14 alternative managed Kubernetes platforms

Kubernetes is mighty powerful but highly complex. This has influenced many organizations to ditch self-hosted solutions and move toward more fully managed Kubernetes platforms. Nearly 90% of Kubernetes users use cloud-managed services, DataDog reported in 2021.

The top cloud hyperscalers each have their own managed Kubernetes platforms: Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS), Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). But that’s just the beginning. Managed Kubernetes services are available far and wide, from long-established technology companies and up-and-coming startups alike. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) tracks over 100 certified vendors.

While much has been said about the major public cloud offerings, interest in alternative managed Kubernetes platforms is growing. Many are specialized for unique environments, like edge, on-premises, or smaller container deployments. Some offerings unlock managed infrastructure at a fraction of the cost of the bigger cloud players.

While large incumbents stagnate and hike prices, newcomers are pushing innovation—especially with agnostic layers that manage clusters across multiple public clouds or private clouds. Below, we’ll explore the range of managed Kubernetes platforms and compare some of the top offerings for small-to-medium businesses as well as enterprises.

Alibaba Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK)

Alibaba Cloud Container Service for Kubernetes (ACK) provides many out-of-the-box functions to streamline cluster management and containerized application deployment, offering high scalability on Alibaba Cloud infrastructure.

Key benefits include a native VPC for secure networking and instant access to GPU-accelerated instances. Developers can deploy across multiple geographic zones and test releases using built-in canary and blue-green deployment strategies. ACK is Kubernetes-conformant and includes professional support services.

ACK prioritizes VPC networking, lacking native support for modern eBPF-based CNIs like Cilium (although it offers plugins). It also relies on Alibaba Cloud services for logging, storage, and RBAC (role-based access controls)—great for Alibaba Cloud users, not so great for those seeking open-source flexibility.

If you’re operating in the Asia-Pacific region or you already have ties to Alibaba Cloud, ACK is an obvious consideration.

D2iQ Kubernetes Platform (DKP)

D2iQ Kubernetes Platform (DKP), now owned by Nutanix, evolved from Mesosphere, which originally bundled the now-defunct Apache Mesos, an orchestrator that didn’t fare too well in the container wars. After pivoting to Kubernetes, DKP introduced automation for managing clusters across clouds.

DKP’s control plane centralizes visibility across clusters, aiding troubleshooting and root cause analysis. It’s CNCF-conformant, with declarative APIs and standard kubectl commands. DKP also meets NSA/CISA guidelines and supports air-gapped deployments.

Most users find DKP to be a robust and reliable platform for production-grade cluster management, simplifying database provisioning, CI/CD, backups, vulnerability scanning, and monitoring. However, some cite poor documentation, unresponsive support, and a steep learning curve for initial setup. Others report salespeople lacking product knowledge.

DKP is a good choice for cross-cloud organizations with a strong GitOps culture looking for a simpler way to run multiple clusters across various deployment environments.

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS)

DigitalOcean Kubernetes (DOKS) is a managed Kubernetes platform with a fully managed control plane accessible via UI, API, or CLI. It abstracts infrastructure management, offering automated high availability, autoscaling, and backups with SnapShooter.

Users appreciate its intuitive web interface, streamlined CLI, and easy onboarding. Updates take just a few commands, and native load balancers and volumes integrate seamlessly. Per-node costs tend to be lower than hyperscalers. GPU workloads are supported via manually deployed Nvidia-enabled droplets.

Early security issues, like publicly exposed etcd, have been resolved. However, DOKS lacks built-in Network File System (NFS) support for distributed storage—while workarounds exist, some platforms offer native options. Virtual private cloud (VPC) networking is available but less flexible than AWS or GCP.

DOKS continues to improve and is a solid choice for smaller-scale Kubernetes workloads like APIs, worker nodes, or log processing.

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS)

IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service (IKS) is a managed Kubernetes platform for deploying containerized applications on IBM Cloud. It offers advanced scheduling, healing, monitoring, and user-friendly deployment tools.

