Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] vs Rancher Labs comparison

Nutanix and Rancher Labs are both solutions in the Container Management category. Additionally, 100% of Nutanix users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Rancher Labs users who would recommend it.

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine N...

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100% willing to recommend

Rancher Labs

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100% willing to recommend

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine N...

Rancher Labs

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Sep 1, 2025

Rancher Labs and Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE are in competition within the Kubernetes management sphere. Rancher Labs holds a slight advantage thanks to its open-source framework that provides flexibility and reduces initial costs, whereas Nutanix NKE justifies its higher price with seamless integration and robust support.

Features: Rancher Labs offers a flexible open-source framework, persistent storage capabilities, and user-friendly cluster management tools. Nutanix NKE provides quick setup, seamless integration with its existing hyper-converged infrastructure, and high reliability, reducing application downtime.

Room for Improvement: Rancher Labs needs to improve ecosystem stability and Longhorn integration, enhance security features, and provide smoother upgrades. Nutanix NKE could expand its advanced Kubernetes functionalities, improve scalability, and enhance replication capabilities. Both solutions need stronger multi-cloud deployment support.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Rancher Labs emphasizes an open-source model with community forum support, making it more accessible and user-friendly. Nutanix NKE excels in offering reassuring customer service and technical assistance, valuable in complex environments.

Pricing and ROI: Rancher Labs, being open-source, generally comes with optional paid support, which is cost-effective for those independently capable of management. Nutanix NKE, integral to the Nutanix ecosystem, offers advantages in cost for existing Nutanix clients, although additional investment may be needed for complete Kubernetes functionality. Both show significant ROI with time and cost savings.

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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

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine N...

Average Rating

7.6

Reviews Sentiment

6.9

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Rancher Labs

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Container Management (12th), Data Storage for Kubernetes (2nd)

Featured Reviews

reviewer2741271

Nutanix Administrator at a consultancy with 10,001+ employees

Has provided seamless upgrade experiences and robust technical support

I have heard there are many features added in NKP that are not available in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, such as load balancer features. The unified control plane feature is not being used in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE. We are currently using a third-party tool for load balancing, but going forward, NKP will include load balancer, ingress, and egress features, making infrastructure management much easier. There is no auto-scaling feature in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE; however, NKP offers it. In NKE, we created additional worker nodes and increased CPU and RAM capacity, but it required manual intervention. Concerning policy-driven governance in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE, we have the ability to implement RBAC at the cluster level, which helps maintain security by not granting full admin privileges to every end user, thus restricting access effectively.

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RyanVassallo

Head of Systems and Infrastructure at Booming Games

Offers an open-source version along with a good UI

The product has multiple good features. One of the solution's good features is that it is the GitOps functionality known as Rancher fleet, which is used for continuous delivery. The tool's UI is very convenient enough to help you manage multiple clusters in the cloud or on-premises, making it a product with which you can manage different clusters and locations. The tool also has a feature that is still kind of maturing, but I think it has very good potential. This new feature is named Harvester, which is allows users to have virtual machines managed by Kubernetes engine. This is very new technology in the market. I think that Harvester needs to mature as a product, and I think that in the future, it will be very powerful. You have one tool that does many things for you.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We can do a lot of provisioning."

"The solution is embedded in the hypervisor and there are no deployment costs."

"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a ten out of ten."

"The product integrates well with our infrastructure."

"The platform is valuable due to its ease of use and quick deployment capabilities."

"Nutanix's support is really good."

"The solution is easy to manage. You can get everything in a single platform. It is also easy to work with Terraform as a code."

"We can add some add-ons and plugins to the product if we need to."

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] pros

"Rancher Labs is a very user-friendly tool."

"The solution is stable."

"The most valuable feature is its comprehensive support, easy resource scaling, compatibility with various OEMs, and seamless service integration."

"This solution is not vendor-locked, which means that we we are able to use it across all of our resources; this feature is of great value to us."

"The scalability potential is very good."

"The product is simple to use for a beginner."

"The tool's UI is very convenient enough to help you manage multiple clusters in the cloud or the company, making it a product with which you can manage different clusters and locations."

"The initial setup is simple and straightforward."

More Rancher Labs pros

Cons

"The product lacks some virtualization capabilities, making it an area for improvement where the solution can focus on providing users with more virtualization capabilities related to disk systems."

"Nutanix has limitations compared to VMware, particularly in testing and industry tie-ups with different OEMs. Deploying virtual machines, especially for industrial automation, can be challenging due to compatibility issues."

"In the next release, I would like to have automatic dynamic scaling, both upscaling and downscaling."

"Areas for improvement in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) include upgrading management capabilities and enhancing the user interface for improved usability."

"There is no auto-scaling feature in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE; however, NKP offers it. In NKE, we created additional worker nodes and increased CPU and RAM capacity, but it required manual intervention."

"There have been challenges related to software bugs, especially regarding long-term licensing options and issues within our customer network."

"One major issue we faced was that appliances couldn't migrate from VMware to the tool. However, this seems to be a common problem across platforms. We've seen the same issue when migrating from VMware to RHV or other solutions. It's not specifically a Nutanix problem but rather an issue migrating appliances from one VM infrastructure to another. Some kernel-level and storage-level issues impact this process."

"I would like to have more nodes for availability and storage."

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] cons

"The biggest room for improvement in Rancher Labs would be to have a proper upgrading plan."

"One area for improvement in Rancher Labs is the development aspect."

