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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs Red Hat OpenShift comparison

The compared Microsoft and Red Hat solutions aren't in the same category. Microsoft is ranked #17 in Container Security , with an average rating of 8.1, and holds a 0.8% mindshare in the category. Red Hat is ranked #7 in HCCP , with an average rating of 8.3, and holds a 3.8% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Microsoft users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Read 40 Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) reviews
  • 835 Views
  • 271 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
Red Hat OpenShift
Read 62 Red Hat OpenShift reviews
  • 229 Views
  • 108 Comparison Views
95% willing to recommend
 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive Summary
We performed a comparison between Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Red Hat OpenShift based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

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June 2025
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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
8.1
The ROI from Azure Kubernetes Service depends on specific use cases, duration of use, and challenges with cost-effectiveness.
Sentiment score
7.8
Red Hat OpenShift improves productivity, offers cost savings, enhances system stability, and provides 15% ROI, especially in privacy-focused sectors.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
With OpenShift combined with IBM Cloud App integration, I can spin an integration server in a second as compared to traditional methods, which could take days or weeks.
Moving to OpenShift resulted in increased system stability and reduced downtime, which contributed to operational efficiency.
It is always advisable to get the bare minimum that you need, and then add more when necessary.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Mikhael Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
JU
Pratul Shukla - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
6.0
AKS support ranges from excellent to inadequate, with mixed reviews on response times and issue resolution efficiency.
Sentiment score
6.8
Red Hat OpenShift support is mixed, praised for expertise but criticized for slow responses and varying experiences based on subscription.
No quotes available
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
Red Hat's technical support is responsive and effective.
I have been pretty happy in the past with getting support from Red Hat.
Red Hat's technical support is good, and I would rate it a nine out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
JU
UM
AJ
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.1
Azure Kubernetes Service offers high scalability and ease of expansion but can be costly for extensive scaling needs.
Sentiment score
7.5
Red Hat OpenShift offers efficient scalability with automated features, easy deployment, and adaptability, despite cost and infrastructure considerations.
AKS offers excellent scalability due to its adaptation from Kubernetes.
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
The on-demand provisioning of pods and auto-scaling, whether horizontal or vertical, is the best part.
OpenShift's horizontal pod scaling is more effective and efficient than that used in Kubernetes, making it a superior choice for scalability.
Red Hat OpenShift scales excellently, with a rating of ten out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Nam Phan - PeerSpot reviewer
UM
Mikhael Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
SA
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
7.2
Azure Kubernetes Service is stable, self-healing, with occasional sync issues, and concerns typically arise from external factors.
Sentiment score
7.7
Red Hat OpenShift is praised for stability, reliability, and features like Blue-Green deployment, with minor issues quickly resolved.
From my usage, I would rate its stability as eight to nine out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
It provides better performance yet requires more resources compared to vanilla Kubernetes.
I've had my cluster running for over four years.
It performs well under load, providing the desired output.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Nam Phan - PeerSpot reviewerMikhael Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
JU
SA
 

Room For Improvement

AKS requires faster alerts, better support, improved cost-efficiency, enhanced UI, streamlined integration, security, monitoring, and simplified deployment.
Red Hat OpenShift needs better documentation, improved usability, and enhancements in security, integration, technical support, and installation processes.
The costs are rising rapidly, and we have not seen any cost reductions by moving to Azure.
It is costly compared to other solutions such as Canonical.
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
Learning OpenShift requires complex infrastructure, needing vCenter integration, more advanced answers, active directory, and more expensive hardware.
Red Hat OpenShift's biggest disadvantage is they do not provide any private cloud setup where we can host on our site using their services.
We should aim to include VMware-like capabilities to be competitive, especially considering cost factors.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Raymond De Rooij - PeerSpot reviewerShaijith KB - PeerSpot reviewerMikhael Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewerPratul Shukla - PeerSpot reviewer
SA
 

Setup Cost

Azure Kubernetes Service is costly, with potential $10,000 monthly fees, but offers flexible pricing and valued platform flexibility.
Red Hat OpenShift pricing is high but potentially cost-effective for large enterprises, offering comprehensive support and enterprise capabilities.
Transitioning to Azure did not bring cost reductions; in fact, costs are rising rapidly.
The pricing for Azure Kubernetes Service seems to be around the average, which I would rate as a five out of ten.
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
Initially, licensing was per CPU, with a memory cap, but the price has doubled, making it difficult to justify for clients with smaller compute needs.
Red Hat can improve on the pricing part by making it more flexible and possibly on the lower side.
The cost of OpenShift is very high, particularly with the OpenShift Plus package, which includes many products and services.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Raymond De Rooij - PeerSpot reviewerNam Phan - PeerSpot reviewer
AJ
UM
Mikhael Ibrahim - PeerSpot reviewer
 

