Red Hat OpenShift vs VMware Tanzu Platform comparison

Red Hat and VMware are both solutions in the Agile and DevOps Services category. Red Hat is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6, while VMware is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8. Additionally, 96% of Red Hat users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of VMware users who would recommend it.

Red Hat OpenShift

Read 61 Red Hat OpenShift reviews

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341 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

VMware Tanzu Platform

Read 21 VMware Tanzu Platform reviews

475 Views
349 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat OpenShift

VMware Tanzu Platform

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Mar 9, 2025

Red Hat OpenShift and VMware Tanzu Platform compete in the container management and application development category. OpenShift appears to have the upper hand with its extensive out-of-the-box functionalities, strong security features, and user-friendly interface, whereas Tanzu requires more customization and has less comprehensive features without additional components.

Features: OpenShift is recognized for its rapid CI/CD integration, robust automated scaling, and strong security features. It offers seamless Kubernetes integration and powerful management tools. Tanzu is valued for its integration capabilities with VMware’s ESX and vSAN, as well as its infrastructure tie-ins, which are appreciated by users seeking a unified solution.

Room for Improvement: OpenShift users point to challenges with its documentation and complex configurations, indicating a need for improved templates and simplified scalability solutions. They also seek enhancements in its security model. Tanzu users experience issues with restrictive third-party integration, network control, and on-premises support, urging improved pricing and flexibility.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: OpenShift provides effective hybrid and on-premises deployment solutions, though users express concerns about support document consistency and response times. Tanzu offers smoother initial hybrid deployments but presents challenges in lifecycle management. Despite limited on-premises support, its integration within the VMware ecosystem is appreciated.

Pricing and ROI: OpenShift's licensing is considered high but justified by strong integrations and improved resource management. Users report significant ROI from resource efficiencies. Tanzu’s pricing, often bundled with Cloud Foundry, is expensive and less attractive for startups, despite occasional competitive discounts, leading to affordability concerns for smaller enterprises.

To learn more, read our detailed Red Hat OpenShift vs. VMware Tanzu Platform Report (Updated: March 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat OpenShift vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

March 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

Red Hat OpenShift

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

3rd

Ranking in Container Management

12th

Ranking in Agile and DevOps Services

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Virtualization Software (9th), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (7th)

VMware Tanzu Platform

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

12th

Ranking in Container Management

3rd

Ranking in Agile and DevOps Services

2nd

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

6.8

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (13th), Cloud Management (25th), Development Platforms (3rd), Service Mesh (7th)

Featured Reviews

Mikhael Ibrahim

Platform Engineer & Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Seamlessly monitor microservices with streamlined DevOps capabilities

Most benefit from it, however, I work with Kubernetes, and installing Vanilla Kubernetes is easy. That said, it introduces many tools that need to be set up individually. OpenShift comes ready out of the box, with all tools installed and configured. Red Hat certifies and confirms that all the components are compatible with each other. OpenShift's superior dashboard is a notable strength, especially when compared to Kubernetes. The integrated DevOps capabilities, such as pipelines and the container registry, are extremely beneficial. Additionally, its capability to monitor microservices and containers with integrated tools like Prometheus is a major advantage. The horizontal pod scaling exceeds the scalability features I found in Kubernetes.

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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

"In terms of implementation, OpenShift is very user-friendly, which is an advantage. We are using it along with GitLab for implementing CI/CD pipelines. That's a feature that other products also have, but in OpenShift, we find it good."

"The stability has been good."

"The most valuable feature is the high availability for the applications."

"The most valuable aspect of this solution is the great customer service and the ability for our team to get assistance when we need it."

"I like OCP, and the management UI is better than the open-source ones."

"OpenShift offers an easy-to-use graphical user interface for cluster management, making it more accessible for administrators."

"The security features of OpenShift are strong when in use of role-based access."

"The solution offers ease with which we can define how to run applications and configure them. It's much more convenient than creating a virtual machine and configuring application servers, making the process faster and simpler."

