By Sahil Kapoor - 18 May 2026

Helm

The package manager for Kubernetes — Helm Charts bundle Kubernetes manifests with configurable templates, enabling consistent deployment of complex applications across environments.

Helm is to Kubernetes what apt is to Ubuntu or npm is to Node.js. Instead of maintaining dozens of raw Kubernetes YAML files for every application, you package them into a Helm Chart with templated values. A helm install command deploys the full application stack with environment-specific configuration.

Chart Structure

myapp/
  Chart.yaml      # Chart metadata (name, version, description)
  values.yaml     # Default configuration values
  templates/      # Kubernetes manifest templates (Go templating)
    deployment.yaml
    service.yaml
    ingress.yaml
    _helpers.tpl  # Shared template helpers

Templating

Helm uses Go templating. values.yaml defines defaults; users override them at install time:

# values.yaml
replicaCount: 1
image:
  repository: myapp
  tag: latest
service:
  port: 80

# In a template
replicas: {{ .Values.replicaCount }}

# Override at install
helm install myapp ./myapp --set replicaCount=3 --set image.tag=v1.2.3

Chart Repository

Charts are distributed via Helm repositories (OCI registries or HTTP repos). Artifact Hub (artifacthub.io) indexes community charts: nginx-ingress, cert-manager, Prometheus, Grafana, Argocd, and hundreds more. Instead of writing your own Kubernetes configs for open-source software, you install the community Helm chart and override values.

Helm Releases

Each helm install creates a named Release tracked by Helm in a Kubernetes Secret (release history). helm upgrade applies changes; helm rollback reverts to a previous revision. This gives you deployment history and one-command rollback without any additional tooling.

Helm with ArgoCD

Argocd natively understands Helm charts — point an ArgoCD Application at a Helm chart repo and values file, and ArgoCD handles the sync. You get GitOps (values files in Git) + packaging (Helm) + delivery (ArgoCD) in a clean pipeline.

Helm vs Kustomize

Helm — templating with Go templates; packaging with repositories; good for distributing to others
Kustomize — overlay-based patching (no templates); built into kubectl; better for organization-internal config management

Many teams use both: a Helm chart for the application skeleton, Kustomize overlays for environment-specific patches.

Argocd — GitOps delivery that deploys Helm charts
Kubernetes — the platform Helm manages resources on
Pulumi — can deploy Helm charts via the Pulumi Helm provider
Traefik — commonly deployed via Helm as a Kubernetes Ingress Controller