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Developer Tools · head to head

Okteto vs Silent Eight

Okteto logo

Okteto

Developer Tools

Runs production-like development environments on your own Kubernetes cluster

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Silent Eight logo

Silent Eight

Cybersecurity

AI adjudication of sanctions screening and AML alerts

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Okteto has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Okteto two of the three plans publish no price at all, with no currency and no billing period stated anywhere, so any budget above five seats requires a sales conversation before you can even compare it with an alternative.; Silent Eight automated disposition has to clear model risk governance and a regulator, and the shadow running period before auto-close is permitted can consume most of the first year of the contract.
  • They diverge on capability: Okteto covers Cluster development environments, Silent Eight covers Alert adjudication.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Okteto and Silent Eight actually diverge.

Attributes where Okteto and Silent Eight differ
AttributeOktetoSilent Eight
Starting priceFreeOn request
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, macOS, Windows, CLI, Kubernetes, WebWeb, Linux
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCybersecurity

Identical on both: pricing model (quote), user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Okteto

  • Cluster development environments
  • File synchronisation
  • Development containers
  • Environment catalogue
  • Preview environments
  • Bring your own cloud

Only in Silent Eight

  • Alert adjudication
  • Narrative generation
  • Name screening automation
  • Quality assurance
  • Shadow mode
  • Model transparency reporting

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Okteto

  • A microservices estate where no developer can run the full dependency graph on a laptopnot Silent Eight
  • Giving each pull request a working environment reviewers can click rather than describenot Silent Eight
  • Letting coding agents build and test against real databases and queues instead of mocksnot Silent Eight
  • Removing a fleet of local Kubernetes installations that drift from production and produce false test resultsnot Silent Eight

Silent Eight

  • A bank whose level one screening team spends most of its time closing obvious false name matchesnot Okteto
  • A payments institution with alert volumes growing faster than it can recruit and train analystsnot Okteto
  • A compliance function asked by a regulator to demonstrate consistency of alert decisions across offshore teamsnot Okteto
  • An institution that has just tightened screening thresholds after an enforcement action and cannot staff the resulting alert increasenot Okteto

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Okteto

  • Two of the three plans publish no price at all, with no currency and no billing period stated anywhere, so any budget above five seats requires a sales conversation before you can even compare it with an alternative.
  • The Apache-2.0 CLI is restricted to the development section of the manifest, so build services, user management and observability all require the commercial platform and the open licence provides very little continuity insurance.
  • The last disclosed funding round is a 15 million US dollar Series A from February 2022 with nothing announced since, and the contributor base is dominated by company employees, which is concentrated risk for something embedded in every developer daily loop.
  • You must bring and pay for the Kubernetes cluster, so node cost, capacity planning and version upgrades stay with your platform team on top of the licence fee.
  • The 2026 repositioning towards AI agents means the classic developer inner loop is no longer what the marketing leads with, so a buyer purchasing that use case should confirm roadmap commitment rather than assume it.

Silent Eight

  • Automated disposition has to clear model risk governance and a regulator, and the shadow running period before auto-close is permitted can consume most of the first year of the contract.
  • It does not improve detection, so an institution with a poorly tuned monitoring system automates the handling of bad alerts rather than fixing why they exist.
  • Pricing is tied to alert volume, which means efficiency gains elsewhere that reduce alerts also reduce the vendor bill in a way sales teams structure minimums against.
  • The headcount saving is only realised if the institution actually reduces the analyst pool, and many banks redeploy rather than cut, leaving the business case unrealised on paper.
  • As a mid-sized private vendor serving tier one banks, concentration risk cuts both ways; the loss of one large client materially affects the company, and buyers should ask about financial stability during diligence.

Pricing, plan by plan

Okteto

Free
  • StarterFree
    • 5 seats included
    • Self-hosted deployment into your own cluster
    • Community support
  • Scale$undefined/year
    • Contact sales, no price, currency or billing period published
    • More seats and environments than Starter
    • Self-hosted deployment
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Contact sales, no price published
    • Bring your own cloud deployment
    • Available through Google Cloud and AWS marketplaces

Silent Eight

On request
  • Iris$undefined/year
    • Priced by alert volume adjudicated
    • Deploys against existing screening and monitoring systems
    • Shadow mode evaluation period

Which should you pick?

Choose Okteto if

  • You need cluster development environments.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, CLI, Kubernetes, Web.
  • You also want file synchronisation.
Okteto review

Choose Silent Eight if

  • You need alert adjudication.
  • You work on Web, Linux.
  • You also want narrative generation.
Silent Eight review

Questions people ask

Is Okteto or Silent Eight better?
Neither clearly leads. Okteto starts at Free and Silent Eight at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Okteto or Silent Eight?
Okteto has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Okteto and On request for Silent Eight.
Does Okteto or Silent Eight run on more platforms?
Okteto runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, CLI, Kubernetes, Web. Silent Eight runs on Web, Linux.
Can I use Okteto for free?
Yes. Okteto has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Silent Eight starts at On request.
What is Okteto best used for?
Okteto is most often used for a microservices estate where no developer can run the full dependency graph on a laptop, giving each pull request a working environment reviewers can click rather than describe, letting coding agents build and test against real databases and queues instead of mocks, removing a fleet of local kubernetes installations that drift from production and produce false test results. Of those, a microservices estate where no developer can run the full dependency graph on a laptop and giving each pull request a working environment reviewers can click rather than describe are not what Silent Eight is typically brought in for.
What can Okteto do that Silent Eight cannot?
Okteto covers Cluster development environments, File synchronisation, Development containers, Environment catalogue. Silent Eight covers Alert adjudication, Narrative generation, Name screening automation, Quality assurance.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Okteto: Is Okteto open source?

The CLI is Apache-2.0, but the README states it supports only the development section of the manifest. Everything operationally interesting, including builds, user management and observability, is in the commercial platform.

Silent Eight: Does Silent Eight replace our screening system?

No. It consumes alerts from your existing screening and monitoring systems and decides them. The detection layer stays where it is.

Okteto: What does it cost?

Only the free Starter tier with five seats is published. Scale and Enterprise are both contact sales, with no price, currency or billing period disclosed on the pricing page.

Silent Eight: Will a regulator accept AI closing alerts?

It depends on your jurisdiction and your model governance evidence. Banks typically run extended shadow mode first and phase auto-closure by alert type.

Okteto: Do I need my own Kubernetes cluster?

Yes. Okteto installs into a cluster you provide and pay for, so capacity, upgrades and node costs remain your responsibility in addition to the licence.

Silent Eight: Where is the company based?

Singapore, with offices in New York, London and Warsaw.

Okteto: How is this different from running Kubernetes locally?

Environments run against the same managed databases, queues and service mesh as production, so a class of failures that only appears in a real cluster is caught before merge rather than after deploy.

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