More Red Hat OpenShift pros

"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."

"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 application in the form of graphical visualization."

"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 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."

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

"Defining security metrics has proven beneficial for customers in maintaining a safe environment."

"The Tanzu platform is highly available, scalable, and flexible."

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

More VMware Tanzu Platform pros

Cons

"We experienced issues around desktop security, that stopped us implementing a new feature that had been developed."

"It could use auto-scaling based on criteria such as transaction volume, queue backlog, etc. Currently, it is limited to CPU and memory."

"We want to see better alerting, especially in critical situations requiring immediate intervention. Until we go to the dashboard, it can be challenging to quickly recognize that there's an issue for us to deal with. Therefore, a popup of the event or a tweaked GUI to catch our attention when it's alerting would be a welcome change. Everything else is good. We don't need any additional features. From the operations perspective, as an administrator, there is nothing concerning."

"The platform's documentation could be more comprehensive to cover the full spectrum of user needs. Sometimes, achieving specific goals is challenging due to a lack of detailed guidance."

"The operators need a lot of improvement, with better integrations."

"The GUI could have more capabilities, particularly around virtualization."

"We need some kind of a multi-cluster management solution from the Red Hat site."

"They could work on the pricing model, making it more flexible and possibly lower."

More Red Hat OpenShift cons

"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."

"The solution's initial setup process was complex...The solution could benefit from improved customization and visibility for its users."

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

"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."

"I would like to see additional support for things outside of Cloud Foundry."

"Customers have noticed a considerable price increase after VMware's acquisition by Broadcom."

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

"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."

More VMware Tanzu Platform cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The model of pricing and buying licences is quite rigid. We are in the process of negotiating on demand pricing which will help us take advantage of the cloud as a whole."

"The pricing for OpenShift includes support and licensing, which costs approximately $400."

"The solution is cost-effective."

"It's expensive. It may be cheaper to invest in building Vanilla Kubernetes, especially if security is not the number one motivation or requirement. Of course, that's difficult, and in some business areas, such as banking, that's not something you can put as a second priority. In other situations, a Vanilla Kubernetes with a sufficiently strong team can be cheaper and almost as effective."

"The product’s pricing is expensive."

"OpenShift is really good when we need to start, but once we get to a certain scale, it becomes too expensive."

"This solution is fairly expensive but comes at an average cost compared to other solutions in the market."

"It's important to start small because the solution is scalable. We can build our cluster and look at the bundle option, not the external subscriptions. Talking to the people at Red Hat can save us money."

More Red Hat OpenShift pricing and cost advice

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

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

"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."

"VMware Tanzu Mission Control is cheaper than Red Hat OpenShift."

"The product is not expensive, but it is not cheap."

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

"The solution is only for large or medium size enterprises because it is expensive."

"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

32%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

16%

Manufacturing Company

11%

Government

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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

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 Application Service?

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

See all answers

What is your primary use case for VMware Tanzu Application Service?

Since I have a developer team, they use the solution for testing purposes.

See all answers

Comparisons

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 19% of the time

Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 10% of the time

VMware vSphere vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 3% of the time

More Red Hat OpenShift Competitors

Rancher Labs vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 18% of the time

Nutanix Kubernetes Engine NKE vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 12% of the time

Kubernetes vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 11% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 10% of the time

Amazon EKS vs VMware Tanzu Platform

Compared 7% of the time

More VMware Tanzu Platform Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat OpenShift

March 2025

Download Red Hat OpenShift product report

Buyer's Guide

VMware Tanzu Platform

March 2025

Download VMware Tanzu Platform product report

Also Known As

No data available

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

Overview

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

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

UPS, Cathay Pacific, Hilton

Verizon, Cerner, Zipcar, Avarteq

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat OpenShift vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

March 2025

Free Report: Red Hat OpenShift vs. VMware Tanzu Platform

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