#14 of 25 shared storage platforms for virtualization · Updated October 2026
Longhorn review 2026
SUSE Longhorn (storage of SUSE Virtualization) · Dependable builder
Longhorn ranks #14 of 25 shared storage platforms for virtualization in the Virtualization Storage Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 57.9 out of 100. Replicated block storage for KubeVirt VMs inside SUSE Virtualization; the V2 engine is GA upstream but still a preview where it serves VMs.
Scores
Source: Virtualization Storage Ledger 2026, edition 2026-10-16. How each score works: methodology.
Pros
- Kubernetes and containers4.5/5
- Hardware and deployment freedom4/5
Cons
- Data services core2.5/5
- Performance and protocols2.5/5
- Scale and topology2.5/5
What the Ledger says
Longhorn scores as a solid Kubernetes volume manager that became VM storage because SUSE built a hypervisor on it. The data services and scale lines stay low because it has no compression, deduplication, QoS or two-node mode, and the performance line is held back half a step because the V2 engine that is GA upstream since 1.12.0 ships as a Technical Preview in Harvester 1.9.0. Resilience and operations have improved most since 2025, with multi-replica rebuilds, topology-aware placement and V2 live upgrades. The one thing a buyer should check is which Longhorn version their Harvester release pins and whether that release is a Prime or Stable version SUSE supports in production. Sustainability risk is modest because the CNCF owns the project, but the people who ship it work for SUSE.
Longhorn has announced no AI feature. Agents can drive it through its CRDs like any Kubernetes resource, and the GPU features SUSE markets sit in SUSE Virtualization, not in the storage.
Capability by area
Buying, lock-in and release record
Buying and licence (commercial risk)(lower is better)
- Maintainer concentration3
- SUSE engineers run the releases and the README routes support bundles and vulnerability reports to SUSE addresses; 595 contributing organisations in the CNCF record
- Backer health2
- Backed by SUSE, private under EQT since 2023; CNCF Incubating since 2021-11-04; contributors down 5 percent year on year
- Licence-change risk1
- Apache 2.0 under CNCF ownership, which blocks a unilateral relicence
- Abandonment signs0.5
- Four minors in twelve months and 1.12.2-rc1 on 2026-10-15
- Security response2
- Vulnerability reports go to SUSE; 1.13 gives the CSI service account cluster-wide read on Secrets by default; no public advisory process read
Technical lock-in(lower is better)
- Formats1.5
- Replica directories managed by Longhorn; VM images enter as qcow2 or raw through CDI
- Export path2
- Backups to S3 or NFSv4; Harvester 1.8.0 moves VM disks to external CSI storage without downtime
- Stack coupling3.5
- Requires Kubernetes 1.34 or later for 1.13 and a KubeVirt platform for VMs; no classic hypervisor
- Hardware / cloud coupling1
- x86_64 or ARM64; Harvester recommends YES-certified hardware; ARM64 V2 has a known NVMe stuck IO
- Skills and tooling coupling3
- Kubernetes, Rancher and KubeVirt skills; longhornctl
Release credibility
- Cadence4
- Minors in 2025-09, 2026-01, 2026-06 and 2026-09, about every four to five months, with patch lines; no published calendar
- Roadmap transparency3.5
- Public repository, issue tracker and release notes that name planned items; no roadmap page
- Say-do3.5
- V2 engine went from Technical Preview (1.11, 2026-01) to GA (1.12, 2026-06) in four months; fast V2 cloning slipped from 1.12.1 to 1.13; Harvester still ships V2 as Technical Preview
- Velocity4
- Several substantive items per minor since 1.10
- Lifecycle stability2.5
- One year of upstream support per release; Kubernetes minimum jumped to 1.34 in 1.13; hotfix images for 1.10.0 and 1.11.0; Harvester 1.9.0 notes advise against upgrading
Partners and services
- Partner programme openness3
- Open-source download; SUSE channel terms not read
- Multi-tenancy and self-service3
- Namespaces, Kubernetes quotas and Rancher RBAC; Harvester enforces roles in the backend since 1.8
- API and infrastructure-as-code3.5
- CRDs, Helm and longhornctl; a Harvester Terraform provider was not verified
- Skills and certification2.5
- SUSE and Rancher training exists; Longhorn-specific certification not found
Alternatives to Longhorn
Questions about Longhorn
Is Longhorn any good?
Longhorn ranks #14 of 25 shared storage platforms for virtualization in the Virtualization Storage Ledger 2026, with a Ledger Index of 57.9 out of 100. Its strongest areas are kubernetes and containers, hardware and deployment freedom. Its weakest are data services core, performance and protocols, scale and topology.
What are the best alternatives to Longhorn?
The closest by Ledger Index are Lightbits (58), croit (58), ONTAP Select (58.3), StorPool (56.8).
How is Longhorn licensed and sold?
SUSE engineers run the releases and the README routes support bundles and vulnerability reports to SUSE addresses; 595 contributing organisations in the CNCF record.
How much lock-in does Longhorn bring?
Longhorn scores 11 out of 25 on technical lock-in (lower is better). Export path: Backups to S3 or NFSv4; Harvester 1.8.0 moves VM disks to external CSI storage without downtime.
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