Users find workload scalability and high availability as key advantages of IKS. Its resource isolation can also help support highly regulated environments. CNCF-certified, IKS provides predictable Kubernetes API behavior, a native container registry, and integration with other IBM services, including Watson.

Unlike multi-cloud-focused platforms, IKS is IBM Cloud-specific, limiting its role in agnostic container orchestration. Stellar opinions of IBM Cloud are rare, with developers citing high costs, troubleshooting difficulties, and gaps in documentation. With IKS specifically, experiences vary.

If you’re already using IBM Cloud and need tight integration with IBM services, IKS may be a good option. Despite mixed feelings about IBM Cloud, reviews say that IKS gets the job done.

Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform

Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform (KKP) is a managed Kubernetes distribution optimized for edge constraints like low bandwidth or low processing power. It is highly portable, supporting hybrid multi-cloud, data centers, and multi-tenant environments.

KKP includes built-in automation for scaling, healing, provisioning, updates, and backups. It’s CNCF-certified, so adheres to Kubernetes-native commands, and a self-managed open-source community version is available under Apache License 2.0.

KKP’s Container Network Interface (CNI) support was originally limited to Canal but now supports Cilium and others. While KKP has a smaller user base than major managed Kubernetes services, it is a significant upstream Kubernetes contributor.

KKP clusters are pretty vanilla for a managed platform. If you want a Kubernetes-native managed platform with high customization for your containers on the edge, KKP is a good option.

Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE)

Akamai’s Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) is a managed platform for deploying containerized applications without maintaining a Kubernetes cluster. It features a fully managed control plane and programmatic ways to provision clusters.

Users praise LKE’s ease of use, high-quality customer support, and transparent pricing—you pay only for worker nodes, and inbound transfers are free. LKE guarantees 99.99% uptime, supports multiple Kubernetes versions, and enables quick add-on tools.

However, LKE lacks some advanced features found in larger platforms. Notably, it doesn’t offer a private container registry, and while the dashboard is managed, users must handle deployment configurations. (Akamai App Platform is a more ready-to-run platform, but it’s still in beta). GPU workloads require additional product subscriptions.

As Swapnil Bhartiya writes for TFiR.io, LKE is “designed for typical cloud users,” serving both small teams and enterprises. However, its simplicity leads many to categorize it with smaller providers. Elliot Graebert describes LKE as “best for startups.”

Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (MKE)

Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (MKE), formerly Docker Enterprise, is a Kubernetes-based container orchestration platform that runs on bare metal, public cloud, and everything in between. Built on open source, it includes Calico for networking and KubeVirt for managing both containers and VMs.

CNCF-certified, MKE offers flexible access via web UI, CLI, or API. Users appreciate its ease of use, strong security controls, unlimited worker nodes, and an internal trusted registry for container images.

However, some folks are wary of Mirantis’s open-source commitment due to its decision to make Lens, a popular Kubernetes dashboard, closed-source, and its track record of productizing free Docker-related tools. Reviews also cite customer support issues and opaque documentation.

For those embedded in the Docker ecosystem who value simplicity over full flexibility, MKE remains a solid choice.

Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE)

Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE) is a Kubernetes management platform built on top of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI). In addition to automating maintenance, patching, and repairs, OKE supports autoscaling and efficient resource utilization.

OKE is extensible, providing cluster add-ons for areas like service mesh, cluster autoscaling, metrics, ingress controller, load balancing, and more, making it good for organizations intermeshed with the Oracle ecosystem. While Oracle generally draws enterprise users, even some indie developers are turning to OCI’s Always Free tier for self-hosted projects.

Some Oracle Cloud users report sudden closures for accounts on the free tier and not the pay-as-you-go plan. Others report a clunky experience using the OCI user interface. As Arnold Gálovics, co-founder and CEO at Docktape Technologies, writes, “The Oracle Cloud console interface is a big step back.”

But if you’re looking for an enterprise-focused Kubernetes management layer with a generous free tier, OKE fits the bill.

