Is Octopus Deploy Worth It for Kubernetes Workflows?

I've played around with Octopus before, but to be honest, with all the free GitOps tools out there like ArgoCD, I just don't need the workflows that Octopus offers anymore. It feels a bit redundant.

I actually use both ArgoCD and Octopus Deploy. For initially setting up the Kubernetes cluster, I rely on ArgoCD. After that, we use Octopus for deploying software. We appreciate Octopus for its superior secret management, deployment variables, and the robust audit trail it provides. Plus, rollout and rollback processes are super smooth! Overall, it works well for our daily operations.

My team uses Octopus pretty extensively. We merge code via PRs, and then GitHub Actions build and push our images. We package everything and let Octopus take care of the deployment. It's been working well for us, and we even deploy some older legacy applications this way.

I'm currently managing several Kubernetes services with Octopus, but the costs have skyrocketed recently due to a pricing model change. I think I'm going to start looking for alternatives once our licensing period is up. For Kubernetes, I’d suggest checking out ArgoCD or other tools like Kargo, which I'm eager to try out for artifact promotion since it seems like a solid option.

Honestly, I'm not a fan of using Octopus in either on-premise or cloud setups. Why complicate Kubernetes with it? It was decent years ago, but now with modern release tools and GitHub Actions, it just adds unnecessary complexity and cost. I'm planning to migrate away in the next couple of years because the deployment process has become overly complicated and feels restrictive.