Docs
Sign In

The OpenShift alternative that stays standard Kubernetes

Managed, CNCF-conformant Kubernetes on open source foundations, standard Kubernetes and OpenStack with no forks, plus the VMs, databases and multi-tenancy a platform needs, priced per managed resource instead of per core. Your charts, operators and tooling work unchanged.

Book a callRequest a free trial
Conformant Kubernetes: no fork, no proprietary APIsSubscription per managed resource, not per coreEU-built, runs in your perimeter, down to air-gapped
Nothing to relearn
Helm chartsunchanged
Operatorsstandard CRDs
kubectl & CIas-is
edgeContinuum
Managed Kuberneteson your OpenStack

You wanted Kubernetes. You got a platform bill.

Teams looking for an OpenShift alternative usually name the same three reasons: subscriptions that scale with cores, so every hardware refresh raises the bill; an opinionated distribution whose specific APIs and tooling creep into every manifest; and a stack heavy enough that running it becomes its own project. edgeContinuum takes the other path: standard, conformant Kubernetes as a managed service on the infrastructure you already run, inside a platform that also handles your VMs, databases and tenancy. See how it works on the Kubernetes on OpenStack page.

Where your OpenShift workloads land

OpenShift clusters, licensed per core
Managed CNCF-conformant clustersDedicated or hosted control planes, in-place upgrades, autoscaling; a subscription per cluster, independent of cores.
Routes, DeploymentConfigs, OpenShift-specific APIs
Standard Kubernetes APIsIngress, Deployments, plain CRDs: portable manifests your team can take anywhere, because nothing is forked.
OpenShift Virtualization for VMs
VMs on OpenStack virtualizationMature, purpose-built virtualization with image catalogs, networks, routers and firewall rules, managed from the same console as your clusters.
OperatorHub and templates
App marketplace you curateHelm charts, containers and your internal apps as one-click products for every team and tenant.
Core counts re-audited at every renewal
A subscription per managed resourceClusters, databases and VMs are the unit; cores, sockets and users are not counted, so a denser hardware refresh improves your unit economics instead of raising the bill.
Disconnected installs your team maintains
Air-gapped, control plane includedThe whole platform runs inside your perimeter, so teams keep self-service on sites that never reach the internet. Same price as any other deployment model.

Open source underneath, managed on top

If you are looking for an open source OpenShift alternative, the honest split matters. Everything that runs your workloads here is open source and unforked: standard CNCF-conformant Kubernetes and OpenStack for compute, storage and networking. There are no proprietary Kubernetes APIs to adopt, so nothing about your manifests ties you to us. The edgeContinuum layer that provisions and operates all of it is commercial software, sold as a subscription per managed resource; we would rather say that plainly than let you find out later.

In practice that is the difference between this and rolling your own on OKD or vanilla Kubernetes: the open source pieces are free to download, and the cost shows up as the platform team who harden, upgrade and support them. edgeContinuum is that team’s work, already built and maintained. If you are pricing that work yourself, the Kubernetes on OpenStack architecture guide sets out what a self-built cluster stack actually contains.

Standard CNCF KubernetesOpenStack underneathNo forks, no proprietary APIsPortable manifests

Against Red Hat OpenShift itself, the differences that decide most evaluations are the licensing unit (cores and sockets, versus a subscription per managed resource), how opinionated the distribution is (its own Routes, DeploymentConfigs and SCCs, versus unforked upstream Kubernetes), and how much of the platform arrives finished: VMs on purpose-built OpenStack virtualization rather than on top of Kubernetes, managed PostgreSQL instead of an operator you run, and tenancy with per-tenant usage rather than projects and RBAC. For sovereign or air-gapped environments, edgeContinuum runs completely inside your perimeter. For a technical TCO breakdown, read our OpenShift vs CNCF Kubernetes comparison.

Pricing model

Stop counting cores

edgeContinuum is a subscription per resource managed through the platform: clusters, databases, VMs. Not per core, not per socket, not per user. Denser hardware makes your unit economics better instead of raising your bill, and the price doesn’t change with your deployment model, from SaaS to fully air-gapped.

Per managed resourceNot per core or userSame price air-gapped
ResourceTypeStatusBilling unit
prod-eu-westClusterHealthy1 subscription
analytics-dbPG 16Healthy1 subscription
web-frontendVMOn1 subscription
Cores: not billedUsers: not billed
Beyond the cluster

A platform, not just a distro

OpenShift answers the Kubernetes question and leaves the rest of the stack to you. edgeContinuum manages the whole thing: the infrastructure underneath (your OpenStack, shaped into regions and zones), managed PostgreSQL, VM networking, an app marketplace, and organizations, projects and quotas with usage tracked per tenant, whether tenants are your teams or your clients.

Managed PostgreSQLVMs & networkingMulti-tenant IAMUsage per tenant

Databases

Production PostgreSQL in a click, lifecycle handled.

VMs & networks

Full networking story: catalogs, routers, firewall rules.

Multi-tenancy

Organizations, projects, roles and quotas, enforced by IAM.

Sovereignty

Your perimeter, EU-built, air-gap capable.

Who OpenShift's competitors actually are

Teams comparing OpenShift usually end up looking at five things, and they are not equivalent. OKD is the community distribution OpenShift is built from: the same shape, none of the support, and you own the operational work. Rancher manages clusters across existing infrastructure and is strong at fleet management, but it stops at Kubernetes, so databases and virtual machines stay someone else's problem. Google Anthos and the Tanzu line both assume a wider commitment, to Google Cloud in one case and to vSphere and the VCF bundle in the other, which is the same coupling many teams are trying to leave. Plain upstream Kubernetes on infrastructure you already run is the honest baseline: free as software, and priced in people once you count sizing, hardening, upgrades, etcd, certificates, CNI and on-call.

