aligns with Broadcom’s history of tightening monetization after acquisitions, but it’s ruffling feathers in the dev community, where free and open tools are deeply valued.
Editor’s Note: Helm charts are like cheat sheets for deploying complex software, and Bitnami’s free versions were a go-to for many developers. Broadcom’s shift to paid-only access isn’t shocking—it’s their usual playbook—but it’s another sign of how corporate consolidation can squeeze the open-source ecosystem. For teams running Kubernetes, this could mean more hassle, higher costs, or a scramble to switch to other tools. It’s a small change with big ripple effects.
— Curated via WP Now’s
