OpenShift vs Kubernetes: Key Differences for Enterprise Container Management

Containerization becomes an increasingly important practice in the modern business landscape. No wonder that app container market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 33.5% from 2025 to 2030. The key reasons behind the popularity of containerization are the ability to deliver applications faster, scale on demand, and maintain competitive agility. When it comes to specific technologies, containerization is often associated with Kubernetes. This open-source container orchestration platform has a reputation as a reliable, feature-packed, and efficient tool for app containerization.

However, in recent years, Kubernetes has faced significant competition from other efficient platforms for application containerization. In particular, many DevOps specialists and software engineers are turning towards Red Hat OpenShift. It is a comprehensive platform built on top of Kubernetes. It is enhanced with enterprise features and security-centric functionality. While there are certain areas where OpenShift outperforms Kubernetes, the latter still has some notable advantages that make it a more efficient solution for many workflows. Therefore, companies should clearly understand the difference between OpenShift and Kubernetes, as well as their ideal use cases. 

This knowledge helps them understand:

• How quickly teams can adopt containers
• How secure and compliant their deployments are
• Which level of engineers’ expertise and involvement is required to maintain clusters
• What unexpected issues can arise along the way, affecting the total cost of ownership.

In this article, we provide a comprehensive comparison of Kubernetes and OpenShift to help you make the right decision for your business.

Let’s start with definitions. Kubernetes is a container orchestration platform that was originally developed by Google. The key difference between Kubernetes and Docker, a popular containerization platform, is that the two solutions are focused on different scopes. While Docker focuses on a single container, Kubernetes manages clusters of containers. The platform currently operates as an open-source system that provides advanced capabilities for deploying, scaling, and managing containerized applications.

As a mature technology, Kubernetes has a vast ecosystem, which involves updates, patches, integrations, tools like Prometheus, and best practices. The key Kubernetes architecture components and features include:

• Pods and deployments used for running and scaling workloads
• Services and ingresses that expose apps inside and outside the cluster
• ConfigMaps and secrets used for storing configuration and sensitive data
• RBAC and namespaces that help users manage multi-tenancy and security
• Autoscaling functionality used for scaling workloads based on demand.

In addition to its maturity and rich set of features, Kubernetes offers businesses several other notable benefits. The platform is cloud-agnostic, which ensures excellent flexibility. In addition, huge community adoption ensures vendor-neutral governance of the platform.

Unfortunately, Kubernetes also has some downsides that are not unsolvable but can create additional challenges for businesses that adopt this technology. In particular, the platform is associated with a steep learning curve. It also requires integrations for various workflows, such as logging, monitoring, or management of CI/CD pipelines.

While Kubernetes is a powerful tool, there are many workflows left to businesses, especially when it comes to building the ecosystem around the platform.

As for OpenShift, it is a containerization platform that works as a Kubernetes distribution. It has been released by Red Hat to enhance containerization for enterprises. To match the needs of large enterprise clients, OpenShift introduces some additional features out of the box, such as:

• Built-in CI/CD pipelines and tools for managing them
• Enterprise security features, such as Security Context Constraints (SCCs)
• Multi-tenant policies and governance features that are especially relevant to large organizations
• An operator framework designed for the lifecycle management of applications and services.

As a platform oriented towards a significant number of specialists, OpenShift provides ready-to-use tooling accessible to specialists with varying technical expertise. The solution’s convenient UI ensures better onboarding for software engineers. In addition, the platform is notable for its strong focus on enterprise-level compliance and security rules.

Meanwhile, OpenShift has several downsides that are worth mentioning. In particular, the platform requires a paid subscription, where large clusters are rather expensive. In addition, some DevOps specialists claim OpenShift to be less flexible than Kubernetes. At least, the platform is associated with vendor lock-in risks.

Overall, OpenShift is an excellent choice for enterprises, but it may lack the flexibility that is essential to smaller businesses.

Without further ado, let’s proceed with a more specific comparison between Kubernetes and OpenShift. The table below illustrates the key differences between the two solutions.

Kubernetes vs. OpenShift: A Comparison

While choosing between Kubernetes and OpenShift, it is important to consider several factors. From our experience, focus on the following:

• Budget. Kubernetes might be a more cost-efficient option than OpenShift, at least due to lower upfront costs.
• Security and compliance. OpenShift provides more advanced security measures out of the box, but Kubernetes leaves more space for customization.
• Developer productivity. Kubernetes is harder to manage and has a steeper learning curve compared to OpenShift.
• Ecosystem strategy. Here is a critical difference between Kubernetes and OpenShift. Kubernetes offers greater flexibility when it comes to choosing supporting tools. Meanwhile, OpenShift is more tied to the Red Hat ecosystem.
• Support. While working with Kubernetes, you should seek support from the community and third-party vendors, while OpenShift grants you Red Hat enterprise support.

In sum, both options have their ideal use cases. We suggest using Kubernetes if you are running a cloud-native startup. This approach will also fit cases when you have a strong DevOps team that can handle complex configuration and is open to experiments.

Meanwhile, if you are more focused on such common enterprise concerns as compliance and governance needs, choose OpenShift. This platform provides speed, security, and confidence.

“When choosing between Red Hat’s OpenShift and Kubernetes, you should clearly define what is your top priority. If you need flexibility and have an ingenious team willing to experiment with architectural patterns, Kubernetes is a preferred solution. However, if you go with a more conservative enterprise approach where security and control are top priorities, OpenShift might be a better choice.”

Volodymyr Shynkar, Founder at AppRecode

LinkedIn

We at AppRecode have significant experience in implementing containerization for enterprises. In particular, our specialists applied Kubernetes to design and implement a flexible on-premises delivery platform for a global telecom company. As long as the customer required custom tooling for monitoring and observability, our specialists designed a highly efficient observability stack for the delivery platform.

Read also: Design and implement CI/CD and infrastructure for Communication Gateway

We also helped a leading provider of customer experience software migrate from EC2 instances to a container-based microservices architecture designed with Kubernetes. The platform’s flexibility allowed us to manage the migration without disrupting the customer’s existing services. We also managed to configure enterprise-level security policies with custom rules.

Read also: DevOps Infrastructure Migration

Overall, both these cases illustrate the fact that a flexible approach and a team of experienced DevOps specialists can help you get custom security and control patterns with Kubernetes. While OpenShift might be a more accessible solution with advanced features out of the box, experienced teams like AppRecode are more into showing skill and creativity. You can get more information on our expertise if you visit our Clutch page. That’s why we prefer delivering tailored pipelines and infrastructures built with Kubernetes.

Overall, both Kubernetes and OpenShift are strong contenders when it comes to app containerization. Many enterprises may find the latter as a preferred choice because OpenShift is more oriented towards enterprise-level security and monitoring policies. However, Kubernetes is a more cost-efficient and flexible solution that truly shines when handled by experienced DevOps engineers.

Therefore, your choice of platform should depend on your priorities. If you focus on control and security out of the box, choose OpenShift. And if you want something more tailored and flexible, custom containerization with Kubernetes might be a better choice.

Regardless of the option you select, it is important to rely on experienced DevOps engineers. AppRecode is ready to provide you with such specialists, as well as a Kubernetes consultant. Contact us and let’s help your enterprise achieve software excellence.