On-Prem Kubernetes Ledger 2026: 20 Distributions Scored
OpenShift, Rancher, Tanzu, NKP and 16 more on-prem Kubernetes distributions scored on capability, version lag, risk and AI, from public records.
Reports in this series
How the On-Prem Kubernetes Ledger scores OpenShift, Rancher, Tanzu and 17 more: fixed anchors, version lag, a security record and public evidence only.
EKS Anywhere is a free, self-hosted Cluster API toolkit that AWS supports for a flat per-cluster fee.
Canonical is consolidating its three Kubernetes lines around the k8s snap, with upstream minors in days and a 12-year LTS track sold through Ubuntu Pro.
DaoCloud sells DCE as a set of independently versioned modules (Karmada multicloud, KubeVirt VMs, Harbor registry, Argo CD workbench, OpenTelemetry…
Deckhouse is a modular in-cluster platform that bundles its own virtualization, GPU, observability and fleet products and ships a new minor every two to…
Giant Swarm is building toward a Cluster API platform that it operates inside the customer's own provider account, with a Backstage portal and, since…
Google sells the on-premises clusters as an extension of its cloud: fleet, billing, identity and the install and upgrade path all run through a Google…
Kubermatic is widening KKP from multi-cloud cluster management into a family of products for virtualization, a developer platform, load balancing,…
KubeSphere is moving from a free open-source console to a licence-keyed product line: a source-available repository, an Enterprise edition and a capped…
Microsoft is turning AKS on Azure Local into the Kubernetes layer of its Azure Local platform: clusters are Azure resources, created and upgraded from…
Mirantis is moving customers from the Docker-era MKE 3 to a Kubernetes-only MKE 4 built on its open-source k0s and k0rdent, now adding KubeVirt VMs and…
Nutanix is folding the D2iQ platform into its stack: NKP gains AHV, Prism Central, NDK data services and NKP Metal, while keeping vSphere and cloud…
OKD is Red Hat's community build of OpenShift, now rebuilt on CentOS Stream CoreOS so it can be shipped without RHEL content.
OCNE 2 turns Oracle Linux and Kubernetes into one OSTree image that the ocne CLI stages and updates, with Cluster API providers for OCI and Oracle Linux…
Platform9 now sells itself as a VMware alternative, with Kubernetes a secondary service and a stated plan to move PMK customers to Private Cloud Director.
Red Hat is turning OpenShift into one subscription platform for containers, VMs and AI, with its own OS, fleet manager and security add-ons.
Sidero builds toward a full data-centre stack on one immutable OS, adding a hypervisor, Director and an AI platform after Yardi bought it in September…
Spectro is moving Palette from Kubernetes fleet management towards AI and VM infrastructure under the PaletteAI name, funded by a $100M round in July 2026.
SUSE is turning Rancher into a Cluster API based manager for any Kubernetes plus KubeVirt virtualization and an AI assistant for operators.
Upstream Kubernetes is the reference line for every other entry: three releases a year on schedule, public enhancement proposals, and nothing to buy.
Broadcom is folding Kubernetes into VMware Cloud Foundation as one feature of a private-cloud subscription, next to VMs and Private AI.
Part of the On-Prem Kubernetes Ledger (edition 2026-10-13). How the scores work: methodology. Each distribution links to its own report.
Ranked vendors, by Ledger Index
| Vendor | Tier | Capability /100 | Momentum | Credibility /25 | Commercial risk /25 (lower better) | Lock-in /25 (lower better) | Integrator fit /20 | AI /20 | Ledger Index | Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform (with Kubernetes Engine, Virtualization Engine, Platform Plus) | Leader incumbent | 93.8 | +10.8 | 21.5 | 8.5 | 10.5 | 17.5 | 14.0 | 80.9 | Full-stack enterprise platform |
| SUSE Rancher Prime (RKE2, K3s, SUSE Virtualization) | Leader incumbent | 83.4 | +8.8 | 20.0 | 8.5 | 3.0 | 16.0 | 13.5 | 77.5 | Open multi-cluster manager |
| Spectro Cloud Palette (Palette Enterprise, Palette VerteX, Palette Edge, VMO, PaletteAI) | Challenger | 71.4 | +21.8 | 17.0 | 10.5 | 8.5 | 14.0 | 10.0 | 68.0 | Edge-first fleet manager |
| Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform (Community and Enterprise editions) with KubeOne, KubeLB and Kubermatic Virtualization | Challenger | 69.2 | +19.8 | 17.0 | 8.5 | 7.0 | 12.5 | 10.0 | 67.8 | Open-core hosted control planes |
| Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (ex D2iQ DKP / Konvoy) | Challenger | 69.2 | +15.2 | 16.0 | 11.5 | 5.5 | 13.5 | 12.5 | 67.0 | Nutanix-centred CAPI platform |
| Upstream Kubernetes with kubeadm and Cluster API | Open-source engine | 54.6 | +2.6 | 21.5 | n/a | 1.5 | 16.5 | 4.5 | 66.3 | Reference engine |
| DaoCloud Enterprise (DCE 5.0) | Regional | 72.2 | +27.0 | 17.0 | 13.5 | 10.0 | 11.5 | 8.5 | 64.5 | Modular China platform |
| Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (MKE 3, MKE 4k) with k0s and k0rdent | Challenger | 68.6 | +21.4 | 16.5 | 12.0 | 6.0 | 12.5 | 5.5 | 64.0 | Open-source rebuild under new owner |
| Giant Swarm managed platform (vSphere, VMware Cloud Director, Proxmox VE) | Niche | 56.6 | +20.4 | 17.5 | 11.0 | 8.5 | 12.0 | 12.5 | 63.3 | Managed platform operator |
| Canonical Kubernetes (Charmed Kubernetes, MicroK8s, k8s snap) | Challenger | 63.2 | +9.8 | 17.5 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 9.5 | 5.5 | 62.5 | Long-support upstream packager |
| Sidero Labs Talos Linux and Omni (Talos Enterprise Linux) | Challenger | 62.4 | +18.8 | 18.0 | 11.5 | 9.0 | 12.0 | 5.0 | 61.2 | Immutable OS, new owner |
| VMware vSphere Kubernetes Service (formerly Tanzu Kubernetes Grid, PKS) | Leader incumbent | 75.8 | +7.6 | 14.5 | 21.0 | 14.5 | 14.5 | 10.0 | 58.1 | Hypervisor-bound Kubernetes |
| Platform9 Managed Kubernetes (PMK, SMCP) and Private Cloud Director Kubernetes | Niche | 64.4 | +17.4 | 14.0 | 14.0 | 11.5 | 12.0 | 4.5 | 56.1 | VMware exit first |
| Amazon EKS Anywhere (open source, with paid Enterprise Subscription) | Hyperscaler on-prem | 53.2 | +10.4 | 18.0 | 10.5 | 7.0 | 11.0 | 3.0 | 55.6 | Open-source Cluster API toolkit |
| KubeSphere (QingCloud): Enterprise and Community Edition | Regional | 58.2 | +9.0 | 14.5 | 18.0 | 10.5 | 12.0 | 8.5 | 53.1 | Licence-gated China platform |
| Oracle Cloud Native Environment (OCNE 1.x olcnectl platform, OCNE 2.x ocne CLI with OCK images) | Niche | 49.6 | +13.0 | 14.0 | 11.0 | 10.0 | 9.5 | 4.0 | 50.2 | Image-based Oracle Linux Kubernetes |
Not ranked: fails an inclusion test (scores for reference only)
| Vendor | Tier | Capability /100 | Momentum | Credibility /25 | Commercial risk /25 (lower better) | Lock-in /25 (lower better) | Integrator fit /20 | AI /20 | Ledger Index | Archetype |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Distributed Cloud, software only (ex Anthos clusters on VMware and bare metal) | Hyperscaler on-prem | 64.8 | +6.0 | 16.0 | 9.0 | 13.0 | 12.0 | 4.0 | 56.2 | Cloud-tethered hybrid kubernetes |
| Microsoft AKS on Azure Local (AKS enabled by Azure Arc, ex AKS on Azure Stack HCI) | Hyperscaler on-prem | 51.0 | +11.0 | 14.5 | 11.5 | 14.5 | 13.0 | 4.5 | 50.6 | Azure-managed hybrid Kubernetes |
| OKD, the community distribution of Kubernetes behind Red Hat OpenShift (formerly OpenShift Origin) | Community distribution | 64.8 | +4.0 | 15.5 | 13.0* | 11.0 | 10.5 | 4.0 | 53.7 | Community upstream of OpenShift |
| Deckhouse Kubernetes Platform (Flant), now Deckhouse Platform | Regional | 71.0 | +27.2 | 16.5 | 15.0 | 11.0 | 11.5 | 2.0 | 59.4 | Russian modular platform |
Capability by domain today
| Domain | OpenShift | Rancher | VMware VKS | Nutanix NKP | Canonical | Mirantis MKE | Google Distributed Cloud | Amazon EKS Anywhere | AKS on Azure Local | Oracle CNE | Sidero Talos | Spectro Palette | Kubermatic KKP | Platform9 | OKD | KubeSphere | Deckhouse | DaoCloud DCE | Giant Swarm | Upstream Kubernetes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Install, upgrade and lifecycle (12) | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 |
| Bare metal, edge and on-prem infrastructure (10) | 5 | 4.5 | 3 | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 |
| Multi-cluster and fleet management (10) | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3.5 | 2 |