Valuable Features

Azure Kubernetes Service excels in integration, scalability, ease of use, security, cost management, and operational efficiency.
Red Hat OpenShift is valued for its security, scalability, automation, multi-cloud flexibility, and efficient management interface.
The most valuable features of Azure Kubernetes Service are its integration with Kubernetes, offering similar features for a seamless experience.
Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
For more quotes and insights, download the Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) report
Because it was centrally managed in our company, many metrics that we had to write code for were available out of the box, including utilization, CPU utilization, memory, and similar metrics.
The concept of containers and scaling on demand is a feature I appreciate the most about Red Hat OpenShift.
A valuable feature of Red Hat OpenShift is its ability to handle increased loads by automatically adding nodes.
For more quotes and insights, download the Red Hat OpenShift report
Nam Phan - PeerSpot reviewerShaijith KB - PeerSpot reviewerPratul Shukla - PeerSpot reviewer
UM
SA
 

Categories and Ranking

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Average Rating
8.2
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
40
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (17th)
Red Hat OpenShift
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
62
Ranking in other categories
PaaS Clouds (3rd), Server Virtualization Software (10th), Container Management (12th), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (7th), Agile and DevOps Services (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and Red Hat OpenShift aren’t in the same category and serve different purposes. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is designed for Container Security and holds a mindshare of 0.8%, down 0.9% compared to last year.
Red Hat OpenShift, on the other hand, focuses on Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms, holds 3.8% mindshare.
Container Security
Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms
 

Q&A Highlights

MJ
Aug 23, 2023
What are the differences between AKS and OpenShift?
Here are the key differences between Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) and OpenShift: AKS is a managed Kubernetes service, while OpenShift is a self-managed Kubernetes distribution, making AKS easier to deploy and manage, while OpenShift gives you more control over the Kubernetes environment. AKS offers a basic set of features, while OpenShift provides a more comprehensive set of features, including support for multiple container runtimes, a wider range of security features, and more integrations with other Red Hat products. Pricing for AKS is per node, while OpenShift is priced per cluster. AKS can be more cost-effective for small clusters, while OpenShift can be more cost-effective for large clusters.
See all answers
 

Featured Reviews

Shaijith KB - PeerSpot reviewer
Professional services boost confidence but pricing and user-friendliness need attention
We have multiple solutions such as SimpliVity, Nutanix, and DXRail, which are all part of our Ansible-based system. It gives us more confidence and we can control our groups effectively. The solution is not particularly user-friendly for novice administrators, making it challenging to understand certain aspects. Templates are not readily available, requiring users to build their own worksheets and everything from scratch. This is a main decentralization we observe compared to VMware. We have tested various solutions including Rancher, RHEL, Canonical from SUSE, and the bare metal version from RHEL direct. Since pricing is not a major concern, we chose the best fit for our application, which was specifically designed for this particular platform.
Read full review
Pratul Shukla - PeerSpot reviewer
Adopting a flexible and efficient approach with noticeable improvements in operational costs and continued challenges in job management
Currently, one of the biggest challenges we face is with services and jobs. For spawning batches, although it has crons, it is not easy to integrate with enterprise systems such as Autosys. The entire company uses Autosys, but we are not able to integrate it effectively. We need intermediate servers to run OC utility commands and initiate the cron job. We have to do a lot of modifications to ensure our batches work properly. With physical or virtual servers, even in AWS, we are able to write and manage multiple jobs. Managing batches in Red Hat OpenShift has been a significant challenge. Integrating third parties is a challenge with Red Hat OpenShift. For example, with Elasticsearch, onboarding itself was difficult, running file beats and dealing with routing issues. It is not straightforward, especially since we have some components in AWS as. AWS has many capabilities that come out of the box and are easier to work with compared to Red Hat OpenShift. Red Hat OpenShift's biggest disadvantage is they do not provide any private cloud setup where we can host on our site using their services. The main reason we went with Red Hat OpenShift was because it is a private cloud, and we have regulatory requirements that prevent us from using public cloud.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
25%
Computer Software Company
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
6%
Financial Services Firm
30%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
Insurance Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
The platform's high scalability is one of its biggest advantages.
See all answers
What needs improvement with Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
Could you please tell what areas of Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) you think could be improved or enhanced? It doesn't necessarily have to be something advanced. Perhaps there are some minor things...
See all answers
What is your primary use case for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
Could you please describe your customers' usual use cases for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)?
See all answers
How does OpenShift compare with Amazon AWS?
Open Shift makes managing infrastructure easy because of self-healing and automatic scaling. There is also a wonderful dashboard mechanism to alert us in case the application is over-committing or ...
See all answers
Which would you recommend - Pivotal Cloud Foundry or OpenShift?
Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a cloud-native application platform to simplify app delivery. It is efficient and effective. The best feature is how easy it is to handle external services such as database...
See all answers
What do you like most about OpenShift?
OpenShift facilitates DevOps practices and improves CI/CD workflows in terms of stability compared to Jenkins.
See all answers
 

