Red Hat OpenShift
7.2/10Enterprise Kubernetes application platform from Red Hat, offered as self-managed software or as managed services on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and IBM Cloud.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Red Hat OpenShift is a Kubernetes-based platform for building, deploying and running containerised applications and virtual machines across data centres and public clouds. It runs on Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS and adds a developer console, a built-in container registry, Operators for automated platform updates, OpenShift Pipelines and GitOps, OpenShift Serverless, Service Mesh and OpenShift Virtualization. There are two ways to buy it. The self-managed editions are Kubernetes Engine, Virtualization Engine, Container Platform and Platform Plus. Platform Plus adds Advanced Cluster Management, Advanced Cluster Security, Data Foundation and Quay. Their prices depend on sizing and support level and come only through a quote. The managed cloud services are Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA), Azure Red Hat OpenShift, OpenShift Dedicated on Google Cloud, and OpenShift on IBM Cloud. Each carries a 99.95% SLA, or 99.99% on IBM Cloud. They are billed at about $0.171 per 4 worker vCPUs per hour, falling to $0.076 on a three-year commitment, plus the cloud infrastructure underneath. OpenShift suits large and regulated organisations that want one supported platform across hybrid cloud. Dedicated lists HIPAA, ISO 27001, PCI DSS and SOC 2 attestations, and Red Hat SREs run the managed clusters around the clock. Clusters can be automated through the rosa and oc CLIs and a Red Hat Terraform provider. The main drawback is cost and complexity. Reviewers and competitors report that per-vCPU licensing can exceed the cost of the underlying compute. Its own concepts, such as Security Context Constraints, take time to learn, and moving off the platform later can be hard.
Our Rating
Who Red Hat OpenShift is best for
Best software for EnterpriseGood fit
Hybrid-cloud scope, compliance attestations and around-the-clock SRE-run managed options are aimed squarely at large organisations.
Sources describe regulated industries as the usual reason teams choose OpenShift, and Dedicated lists PCI DSS and SOC 2.
Sources cite certifications for government as a main buying reason, and Red Hat documents ROSA on AWS GovCloud.
Platform and operations teams get automated upgrades through Operators, multi-cluster management in Platform Plus, and VM support in the same platform.
OpenShift Dedicated lists HIPAA among its compliance attestations.
Less suited
A developer console, pipelines and a free Developer Sandbox help developers, but reviewers report a steep learning curve.
Per-vCPU licensing on top of cloud infrastructure and the complexity of running it make it heavy for small teams.
Costs and the operational skills needed are out of proportion for small workloads.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The same platform runs self-managed on premises and as a managed service on AWS, Azure, Google Cloud and IBM Cloud, so hybrid estates can standardise on it.
- The managed services are run by Red Hat SREs around the clock, carry a 99.95% SLA, and are billed on the cloud provider's invoice, where the spend can count toward committed-spend discounts.
- Strong security defaults and compliance coverage. Dedicated lists HIPAA, ISO 27001/27017/27018, PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3, and Reddit users credit its secure defaults.
- Pipelines, GitOps, Serverless, Service Mesh, a registry and VM support come built in, which saves assembling a separate toolchain on vanilla Kubernetes.
- Clusters can be automated through the rosa and oc CLIs, a Red Hat Terraform provider and Operators that handle automated upgrades.
- Reviews are high, at about 4.5 on G2 from roughly 300 reviews and 9.1 out of 10 on TrustRadius.
Cons
- Self-managed editions have no public prices, and per-vCPU licensing can exceed the cost of the underlying compute, according to reviewers and competitor analyses.
- The managed service fees come on top of separate cloud infrastructure charges, which makes the total cost harder to predict.
- G2 and TrustRadius reviewers describe a steep learning curve and complex initial setup.
- OpenShift-specific concepts such as Security Context Constraints and the Red Hat stack can make moving away from the platform difficult.
- It is too heavy and expensive for small teams or simple web hosting needs.
Key Features
Red Hat OpenShift Pricing
Developer Sandbox
- For development and testing only
- Free, instant access to a minimal preconfigured OpenShift environment
Container Platform (self-managed)
- Service Mesh
- Developer console
- Quote-based pricing
- OpenShift Serverless
- Pipelines and GitOps
- Everything in Kubernetes Engine
Kubernetes Engine (self-managed)
- Quote-based pricing by sizing and subscription
- Core enterprise Kubernetes on Red Hat Enterprise Linux CoreOS
Managed (ROSA / OpenShift Dedicated / ARO) - on demand
- ARO scales to up to 250 worker nodes
- 99.95% uptime SLA, Red Hat SRE-managed
- ROSA with hosted control planes adds $0.25 per cluster hour
- $0.171 per 4 worker vCPUs per hour, about $1,500 per 4 vCPUs per year
- Cloud infrastructure (VMs, storage, networking) billed separately by the cloud provider
Managed (ROSA / OpenShift Dedicated) - 1-year commitment
- About 33% below on-demand
- Infrastructure billed separately
- $1,000 per 4 worker vCPUs per year (about $0.114 per hour)
Managed (ROSA / OpenShift Dedicated) - 3-year commitment
- About 55% below on-demand
- Minimum worker node configuration required
- ROSA 3-year contracts must be requested from AWS
- $667 per 4 worker vCPUs per year (about $0.076 per hour)
Platform Plus (self-managed)
- Quote-based pricing
- Red Hat Quay registry
- Advanced Cluster Security
- Advanced Cluster Management
- Everything in Container Platform
- OpenShift Data Foundation Essentials
Virtualization Engine (self-managed)
- Quote-based pricing
- Virtualization for virtual machine workloads only
Frequently Asked Questions
Red Hat lists HIPAA, ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, SOC 2 Type 2 and SOC 3 for OpenShift Dedicated.
Yes. Red Hat offers a free Developer Sandbox, a self-service OpenShift Dedicated trial cluster in your own Google Cloud account, a self-managed Container Platform trial, and a free 8-hour hands-on ROSA session in a Red Hat demo environment.
ROSA, Azure Red Hat OpenShift and OpenShift Dedicated charge about $0.171 per 4 worker vCPUs per hour on demand. On ROSA and Dedicated this falls to about $1,000 per 4 vCPUs per year on a one-year commitment and $667 on a three-year commitment. ROSA with hosted control planes adds $0.25 per cluster hour. Cloud infrastructure is billed separately.
Red Hat publishes no list prices for Kubernetes Engine, Container Platform or Platform Plus. Pricing depends on sizing, typically per core-pair or vCPU, and on support level, so you need a quote.
ROSA, Azure Red Hat OpenShift and OpenShift Dedicated carry a 99.95% SLA. Red Hat OpenShift on IBM Cloud carries 99.99%.
Yes. Red Hat maintains the RHCS Terraform provider and registry modules for creating ROSA clusters, including hosted control plane clusters, alongside the rosa CLI.
ROSA is supported jointly by Red Hat and AWS, and Azure Red Hat OpenShift jointly by Red Hat and Microsoft. OpenShift Dedicated is managed and supported by Red Hat. OpenShift on IBM Cloud is supported jointly by Red Hat and IBM.
Yes. OpenShift Virtualization runs and migrates VMs alongside containers. Red Hat also sells a VM-only Virtualization Engine edition, and OpenShift 4.20 added Arm support and load-aware rebalancing for virtualization.
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