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Argo CD Emerges as a Dominant GitOps Tool in Kubernetes Environments

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) has recently disclosed compelling insights from its 2025 Argo CD End User Survey. This survey reveals that nearly 60% of Kubernetes clusters overseen by respondents have integrated Argo CD, marking the tool as a preferred choice for managing application delivery. With consistent performance and security upgrades in version 3.0, Argo CD is achieving significant trust among its users, reflected in an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 79.

The CNCF plays a pivotal role in developing sustainable ecosystems around cloud native software, and by spotlighting the findings of this survey, it's evident that Argo CD has solidified its position as a standard for production-grade Kubernetes deployments.

Survey Insights: Adoption and Satisfaction

The 2025 Argo CD End User Survey was conducted by CNCF in collaboration with the maintainers of the Argo project, gathering invaluable insights from users actively employing the platform. Results indicate a substantial increase in Argo CD's adoption and maturity, with a notable 97% of respondents utilizing it in production—up from 93% in the previous year. Additionally, 60% of these users have been running Argo CD for over two years, underscoring its reliability in managing complex deployment scenarios.

Dan Garfield, an Argo maintainer and VP of open source at Octopus Deploy, noted, "The 2025 survey reinforces what we've seen in the community: Argo CD is trusted, stable, and delivering real operational gains at scale." The months leading up to this survey featured enhancements in Argo CD's performance, security, and reliability, particularly following the rollout of version 3.0 earlier this year.

Scalability in Production

As organizations scale their operations, the pressure on cloud-native infrastructure increases. Interestingly, the survey highlights that 42% of Argo CD users are now managing over 500 applications per instance—an increase from just 15% in 2023. Furthermore, 25% of users connect their Argo CD instances to more than 20 clusters, elevating confidence in its scalability and operational efficiency across diverse environments.

User Experience and Areas for Improvement

In terms of user satisfaction, Argo CD's high NPS also emphasizes strengths like its intuitive UI, AppSets, drift detection, and auto-sync features. However, challenges persist regarding environment promotion. A significant portion of users still resort to manual processes or custom scripts for transferring applications across different environments. Meanwhile, up-and-coming tools such as GitOps Promoter and Kargo are beginning to capture attention, although a standardized solution for this challenge remains elusive.

CNCF’s CTO Chris Aniszczyk remarked, "As cloud native adoption matures, it's clear that GitOps and projects like Argo are integral to how organizations deliver software at scale."

Conclusion: A Promising Future Ahead

Argo CD, a GitOps-based continuous delivery tool, serves as a Kubernetes controller adept at monitoring Git repositories and ensuring the desired application state. By empowering organizations to standardize deployments, enhance visibility, and enable robust operations, Argo CD is carving out a significant space in the cloud native ecosystem. With ongoing user trust and an evolving feature set, the future of Argo CD looks incredibly bright.

For more comprehensive findings, read through the full results of the 2025 Argo CD End User Survey.