Comparisons

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SUSE Rancher vs Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) Logo
SUSE Rancher vs Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Compared 5% of the time
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Orca Security vs Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Compared 3% of the time
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Wiz vs Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Compared 3% of the time
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Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Red Hat OpenShift Logo
Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Red Hat OpenShift
Compared 15% of the time
Microsoft Azure vs Red Hat OpenShift Logo
Microsoft Azure vs Red Hat OpenShift
Compared 13% of the time
Amazon AWS vs Red Hat OpenShift Logo
Amazon AWS vs Red Hat OpenShift
Compared 8% of the time
Google Cloud vs Red Hat OpenShift Logo
Google Cloud vs Red Hat OpenShift
Compared 7% of the time
Proxmox VE vs Red Hat OpenShift Logo
Proxmox VE vs Red Hat OpenShift
Compared 5% of the time
More Red Hat OpenShift Competitors
 

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
June 2025
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) reportDownload Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) product report
Buyer's Guide
Red Hat OpenShift
June 2025
Red Hat OpenShift reportDownload Red Hat OpenShift product report
 

Overview

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is a fully managed container orchestration service provided by Microsoft Azure. It simplifies the deployment, management, and scaling of containerized applications using Kubernetes. With AKS, developers can focus on building applications while Azure takes care of the underlying infrastructure. It offers features like automatic scaling, monitoring, and security, ensuring high availability and reliability. AKS integrates seamlessly with other Azure services, enabling easy integration with existing workflows. It also provides a flexible and open-source environment, allowing developers to use their preferred tools and frameworks. With AKS, organizations can accelerate their application development and deployment processes, while reducing operational overheads.

Microsoft

Red Hat OpenShift offers a robust, scalable platform with strong security and automation, suitable for container orchestration, application deployment, and microservices architecture.

Designed to modernize applications by transitioning from legacy systems to cloud-native environments, Red Hat OpenShift provides powerful CI/CD integration and Kubernetes compatibility. Its security features, multi-cloud support, and source-to-image functionality enhance deployment flexibility. While the GUI offers user-friendly navigation, users benefit from its cloud-agnostic nature and efficient lifecycle management. However, improvements are needed in documentation, configuration complexity, and integration with third-party platforms. Pricing and high resource demands can also be challenging for wider adoption.

What are the key features of Red Hat OpenShift?
  • Security: Comprehensive security features ensure safe deployments and operations.
  • Scalability: Auto-scaling and monitoring capabilities cater to high-demand environments.
  • CI/CD Integration: Seamless integration for efficient continuous deployment processes.
  • Cloud Compatibility: Supports multi-cloud and on-premise solutions with ease.
  • GUI: Simplifies platform management and enhances usability.
What benefits and ROI should users look for?
  • Improved Efficiency: Streamlined operations reduce time and resource investments.
  • Enhanced Flexibility: Adapt quickly to changing demands and environments.
  • Quick Deployment: Fast application deployment supports agile project timelines.
  • Robust Support: Access to dependable customer support services.

Red Hat OpenShift is strategically implemented for diverse industries focusing on container orchestration and application modernization. Organizations leverage it for migrating applications to cloud-native environments and managing CI/CD pipelines. Its functionality facilitates efficient resource management and microservices architecture adoption, supporting enterprise-level DevOps practices. Users employ it across cloud and on-premises platforms to drive performance improvements.

Red Hat
 

Sample Customers

Information Not Available
UPS, Cathay Pacific, Hilton
Buyer's Guide
Container Security
June 2025
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