diff --git a/constraint.go b/constraint.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..81317b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/constraint.go
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+package version
+
+import (
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+)
+
+var constraintRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`^(?:(>=|>|<=|<|!=|==?)\s*)?(.+)$`)
+
+type constraintFunc func(a, b *Version) bool
+type constraint struct {
+	f        constraintFunc
+	b        *Version
+	original string
+}
+
+// Constraints is a collection of version constraint rules that can be checked against a version.
+type Constraints []constraint
+
+// NewConstraint parses a string into a Constraints object that can be used to check
+// if a given version satisfies the constraint.
+func NewConstraint(cs string) (Constraints, error) {
+	parts := strings.Split(cs, ",")
+	newC := make(Constraints, len(parts))
+	for i, p := range parts {
+		parts[i] = strings.TrimSpace(p)
+	}
+	for i, p := range parts {
+		c, err := newConstraint(p)
+		if err != nil {
+			return Constraints{}, err
+		}
+		newC[i] = c
+	}
+
+	return newC, nil
+}
+
+// MustConstraint is like NewConstraint but panics if the constraint is invalid.
+func MustConstraint(cs string) Constraints {
+	c, err := NewConstraint(cs)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic("github.com/k0sproject/version: NewConstraint: " + err.Error())
+	}
+	return c
+}
+
+// Check returns true if the given version satisfies all of the constraints.
+func (cs Constraints) Check(v *Version) bool {
+	for _, c := range cs {
+		if c.b.Prerelease() == "" && v.Prerelease() != "" {
+			return false
+		}
+		if !c.f(c.b, v) {
+			return false
+		}
+	}
+
+	return true
+}
+
+// CheckString is like Check but takes a string version. If the version is invalid,
+// it returns false.
+func (cs Constraints) CheckString(v string) bool {
+	vv, err := NewVersion(v)
+	if err != nil {
+		return false
+	}
+	return cs.Check(vv)
+}
+
+// String returns the original constraint string.
+func (c *constraint) String() string {
+	return c.original
+}
+
+func newConstraint(s string) (constraint, error) {
+	match := constraintRegex.FindStringSubmatch(s)
+	if len(match) != 3 {
+		return constraint{}, errors.New("invalid constraint: " + s)
+	}
+
+	op := match[1]
+	f, err := opfunc(op)
+	if err != nil {
+		return constraint{}, err
+	}
+
+	// convert one or two digit constraints to threes digit unless it's an equality operation
+	if op != "" && op != "=" && op != "==" {
+		segments := strings.Split(match[2], ".")
+		if len(segments) < 3 {
+			lastSegment := segments[len(segments)-1]
+			var pre string
+			if strings.Contains(lastSegment, "-") {
+				parts := strings.Split(lastSegment, "-")
+				segments[len(segments)-1] = parts[0]
+				pre = "-" + parts[1]
+			}
+			switch len(segments) {
+			case 1:
+				// >= 1 becomes >= 1.0.0
+				// >= 1-rc.1 becomes >= 1.0.0-rc.1
+				return newConstraint(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s.0.0%s", op, segments[0], pre))
+			case 2:
+				// >= 1.1 becomes >= 1.1.0
+				// >= 1.1-rc.1 becomes >= 1.1.0-rc.1
+				return newConstraint(fmt.Sprintf("%s %s.%s.0%s", op, segments[0], segments[1], pre))
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	target, err := NewVersion(match[2])
+	if err != nil {
+		return constraint{}, err
+	}
+
+	return constraint{f: f, b: target, original: s}, nil
+}
+
+func opfunc(s string) (constraintFunc, error) {
+	switch s {
+	case "", "=", "==":
+		return eq, nil
+	case ">":
+		return gt, nil
+	case ">=":
+		return gte, nil
+	case "<":
+		return lt, nil
+	case "<=":
+		return lte, nil
+	case "!=":
+		return neq, nil
+	default:
+		return nil, errors.New("invalid operator: " + s)
+	}
+}
+
+func gt(a, b *Version) bool  { return b.GreaterThan(a) }
+func lt(a, b *Version) bool  { return b.LessThan(a) }
+func gte(a, b *Version) bool { return b.GreaterThanOrEqual(a) }
+func lte(a, b *Version) bool { return b.LessThanOrEqual(a) }
+func eq(a, b *Version) bool  { return b.Equal(a) }
+func neq(a, b *Version) bool { return !b.Equal(a) }
+
diff --git a/constraint_test.go b/constraint_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e4f1b77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/constraint_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,153 @@
+package version
+
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
+)
+
+func TestConstraint(t *testing.T) {
+	type testCase struct {
+		constraint string
+		truthTable map[bool][]string
+	}
+
+	testCases := []testCase{
+		{
+			constraint: ">= 1.1.0-beta.1+k0s.1",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true: {
+					"1.1.0+k0s.0",
+					"1.1.0-rc.1+k0s.0",
+					"1.1.1+k0s.0",
+					"1.1.1-rc.1+k0s.0",
