Google Kubernetes Engine vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Google and VMware are both solutions in the Container Management category. Google is ranked #11 with an average rating of 8.1, while VMware is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.5. Google holds a 2.3% mindshare in CM, compared to VMware’s 12.5% mindshare. Additionally, 95% of Google users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Google Kubernetes Engine

Read 39 Google Kubernetes Engine reviews

1,235 Views
840 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

VMware Tanzu Platform

Read 22 VMware Tanzu Platform reviews

7,445 Views
5,212 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Google Kubernetes Engine

VMware Tanzu Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jun 15, 2025

Google Kubernetes Engine and VMware Tanzu Platform compete in the cloud and container management domain. Google Kubernetes Engine has an edge with stronger integration with Google services and affordability, whereas VMware Tanzu appeals to enterprises using VMware infrastructures.

Features: Google Kubernetes Engine provides a seamless deployment experience and robust autoscaling beneficial for users in multi-cloud environments. It integrates easily with Google services like BigQuery and VertexAI, enhancing data processing efficiency. VMware Tanzu Platform offers strong integration with existing VMware products like vSphere, providing a comprehensive solution for infrastructure, networking, and storage. Notable features include advanced dashboard capabilities and efficient lifecycle management.

Room for Improvement: Google Kubernetes Engine could simplify network configurations and improve documentation clarity. Enhancing application-level security integration is another area requiring attention. Improving the response time of technical support has been noted. VMware Tanzu could enhance integration with third-party solutions and boost flexibility in handling diverse infrastructures. Pricing is a concern, particularly for smaller enterprises, as it is higher compared to other options.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Google Kubernetes Engine facilitates efficient deployment, favoring public and hybrid cloud environments, coupled with a robust support system. However, there is mixed feedback regarding support responsiveness. VMware Tanzu is effective in hybrid cloud setups and integrates seamlessly with VMware's suite of products. Both platforms are known for good customer service, although Google could improve its technical support response times. VMware offers better integration with its solutions.

Pricing and ROI: Google Kubernetes Engine is viewed as affordable, benefiting from an open-source base, though resource costs like GPU-based applications may increase prices. It offers a cost-effective solution overall, although some find regional redundancy costs steep. VMware Tanzu is generally more expensive, catering mainly to large enterprises capable of leveraging bundle discounts. The higher pricing reflects its extensive capabilities within VMware environments. Both solutions deliver substantial ROI, with Google appealing to startups with its flexible integration, while VMware suits enterprises with existing VMware investments.

To learn more, read our detailed Google Kubernetes Engine vs. VMware Tanzu Platform Report (Updated: July 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Google Kubernetes Engine vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

July 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:

Categories and Ranking

Google Kubernetes Engine

Ranking in Container Management

11th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.7

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

VMware Tanzu Platform

Ranking in Container Management

3rd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (14th), PaaS Clouds (13th), Cloud Management (25th), Development Platforms (3rd), Service Mesh (8th), Agile and DevOps Services (2nd)

Mindshare comparison

As of August 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Google Kubernetes Engine is 2.3%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of VMware Tanzu Platform is 12.5%, down from 17.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Container Management

Featured Reviews

Parthasarathy T

Cloud Associate DevOps at Publicis Sapient

Managed solutions enable efficient handling of web applications and migration projects

Google Kubernetes Engine can be improved by enabling the in-place upgrade of the machine type of an existing node pool since I currently need to destroy and recreate it. There is no feature present where I can upgrade directly, and having more than 1,000 to 2,000 workloads in one node pool makes changing the node pool name difficult for all those workloads. I choose eight out of ten mainly because of the node pool upgrade challenge I mentioned, but also because of the existence of Anthos service mesh, which is the ingress controller available only for the enterprise Kubernetes Engine. It would be beneficial if it could be offered in the normal Kubernetes Engine with any limitations.

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DarshanChaudhari

Solutions Architect Hybrid Cloud Practice US/Europe at Tech Mahindra Limited

Empowers seamless connectivity and integration through APIs while offering robust auto-scaling

I am involved in IT services and we provide a solution to customers. We work with VMware, Nutanix, OpenShift, and Microsoft Hyper-V The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible. It offers native services for autoscaling and integrations through APIs, allowing seamless…

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Stability-wise, this solution is really good."

"The deployment of the cluster is very easy."