See standard Kubernetes, managed

Book a call and we’ll walk your OpenShift estate through the ladder above, or request a free trial and provision a conformant cluster in minutes.

Book a callRequest a free trial

Frequently asked questions

What is the best open source alternative to OpenShift?
Partly, and it is worth being precise. Everything that runs your workloads is open source and unforked: standard CNCF-conformant Kubernetes, and OpenStack for compute, storage and networking. There are no proprietary Kubernetes APIs, so your manifests stay portable. The edgeContinuum layer that provisions and operates all of it is commercial software, licensed as a subscription per managed resource. If a fully open source stack is a hard requirement, OKD or vanilla Kubernetes on OpenStack is the honest answer, and you take on the platform work yourself.
Is there a free and open source alternative to OpenShift?
As software, yes: OKD (the community distribution OpenShift is built from), vanilla Kubernetes and OpenStack all cost nothing to download. What they cost is people. Someone has to size and harden clusters, run upgrades, handle etcd, certificates and CNI, and stay on call. Teams usually come to us after pricing that in. edgeContinuum is a paid subscription per managed resource, which is cheaper than a platform team for most organizations and more expensive than nothing.
How does it compare to OpenShift competitors like Tanzu, Rancher or Anthos?
Tanzu, Rancher and Anthos are mostly Kubernetes management planes: they give you clusters and a place to see them, and assume the infrastructure, databases and tenancy are handled elsewhere. edgeContinuum manages the layer underneath too, your OpenStack shaped into regions and zones, plus managed PostgreSQL, VMs with real networking, an app marketplace and multi-tenant IAM with per-tenant usage. So the comparison is less "which Kubernetes manager" and more "how much of the platform do you still have to build". We also do not price per core or per user, and the platform runs in your perimeter down to air-gapped sites.
We are moving off VMware and evaluating OpenShift. Should we look at this instead?
It is worth comparing, because the two moves are different sizes. Going from vSphere to OpenShift Virtualization means your VMs become Kubernetes workloads and your team learns a new platform on top. Here, VMs stay VMs on OpenStack virtualization, Kubernetes is standard and managed, and both live in one console with shared tenancy. See the VMware alternative and OpenStack vs VMware pages for the migration detail.
Will our Kubernetes manifests and charts work?
Yes. Clusters are CNCF-conformant standard Kubernetes, so Helm charts, operators and CI pipelines work unchanged. OpenShift-specific resources (Routes, DeploymentConfigs) convert to their standard equivalents (Ingress, Deployments) once, and after that everything is portable.
What replaces OpenShift Virtualization for our VMs?
VMs run on OpenStack virtualization, purpose-built for the job, with image and flavor catalogs, networks, routers and firewall rules, managed from the same console and projects as your clusters.
How is pricing different?
A subscription per resource managed through the platform (clusters, databases, VMs), independent of cores, sockets or users, and identical across deployment models. Core-based licensing penalizes denser hardware; per-resource pricing doesn’t.
Do we need OpenStack to use edgeContinuum?
Yes, OpenStack is the foundation and part of the value: a mature, open virtualization layer the platform manages for you. If you are coming from OpenShift on VMware, both layers can move together; see the VMware alternative page.
Who helps with the migration?
Our engineers work the plan with you: cluster sizing and control plane models, converting OpenShift-specific resources, moving VM images into OpenStack, and shaping your sites into regions and zones.
Which vendors offer integrated VM lifecycle management on Kubernetes?
Several platforms now put virtual machines and containers behind one control plane: OpenShift through OpenShift Virtualization, SUSE through Harvester and Rancher, and edgeContinuum through managed Kubernetes and managed VMs on the OpenStack you already operate. The difference is where the VMs actually run. OpenShift Virtualization runs them as pods on Kubernetes, which is elegant but means your virtualization layer inherits Kubernetes' upgrade cycle and its per-core licensing. edgeContinuum leaves VMs on OpenStack compute, where they behave like VMs, and manages both them and your clusters from the same console, API and Terraform provider, with one set of organizations, projects and quotas across the two.
Who are OpenShift's main competitors?
The realistic shortlist is OKD, Rancher, Google Anthos, the Tanzu line, plain upstream Kubernetes, and platforms like edgeContinuum that manage Kubernetes alongside databases and VMs. They divide on two questions. First, does the platform fork Kubernetes or stay conformant, which decides how portable your manifests are. Second, does it stop at Kubernetes or also cover the databases, virtual machines and tenancy a real platform needs. OpenShift is opinionated and complete but priced per core and coupled to its own APIs; edgeContinuum stays standard, covers the wider surface, and prices per managed resource.
What are the alternatives to OpenShift for VM workloads?
If the goal is running virtual machines rather than containers, OpenShift Virtualization is the OpenShift answer, and it carries OpenShift's per-core pricing for workloads that are not containers at all. The alternatives are Proxmox VE and XCP-ng at the hypervisor level, Nutanix AHV as an integrated stack, and OpenStack with a managed layer on top. edgeContinuum takes the last route: your VMs run on OpenStack compute with image and flavor catalogs, networks and firewall rules, managed from the same console as your Kubernetes clusters, and redeploying containerized workloads onto standard CNCF Kubernetes happens on the same platform when you are ready.

Keep exploring

Tanzu alternativeKubernetes on OpenStackVMware alternativeProduct tourAir-gapped KubernetesCompare platformsResources