+				},
+				false: {
+					"1.1.0-alpha.1+k0s.2",
+					"1.0.1+k0s.10",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: ">= 1.1.0+k0s.1",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true: {
+					"1.1.0+k0s.1",
+					"1.1.0+k0s.2",
+					"1.1.1+k0s.0",
+				},
+				false: {
+					"1.0.9+k0s.255",
+					"1.1.0+k0s.0",
+				},
+			},
+		},
+		// simple operator checks
+		{
+			constraint: "= 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0"},
+				false: {"1.0.1", "0.9.9"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: "1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0"},
+				false: {"1.0.1", "0.9.9"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: "!= 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.1", "0.9.9"},
+				false: {"1.0.0"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: "> 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.1", "1.1.0"},
+				false: {"1.0.0", "0.9.9"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: "< 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"0.9.9", "0.9.8"},
+				false: {"1.0.0", "1.0.1"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: ">= 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0", "1.0.1"},
+				false: {"0.9.9"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: "<= 1.0.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0", "0.9.9"},
+				false: {"1.0.1"},
+			},
+		},
+		// two digit constraints
+		{
+			constraint: ">= 1.0",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0", "1.0.1", "1.1.0"},
+				false: {"0.9.9", "1.0.1-alpha.1"},
+			},
+		},
+		{
+			constraint: ">= 1.0-a",
+			truthTable: map[bool][]string{
+				true:  {"1.0.0", "1.0.1", "1.0.0-alpha.1"},
+				false: {"0.9.9"},
+			},
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, tc := range testCases {
+		t.Run(tc.constraint, func(t *testing.T) {
+			c, err := NewConstraint(tc.constraint)
+			assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+			for expected, versions := range tc.truthTable {
+				t.Run(fmt.Sprintf("%t", expected), func(t *testing.T) {
+					for _, version := range versions {
+						t.Run(version, func(t *testing.T) {
+							assert.Equal(t, expected, c.Check(MustParse(version)))
+						})
+					}
+				})
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
+
+func TestInvalidConstraint(t *testing.T) {
+	invalidConstraints := []string{
+		"",
+		"==",
+		">= ",
+		"invalid",
+		">= abc",
+	}
+
+	for _, invalidConstraint := range invalidConstraints {
+		_, err := newConstraint(invalidConstraint)
+		assert.Error(t, err, "Expected error for invalid constraint: "+invalidConstraint)
+	}
+}
+
+func TestCheckString(t *testing.T) {
+	c, err := NewConstraint(">= 1.0.0")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+
+	assert.True(t, c.CheckString("1.0.0"))
+	assert.False(t, c.CheckString("0.9.9"))
+	assert.False(t, c.CheckString("x"))
+}
diff --git a/version.go b/version.go
index bf9ef37..672d52b 100644
--- a/version.go
+++ b/version.go
@@ -147,6 +147,11 @@ func (v *Version) UnmarshalJSON(b []byte) error {
 	})
 }
 
+// Satisfies returns true if the version satisfies the supplied constraint
+func (v *Version) Satisfies(constraint Constraints) bool {
+	return constraint.Check(v)
+}
+
 // NewVersion returns a new Version created from the supplied string or an error if the string is not a valid version number
 func NewVersion(v string) (*Version, error) {
 	n, err := goversion.NewVersion(strings.TrimPrefix(v, "v"))
diff --git a/version_test.go b/version_test.go
index 562075b..d9be71b 100644
--- a/version_test.go
+++ b/version_test.go
@@ -38,6 +38,20 @@ func TestK0sComparison(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.False(t, b.Equal(a), "version %s should not be equal to %s", b, a)
 }
 
+func TestSatisfies(t *testing.T) {
+	v, err := NewVersion("1.23.1+k0s.1")
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	assert.True(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">=1.23.1")))
+	assert.True(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">=1.23.1+k0s.0")))
+	assert.True(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">=1.23.1+k0s.1")))
+	assert.True(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint("=1.23.1+k0s.1")))
+	assert.True(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint("<1.23.1+k0s.2")))
+	assert.False(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">=1.23.1+k0s.2")))
+	assert.False(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">=1.23.2")))
+	assert.False(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint(">1.23.1+k0s.1")))
+	assert.False(t, v.Satisfies(MustConstraint("<1.23.1+k0s.1")))
+}
+
 func TestURLs(t *testing.T) {
 	a, err := NewVersion("1.23.3+k0s.1")
 	assert.NoError(t, err)