"I rate Google Kubernetes Engine a ten out of ten."

"The features are typical Kubernetes, but Google One offers a better GUI-based deployment. It's more sophisticated and integrates well with other services, providing a better customer experience."

"Stability is perfect for me."

"We hardly have a breakdown. It's been very stable."

"The most beneficial feature is the ability to separate each project and manage permissions more effectively."

"We used automation for the initial setup. It was okay. So it wasn't too complex."

More Google Kubernetes Engine pros

"VMware Tanzu Mission Control has many valuable features, such as ease of use and customization."

"The most popular feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is its graphical user interface for describing network policies on the Service Mesh, which is highly integrable with other tools commonly used in supply chains such as security."

"Tanzu is easy to upgrade and scale, whether we're talking about horizontal or vertical scaling. It is as smooth as possible without any downtime. The platform maintenance, upgrading, and operations part is very smooth."

"The most valuable feature of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is the management functionality of the cluster life cycle. Additionally, the solution integrates well with other vendors, such as Velero for backups and Sonobuoy for compliance. Additionally, it works well in multi-cluster environments."

"The most valuable feature of the solution is the ability to check the flow of all the different variants within our applications."

"Tanzu Mission Control has quite a set of rich features when compared to OpenShift."

"The solution is integrated very well with a lot of other systems. Also, its GUI is very good."

"I have multiple Kubernetes environments within my environment. TMC gives me a single pane view, which is good for managing everything."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pros

Cons

"We would like to see some improvement in the ease of integration with this solution."

"The product's integration with third-party vendors needs improvement."

"The notifications are not informative."

"I would like the solution to integrate with another Kubernetes product. I would also like it to monitor other platforms. It needs to also include scale-up container in the tool's next release."

"The user interface is a bit confusing sometimes. You need to navigate between the various consoles we have. It's hard to figure out where things are. It's frustrating. The documentation could be a bit better."

"I would rate the scalability a seven out of ten."

"An area in which Google Kubernetes Engine could improve is configuration."

"t is not very stable."

More Google Kubernetes Engine cons

"Tanzu could provide more granular control over whatever networking is being done on the containers. I would also like to see a slightly more detailed view of application-level tracing. I'm referring to the connections between different microservices. If they added a service-matching feature, that would be helpful for the customers to build or be more effective."

"The disaster recovery feature could be improved to provide better tracking of issues. I would also like to see the introduction of a dashboard view, for even further integration of all the areas that Mission Control looks at."

"The product should support integration with Google Cloud Platform (GCP)"

"LYNX is a managed cluster solution that takes care of specific details within a cluster, such as sequences or services. I haven't seen this feature in Tanzu Mission Control."

"This product doesn't have a GUI. In order to use it properly, I need to connect it to a new GUI or build a GUI to manage it — it's pretty difficult."

"Cost is always a concern. Smaller companies might find the price a bigger issue."

"The solution is currently focused on VMware infrastructure and I would like to see more options made available."

"It is not easy to build a solution with containers. It has a graphical user interface, but you need to have a lot of knowledge of Linux and how to work in the command mode. Its support can also be improved. Currently, its biggest disadvantage is that it is a new product, and the clients prefer to go for a solution that has been in the market for a long time. There are not that many people who know this product."

More VMware Tanzu Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The solution's price is reasonable."

"We are planning to use external support, and hire a commercial partner for it."

"The tool's licensing costs are yearly."

"The product is a little bit expensive."

"Its pricing is good. They bill us only per user. That's nice."

"Initially, Google Kubernetes Engine was a little bit cheaper, but now its prices have been increased compared to the pricing model and the features that are made available by its competitors."

"I would rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten. The tool costs around 3000 dollars per month. There are no additional costs apart from these."

"I would rate Kubernetes' pricing four out of five."

More Google Kubernetes Engine pricing and cost advice

"The solution is bundled in with Cloud Foundry so the pricing is not independent."

"There are different licenses available. You have to upgrade your license if you want to scale the solution more."

"I would recommend that businesses look into the full price for their requirements. The price is high, but there are some open-source add-ons that can be used for customization while keeping costs down, although these might not be suitable for everyone."

"One of our Spanish customers told us that VMware Tanzu Service Mesh is a very expensive product for their data center."

"The license for VMware Tanzu Application Service is expensive. The license should be cheaper."