Platform9 Managed Kubernetes

Platform9 Managed Kubernetes (PMK) is a fully managed Kubernetes service that automates cluster operations like deployment, monitoring, healing, and upgrades. Cloud-agnostic, PMK runs across on-premises, edge, and public clouds.

Users report successful scaling with PMK. It includes multi-cluster management, multi-tenancy, and granular RBAC policies, with Platform9’s Always On Assurance guaranteeing high availability. Closer to upstream Kubernetes than competitors, PMK offers a solid developer experience.

However, PMK lacks built-in private registries, and its CNI support is limited (albeit customizable via plugins). Its cloud-hosted control plane may not suit strict on-prem compliance needs. Although users report cost savings, exact pricing details are opaque.

For enterprises seeking private-cloud Kubernetes, PMK is a strong alternative to Red Hat OpenShift or VMware Tanzu.

Rackspace Managed Kubernetes (MPK)

Rackspace Managed Platform for Kubernetes (MPK) is powered by Platform9, providing a unified control plane for cluster deployment, monitoring, incident response, and upgrades.

MPK supports three environments—Rackspace bare metal, AKS, and EKS. Unique benefits include an SLA guaranteeing Kubernetes upgrades within 120 days of end of life and dedicated support, with a pod of Kubernetes-certified engineers assisting each customer.

Highly Kubernetes-conformant, MPK integrates CNCF-backed tools like Prometheus, Fluentd, Helm, and Istio. However, MPK lacks a native container registry, IAM, and storage, requiring public cloud or bring-your-own solutions.

MPK is a solid choice for teams using Rackspace for bare-metal hosting who want hands-on support and a centralized platform to manage AWS’s and Azure’s Kubernetes services.

Rancher

Rancher, by SUSE, is a Kubernetes-as-a-service solution for on-premises and cloud. Rancher can manage clusters for several Kubernetes platforms including Rancher Kubernetes Engine (RKE), K3s, AKS, EKS, and GKE.

Developers tend to find Rancher’s unified web UI easy to get started with. Rancher also provides an API and CLI and supports Terraform with its own slice of GitOps. It ships with secure administrative controls, including OAuth and other login options. Rancher has a large user base and Slack groups, making it easy to find community and support.

SUSE has introduced price hikes in recent years. Engineers have also reported performance and scalability challenges with Longhorn, SUSE’s native storage solution, and often recommend alternatives for backup storage. Rancher also supports K3k, Kubernetes in Kubernetes, which allows you to run isolated K3s clusters within a larger Kubernetes environment.

All in all, Rancher is comparable to OpenShift, but less opinionated and more modular, with a different approach to multi-tenancy. If you need multi-cloud, multi-cluster management with fewer vendor restrictions, Rancher is a solid choice. Portainer is a comparable alternative.

Red Hat OpenShift Kubernetes Engine

Red Hat OpenShift is a hybrid cloud platform that streamlines Kubernetes with a developer tool chain, simplifying cluster management. It includes built-in observability, networking, security, and GitOps, making upgrades and patches easier than stand-alone Kubernetes. Unlike cloud-specific services, OpenShift is portable, running on-prem, in data centers, or across clouds.

OpenShift OpenShift Kubernetes Engine is a more pared-down version of OpenShift, offering a managed Kubernetes environment without the higher-level platform-as-a-service (PaaS) layer. It also supports Kubernetes Operators and running virtual machines alongside containers.

A potential downside is that OpenShift is much more opinionated compared to other services like AKS. It favors its own oc CLI over kubectl, and some Helm charts and Operators may need adjustments due to its stricter security model.

OpenShift is suitable for on-prem deployments, hybrid teams managing VMs and containers, and Red Hat customers. If a portable, enterprise-ready Kubernetes distribution with built-in security and automation is what you seek, OpenShift is a strong contender.

Scaleway Kubernetes Kapsule

Scaleway, an EU-based cloud provider, offers Kubernetes Kapsule, a managed Kubernetes service focused on autoscaling and resilience. Scaleway also provides Kosmos for multi-cloud Kubernetes deployments.

