Apache CloudStack vs LXD
Apache CloudStack
cloudstack.apache.org
LXD
canonical.comSide by side
| Figure | Apache CloudStack | LXD |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $2.08/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 4 |
| Spec score · Virtualization Management Software | 9.0 (#1) | 8.6 (#4) |
| Founded | 2008 | 2004 |
| Integrations | The integrations page lists Terraform, Ansible, Kubernetes, Prometheus, VMware NSX, Ceph, MinIO, and billing portal integrations. | LXD integrations are available for Juju, MAAS, Ansible, Terraform, Puppet Bolt, and Packer. |
| Release support | LTS releases receive bug and security fixes for 18 months; regular releases receive only critical fixes for a shorter period. | LXD LTS releases are created every two years and receive standard support for five years. |
| What it does | Apache CloudStack deploys and manages large virtual-machine networks as a highly available, scalable IaaS platform. | LXD is an open source solution for managing virtual machines and system containers. |
Plans
LXD
- LXD open sourceFree
- Ubuntu Pro PersonalFree
- Ubuntu Pro Enterprise workstation$25 a year
- Ubuntu Pro Enterprise server$500 a year
In their own words
Apache CloudStack
Apache CloudStack is free, open-source software for deploying and managing networks of virtual machines as a highly available, scalable IaaS cloud platform. Organizations can use it to build public, private, or hybrid clouds. Its features include compute orchestration, network services, account management, resource accounting, a web interface, and an open API. Operators can manage clouds through a web UI, command-line tools, or REST API, with optional AWS EC2- and S3-compatible APIs. Supported hypervisors include XenServer or XCP, KVM, Hyper-V, and VMware ESXi with vSphere. Storage options include iSCSI, NFS, Ceph RBD with KVM, volume encryption, snapshots, and storage tiering. Authentication options include OAuth2 single sign-on, two-factor authentication, TOTP, SAML, and LDAP. The project says CloudStack can manage tens of thousands of physical servers across geographically distributed data centers. Long Term Support releases receive bug and security fixes for 18 months after the main release. Operators remain responsible for protections such as monitoring, host security, and defenses against DoS and brute-force attacks.
LXD
LXD is an open-source platform for managing system containers and virtual machines on Linux. It brings LXC-based containers and KVM-based virtual machines together, with images for many Linux distributions and Windows virtual machines. Management options include a command line, REST API, web UI and third-party tools; the same HTTP API supports local and remote access. An official web UI is available by default starting with LXD 5.21.0 LTS. Features include resource limits, scheduled and expiring snapshots, projects, hardware passthrough, live migration and advanced networking. Containers run unprivileged by default, and virtual machines support UEFI Secure Boot and vTPM. LXD can run from a laptop to a data-center deployment; documentation describes clusters of up to 50 servers with thousands of instances. LXD is free, with the open-source plan listed at free. Ubuntu Pro Personal is also free for up to five physical Ubuntu systems. Enterprise workstation and server subscriptions are $25 a year and $500 a year, respectively.