"The least expensive licensing cost for VMware is around $350 per core."

"Its pricing is very competitive. We get around 70% or 75%, sometimes even 80%, discount on the product. I would rate it a four out of five in terms of pricing."

"Since we were at a large data center, the price might not have been a concern for us."

More VMware Tanzu Platform pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

23%

Computer Software Company

10%

Retailer

Manufacturing Company

Financial Services Firm

17%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Google Kubernetes Engine?

The product has no downtime.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Google Kubernetes Engine?

Google Kubernetes Engine solution is expensive, as are all cloud solutions in general. On a scale of one to ten for pricing, I would rate it between seven and eight.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Google Kubernetes Engine?

I have no comment about the learning curve of Google Kubernetes Engine. Regarding AI integration and features in Google Kubernetes Engine, there are currently none available. I would appreciate see...

See all answers

Which is better - OpenShift Container Platform or VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

Red Hat Openshift is ideal for organizations using microservices and cloud environments. I like that the platform is auto-scalable, which saves overhead time for developers. I think Openshift can b...

See all answers

What do you like most about VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

It definitely gives the end customer a good overview and perspective of running applications in terms of overall workload footprint. TMC provides a very detailed description of your cloud-native ap...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for VMware Tanzu Mission Control?

The price of VMware Tanzu Mission Control is greater than that of Red Hat's competitor solution. I would rate the pricing of VMware Tanzu Mission Control as four out of ten.

See all answers

Comparisons

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 24% of the time

Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 17% of the time

Docker vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 13% of the time

Rancher Labs vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 11% of the time

Kubernetes vs Google Kubernetes Engine

Compared 10% of the time

More Google Kubernetes Engine Competitors

Rancher Labs vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 15% of the time

Kubernetes vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 9% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 8% of the time

Google App Engine vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 2% of the time

More VMware Tanzu Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Google Kubernetes Engine

August 2025

Download Google Kubernetes Engine product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Tanzu Platform

July 2025

Download VMware Tanzu Platform product report

Also Known As

GKE

Tanzu Application Catalog, Application Platform, Application Service, Hub, Mission Control, Service Mesh, Build Service, Concourse for VMware Tanzu

Overview

Kubernetes Engine is a managed, production-ready environment for deploying containerized applications. It brings our latest innovations in developer productivity, resource efficiency, automated operations, and open source flexibility to accelerate your time to market.

Google

VMware Tanzu Platform is designed for cloud-native development and management of Kubernetes, CI/CD processes, microservices, and containerized workloads. It supports deployments both on cloud and on-premises, providing centralized management via Mission Control.

VMware Tanzu Platform offers seamless integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN, supporting centralized cluster management and lifecycle management. The platform provides a GUI for monitoring CI/CD pipelines and network policies, enhancing multi-tenancy and Day 2 operations. Users can easily manage Kubernetes clusters, monitor applications, and integrate with tools such as GitHub, GitLab, Cloud Foundry, and Azure. It ensures compliance and security for service providers, financial institutions, and businesses.

What are the key features of VMware Tanzu Platform?

Integration with vSphere, ESX, and vSAN: Enhances compatibility and flexibility.
Seamless Cluster Management: Centralized control over Kubernetes clusters.
CI/CD Pipelines and Network Policies: Simplifies monitoring and management.
Multi-tenancy Support: Facilitates resource sharing among multiple users.
Comprehensive Lifecycle Management: Streamlines deployment and scalability.
Observability Platform: Provides enhanced visibility and control.

What benefits and ROI should users look for in VMware Tanzu Platform reviews?

Centralized Management: Simplifies operations and reduces manual effort.
Enhanced Compliance and Security: Meets regulatory requirements.
Flexibility in Deployment: Supports both cloud and on-premises options.
Seamless Integration: Works with multiple vendors and tools.
Developer-Friendly Environment: Improves productivity and innovation.

Industries such as financial institutions, service providers, and businesses requiring rigorous compliance and security deploy VMware Tanzu Platform. These entities benefit from centralized management, streamlined DevOps processes, and integrated tools, enhancing their capabilities in cloud-native developments and containerized workloads.

VMware

Sample Customers

Philips Lighting, Alpha Vertex, GroupBy, BQ

Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq

Buyer's Guide

Google Kubernetes Engine vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

July 2025

Free Report: Google Kubernetes Engine vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

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