Kapsule features a sleek UX, strong customer support, and flexible cluster management via API, CLI, and Terraform. You pay only for the nodes you use, making it cost-effective for personal clusters or experimentation. Scaleway’s application library includes pre-configured images for common add-ons. Kapsule is also CNCF-certified, ensuring compliance with standard Kubernetes APIs.

A major drawback with Scaleway is the few regions it supports—only France, the Netherlands, and Poland—hindering a truly global reach. Some find the lack of certain features, like advanced load balancing and DNS, to be a deal breaker. Users also report slow provisioning times, outages, and reliability issues.

Due to its limited feature set and geographic distribution, Kapsule seems best-suited to side projects and EU-based startups needing an affordable option that aligns with European data protection regulations.

VMware Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG)

VMware’s Tanzu Kubernetes Grid (TKG) is a Kubernetes platform that streamlines networking, authentication, monitoring, logging, and ingress control. Built partially on open source, it leverages Cluster API to manage multiple clusters. TKG performs well and offers both CLI and UI options.

However, TKG is no longer multi-cloud—since v2.5, TKG dropped support for AWS and Azure workloads. Now focused almost entirely on VMware vSphere, it’s unsuitable as an agnostic Kubernetes control plane. Managing Kubernetes across clouds requires Tanzu Mission Control (TMC) alongside native services like EKS, AKS, or GKE.

Another challenge is Tanzu’s convoluted branding and documentation—even VMware employees struggle to explain its SKUs. Meanwhile, Broadcom’s takeover of VMware resulted in steep price hikes. VMware has also deprecated a handful of Tanzu packages, raising questions about VMware Tanzu’s long-term viability.

If you’re deeply invested in vSphere and virtual machines, you can absorb higher costs, and you don’t need a true multi-cloud solution, TKG may be a fit. Otherwise, more flexible and more future-proofed alternatives exist.

Honorable mentions

There are countless other managed Kubernetes platforms, and more continue to emerge alongside niche clouds, like Hetzner or Spectro Cloud. Other comparable, fully-faceted Kubernetes managed platforms include OVHCloud Managed Kubernetes and Civo Kubernetes.

Tencent Kubernetes Engine (TKE) and Huawei Cloud Container Engine (CCE) are other options for those in the Asia-Pacific region.

The big players also offer their own stripped-down flavors of Kubernetes management. For instance, AKS Automatic and EKS Auto Mode provide frictionless developer experiences to automate cluster deployments and operations. And Google Cloud Anthos is emerging as a hybrid multi-cloud solution.

Plenty of other solutions specialize in more niche Kubernetes management functions. For instance, other managed services focus on universal control for multi-cluster, multi-cloud management, such as Portainer, Rafay, Omni, Liquo, and Kube Clusters.

For the edge or small container deployments, slim options include MicroK8s, K3s, and K0s, while Vultr Kubernetes Engine provides a more managed experience. Kubespray, a developer favorite, provides an open-source toolset for deploying Kubernetes clusters in slim configurations.

The right tool for the job

Plug-and-play Kubernetes services take a lot of the hassle out of cluster management. But it all depends on scale—managed services may not be necessary if you’re not running many clusters simultaneously. Smaller deployments often opt for simpler container runtimes, like Docker Compose or Nomad. Others turn to platform-as-a-service alternatives, like Heroku, Fly.io, or Cloud Run.

Depending on your needs, you may only require specific tools. For instance, Karpenter is a popular open-source tool strictly for autoscaling cluster nodes. Or, perhaps you only need a dashboard like Devtron or a UI like Aptakube or Octant.

Alternatively, building may be better than buying if you anticipate needing more granular control at the infrastructure level and you have the wherewithal. With the right technical chops, you might consider sticking with built-in kubeadm and hosting Kubernetes yourself for ultimate control.

Evaluating managed Kubernetes services boils down to two main factors: how much you want to manage and what third-party services you need, says Michael Levan, principal consultant and advisor. While automated services can remove infrastructure management, they may not always integrate well with certain third-party tools. “It really comes down to, like anything in the cloud, how much control you want to give away,” he says.