"We'd like their monitoring tool to be integrated by default."

"Could be more intuitive."

"I can't migrate to the newer version."

"The solution could improve by adding more features in the dashboard, such as monitoring, scanning, and security. This would be a great benefit."

"While Rancher Labs provides some level of security, it's not considered very robust."

"There needs to be an improvement in observability and microservice monitoring tools in Rancher Labs."

More Rancher Labs cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"While deploying Kubernetes clusters on Nutanix is cost-effective, there may be additional costs for remote branch offices where Kubernetes is less common."

"I rate NKE's pricing a six out of ten."

"The product's licenses are included in the software version deployed in our data center."

"I rate the product price a five on a scale of one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive."

"The platform is averagely priced. I rate the pricing as four out of ten."

"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs involved."

"There are no hidden charges attached to the product unless a user opts for the premium support offered by the solution."

"There is an annual subscription. The price of the solution should be cheaper and have better pricing flexibility."

"The solution is free and open source but there is a fee for support."

"The pricing of the solution sits in the mid range, not high and not low. It has a fixed price that you pay every month."

"The cost is reasonable since it's open source. Rancher effectively addresses container orchestration trends, especially for those with some Kubernetes knowledge."

"Although Rancher Labs is an open-source solution, they also offer a paid version, where you buy the support when needed."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

14%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

10%

Financial Services Firm

Manufacturing Company

46%

Financial Services Firm

Government

Computer Software Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	9
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	4

By reviewers
Company Size	Count
Small Business	6
Midsize Enterprise	2
Large Enterprise	6

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

The most valuable features of the Nutanix Kubernetes Engine (NKE) are its simplicity and efficiency during the initial cluster creation phase.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

In terms of features, I cannot comment technically, but the real value is the consolidated out-of-the-box solution that Nutanix offers. Nutanix has built great branding and a lot of credibility and...

See all answers

What is your primary use case for Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE?

I have experience with OpenShift, Kubernetes, and Nutanix, as we are one of the largest Nutanix resellers in the Middle East. We handle Kubernetes on the cloud as well, so we manage most of the Kub...

See all answers

What do you like most about Rancher Labs?

The tool's UI is very convenient enough to help you manage multiple clusters in the cloud or the company, making it a product with which you can manage different clusters and locations.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Rancher Labs?

The cost is reasonable since it's open-source. Rancher effectively addresses container orchestration trends, especially for those with some Kubernetes knowledge.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Rancher Labs?

While Rancher Labs provides some level of security, it's not considered very robust. We found it to offer basic security features, which met some of our requirements, but we also relied on other op...

See all answers

Comparisons

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

Compared 25% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

Compared 18% of the time

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

Compared 14% of the time

Kubernetes vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

Compared 9% of the time

Docker vs Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

Compared 4% of the time

More Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] Competitors

VMware Tanzu Platform vs Rancher Labs

Compared 31% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP) vs Rancher Labs

Compared 12% of the time

Docker vs Rancher Labs

Compared 9% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs Rancher Labs

Compared 7% of the time

Komodor vs Rancher Labs

Compared 6% of the time

More Rancher Labs Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]

January 2026

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] report

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Buyer's Guide

Rancher Labs

January 2026

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Also Known As

Nutanix Karbon

No data available

Overview

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] offers easy deployment, efficient resource management, and seamless integration with existing infrastructure, supporting virtualization and configurable RBAC.

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] simplifies Kubernetes cluster deployment and management, offering robust features such as health checks and seamless upgrades. It integrates with existing systems, supports virtualization, and provides a unified console. Automatic load management and scalability contribute to its stability. Though migrating via VMware poses challenges and documentation updates are needed, potential enhancements include dynamic resource scaling, advanced backup options, and improved disaster recovery. NKE is ideal for microservices, container management, and application modernization, playing a vital role in DevOps settings.

What are the key features of Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]?

Easy Deployment: Simplifies cluster setup and management for quick ramp-up.
Resource Allocation: Efficiently allocates computing resources for optimized operations.
Seamless Upgrades: Handles updates without causing downtime.
Integration: Works with existing infrastructure, allowing virtualization support.
Console Management: Offers a single interface for robust management features.

What benefits should users look for in Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL]?

Cost-Effectiveness: Provides a reliable Kubernetes platform with reduced operational costs.
Scalability: Ensures stability and growth alongside increasing demands.
Support Features: Includes robust technical support for a seamless experience.
Efficiency: Enhances workload management in DevOps environments.
Configurable Options: Allows tailored RBAC and scalable virtualization benefits.

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE [EOL] is deployed in industries focusing on microservices and application modernization, serving development to testing environments. It integrates with hardware and API tools, supporting DevOps workloads and infrastructure management. Primarily used on-premises, it supports large-scale application deployment leveraging network capabilities.

Nutanix

Rancher Labs build innovative, open source software that makes it easy to deploy and manage containers in production on any infrastructure. We enable organizations to accelerate all aspects of their software development pipeline, from writing and testing code to running complex microservices-based applications.

Rancher, our flagship container management platform, allows users to easily manage all aspects of running containers in development and production environments, on any infrastructure. With well over four million downloads, Rancher has quickly become the tools of choice for teams serious about running containers in production. This includes large enterprises such as Sony, IBM, Tyco, Align Technologies and more.

Rancher Labs

Sample Customers

JetBlue, International Speedway Corporation, SAIC Volkswagen

Albert Heijn, Bell, BMC, Samsung, WindStream, Johnson & Johnson

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