Kubernetes vs Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
Kubernetes
kubernetes.io
Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
docs.mirantis.comSide by side
| Figure | Kubernetes | Mirantis Kubernetes Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | — |
| Free plan | Yes | — |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | — | Yes |
| Windows | Yes | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Container Orchestration Software | 8.1 (#7) | 8.1 (#8) |
| Spec score · Container Management Software | 8.1 (#9) | 8.1 (#10) |
| Networking | It gives Pods IP addresses and a shared DNS name for a set of Pods, and can load-balance across them. | MKE 4 installs with Calico by default and supports other container network interface options. |
| Purpose | Kubernetes is an open source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. | MKE 4 is an enterprise Kubernetes platform built on the open-source k0s distribution. |
| Security | Kubernetes expects TLS for control-plane traffic and supports encryption at rest for data stored in the control plane. | Mirantis describes MKE 4 as secure by default and says its default components are FIPS-validated. |
| Support | The Kubernetes project says Kubernetes services, support, and tools are widely available. | Mirantis offers a choice of 24/7 proactive support or managed services for MKE 4. |
Plans
In their own words
Kubernetes
Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It supports stateless, stateful, and data-processing workloads, and can run locally, in a cloud, or in a datacenter; users can also choose a managed service rather than operate a cluster themselves. It coordinates gradual updates while monitoring application health and can roll back a change if something goes wrong. Pods receive IP addresses and groups of Pods can share a DNS name, with load balancing across them. Kubernetes can mount storage from local, public-cloud, or network systems such as iSCSI or NFS. Secrets and configuration can be updated without rebuilding images. Scaling can be manual or automatic based on CPU use. Security mechanisms include Secrets, Pod security standards, RuntimeClasses, network policies, admission controllers, and audit logging. Kubernetes is free, with a listed plan price of free. It does not include application-level services such as databases, message buses, caches, or cluster storage systems.
Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (MKE 4) is a self-hosted enterprise Kubernetes platform built on the open-source k0s distribution. It supports deployment across public and private clouds, multi-cloud and hybrid-cloud environments, and bare-metal infrastructure. Teams manage cluster lifecycle with the mkectl command-line tool and a declarative mke4.yaml configuration file; standardized APIs and GitOps-based lifecycle management are also listed. A cluster combines k0s, a container network interface, the MKE control plane, system services, and user services. Calico is installed by default, with other network interface options supported. The web dashboard manages Kubernetes resources in an MKE-managed cluster. Backup and restore are supported, and the CLI upgrade process includes automated backups. Authentication through Dex supports OIDC, SAML, and LDAP, but not MFA. MKE 4 requires x86_64 and Linux manager/control-plane nodes; supported operating systems include specified Ubuntu, RHEL, and Rocky Linux versions, plus Windows Server worker nodes. A valid license is required, and a trial license is available on request. Mirantis offers 24/7 proactive support or managed services.