| Networking (10) | 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4 | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 2 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 |
| Storage and data protection (10) | 4.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 3 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 |
| Security and compliance (12) | 4.5 | 4.5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.25 | 3 | 4.25 | 4.25 | 3.5 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.25 |
| Developer platform (8) | 5 | 3.5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1.5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2.5 | 3 | 1.5 | 4 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 1.5 |
| Observability and day-2 operations (8) | 4.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 4 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3 | 3 | 2.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 2.5 |
| VMs on Kubernetes (VMware exit) (10) | 5 | 4.5 | 4.5 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3.5 | 3 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 0.5 | 2 |
| GPU and accelerator workloads (10) | 4.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3.5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 4 | 2.5 | 3 |
Capability by year
| Year | OpenShift | Rancher | VMware VKS | Nutanix NKP | Canonical | Mirantis MKE | Google Distributed Cloud | Amazon EKS Anywhere | AKS on Azure Local | Oracle CNE | Sidero Talos | Spectro Palette | Kubermatic KKP | Platform9 | OKD | KubeSphere | Deckhouse | DaoCloud DCE | Giant Swarm | Upstream Kubernetes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 41.0 | 27.0 | n/a | n/a | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 39.8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 18.4 | 21.2 |
| 2017 | 43.0 | 27.0 | n/a | n/a | 26.0 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 20.6 | n/a | 41.8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 18.4 | 21.2 |
| 2018 | 47.0 | 27.0 | 36.4 | n/a | 26.0 | 36.2 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | 20.6 | n/a | 45.6 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 18.4 | 21.2 |
| 2019 | 54.2 | 50.0 | 43.6 | 32.8 | 45.6 | 40.4 | 28.4 | n/a | n/a | 25.6 | 22.0 | n/a | 37.0 | 33.4 | 45.6 | 33.2 | n/a | n/a | 31.6 | 41.8 |
| 2020 | 70.4 | 50.0 | 43.6 | 32.8 | 45.6 | 40.4 | 32.4 | n/a | n/a | 26.8 | 22.0 | 33.8 | 37.0 | 33.4 | 53.8 | 41.4 | n/a | n/a | 31.6 | 42.8 |
| 2021 | 79.2 | 50.0 | 43.6 | 32.8 | 45.6 | 40.4 | 37.4 | 32.8 | 34.6 | 26.8 | 22.0 | 35.4 | 37.0 | 35.0 | 53.8 | 46.4 | n/a | n/a | 31.6 | 42.8 |
| 2022 | 83.0 | 74.6 | 68.2 | 54.0 | 53.4 | 47.2 | 58.8 | 42.8 | 40.0 | 36.6 | 43.6 | 49.6 | 49.4 | 47.0 | 60.8 | 49.2 | 43.8 | 45.2 | 36.2 | 52.0 |
| 2023 | 84.2 | 74.6 | 68.2 | 54.0 | 53.4 | 47.2 | 61.2 | 44.8 | 46.0 | 42.6 | 47.8 | 62.8 | 50.6 | 49.2 | 60.8 | 49.2 | 45.0 | 53.4 | 37.8 | 52.0 |
| 2024 | 85.0 | 74.6 | 68.2 | 54.0 | 53.4 | 51.2 | 63.0 | 50.0 | 50.6 | 47.6 | 53.0 | 62.8 | 58.6 | 49.2 | 58.6 | 52.4 | 48.4 | 68.2 | 47.8 | 54.0 |
| 2025 | 90.8 | 74.6 | 68.2 | 54.0 | 53.4 | 62.2 | 64.0 | 53.2 | 50.6 | 49.6 | 59.0 | 69.2 | 64.8 | 57.4 | 60.6 | 56.2 | 62.4 | 71.2 | 52.8 | 55.0 |
| 2026 | 93.8 | 83.4 | 75.8 | 69.2 | 63.2 | 68.6 | 64.8 | 53.2 | 51.0 | 49.6 | 62.4 | 71.4 | 69.2 | 64.4 | 64.8 | 58.2 | 71.0 | 72.2 | 56.6 | 54.6 |
How to read these scores
- Commercial, open-core and open-source distributions are scored on the same ten domains. * marks sustainability risk (OKD, no company sells it) in place of commercial risk; upstream Kubernetes is the engine with no commercial-risk score, so its buyer safety uses lock-in only.
- History is scored at the end of 2016, 2019 and 2022 and today against fixed anchors; products launched later start in their launch year.
- The Ledger Index is shown only for 2023 onward, because credibility, risk and integrator fit are scored for that window only.
- Entries marked not ranked lack enough public evidence; their scores are shown for reference only.
Download the data
Every score in this edition, free to reuse with a link back to this page.