#10 of 18 managed Kubernetes services · Updated October 2026
Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos review 2026
Scaleway Kubernetes Kapsule and Kosmos · European sovereign basics
Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos ranks #10 of 18 managed Kubernetes services in the Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 62.2 out of 100. Scaleway is building a plain, standard Kapsule service with a multi-cloud Kosmos option, French data location and GPU pools.
Scores
Source: Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger 2026, edition 2026-10-13. How each score works: methodology.
Pros
No domain scores 4 or higher out of 5.
Cons
No domain scores 2.5 or lower out of 5. Check the lock-in and buying notes below.
What the Ledger says
Scaleway is building a plain, standard Kapsule service with a multi-cloud Kosmos option, French data location and GPU pools. The record shows steady dated changelog entries and kept deprecation timetables, but new minors arrive after a median 55 days against a stated few days, there is no roadmap board and no AI tooling beyond GPU pools. A buyer gets low cost, EU control and conformant Kubernetes, with an SLA only on paid dedicated control planes and four European regions.
AI say-do: 0 dated AI promises found; GPU pools with a default operator are shipped. Generative APIs and Managed Inference are separate products with no Kapsule integration; first-pass MCP server repository does not exist.
Capability by area
Buying, lock-in and release record
Buying and licence (commercial risk)(lower is better)
- Price and licence volatility1.5
- Free control plane capped at 150 nodes from 2023-09; dedicated tiers introduced; no list-price change from 2024-05 to 2026-10
- Purchase constraints1
- Self-service pay as you go; free shared control plane; 30-day commitment on dedicated planes
- Channel and access1.5
- Self-service sign-up and public pricing; four European regions only
- Owner stability1.5
- Iliad Group subsidiary; no distress found, but ownership and financials not examined
- Cost of staying supported2
- Patch upgrades free; minors supported 14 months, then forced upgrade within 30 days; no extended support
Technical lock-in(lower is better)
- Formats0.5
- Certified Kubernetes (CNCF folders 1.24 to 1.37); standard API and kubeconfig
- Export path2
- No migration or Kubernetes backup service found; Object Storage egress 75 GB free then EUR 0.01 per GB
- Stack coupling2.5
- Scaleway IAM, Private Network, load balancers and block storage classes reconciled by the service; Private Network mandatory
- Hardware / cloud coupling2
- Kosmos adds nodes from other clouds, but the control plane runs only in Scaleway regions
- Skills and tooling coupling1
- kubectl, Terraform and a Scaleway CLI
Release credibility
- Cadence3.5
- Version calendar published and changelog dated, but 'a few days' availability claim missed; median lag 55 days
- Roadmap transparency3
- Dated changelog and status incident JSON; no public roadmap board; feature-request site could not be read
- Say-do3.5
- 5 of 7 tracked items shipped on or before stated dates; version availability claim missed; Arm pools still beta
- Velocity3
- 17 Kubernetes changelog entries in 2024 and 13 in 2025; about one substantive capability a quarter
- Lifecycle stability3
- 14-month support, forced upgrades at end of support, several retirements (Flannel, Weave, public-only clusters, NAT IPs, CSI v0.2)
Partners and services
- Partner programme openness3
- Partner programme with directory and application page; partner names not confirmed
- Multi-tenancy and self-service3.5
- Organisations, projects, IAM policies and applications
- API and infrastructure-as-code4
- Terraform provider 16.4 million downloads (partner-premier), CLI, Go, Python and JS SDKs, Crossplane provider; Cluster API provider is for self-managed clusters
- Skills and certification2.5
- Scaleway Learning page and community Slack; no Kubernetes certification found
Alternatives to Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos
Is Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos right for you?
Describe what you run and the free advisor ranks Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos against the other managed Kubernetes services for your case.
Questions about Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos
Is Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos any good?
Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos ranks #10 of 18 managed Kubernetes services in the Managed Cloud Kubernetes Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 62.2 out of 100.
What are the best alternatives to Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos?
The closest by Ledger Index are IBM IKS / ROKS (62.4), DigitalOcean DOKS (61.9), Upstream Kubernetes (65.5), Tencent TKE (58.6).
How is Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos licensed and sold?
Free control plane capped at 150 nodes from 2023-09; dedicated tiers introduced; no list-price change from 2024-05 to 2026-10.
How much lock-in does Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos bring?
Scaleway Kapsule/Kosmos scores 8 out of 25 on technical lock-in (lower is better). Export path: No migration or Kubernetes backup service found; Object Storage egress 75 GB free then EUR 0.01 per GB.
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