Helm 4 released: Server-Side Apply, WebAssembly plugins, migration from Helm 3

Helm 4 was announced at KubeCon North America 2025, marking the biggest architectural overhaul of the Kubernetes package manager in six years. It replaces three-way merge with Server-Side Apply, runs plugins in a WebAssembly sandbox, and tracks deployment health via kstatus. Helm 3 bug fixes run until July 2026, security fixes until November 2026.

• Server-Side Apply is default for new installs; upgrades need the --server-side flag
• WebAssembly plugins run sandboxed with explicit permissions and are platform-independent
• Installation by OCI digest and content-based caching replace name/version caching
• Helm 3 bug fixes run until July 2026, security fixes until November 2026