LINSTOR vs OpenEBS
LINSTOR
linbit.com
OpenEBS
openebs.ioSide by side
| Figure | LINSTOR | OpenEBS |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $83.33/mo | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| API | Yes | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Software-Defined Storage Software | 7.9 (#12) | 8.2 (#7) |
| Architecture | A LINSTOR controller manages cluster configuration and storage resources, while satellite components manage resources on individual nodes. | OpenEBS operates exclusively in userspace, avoiding Linux kernel-dependent software. |
| Integrations | LINBIT lists integrations including Kubernetes, CloudStack, Docker, OLVM, OpenNebula, Proxmox VE, and OpenShift compatibility through a Kubernetes CSI driver. | OpenEBS documents integrations with Prometheus, Grafana, Alert Manager, ELK, Loki, Logstash, Velero, OpenShift, EKS, DigitalOcean, Rancher, MicroK8s, and KubeSphere. |
| Purpose | LINSTOR is open-source software-defined storage management software for managing DRBD-replicated storage resources in Linux clusters. | OpenEBS provides local or distributed persistent volumes for Kubernetes stateful workloads. |
| Replication | DRBD supports synchronous, asynchronous, and semi-synchronous replication, and the page states it can provide up to 32 replicated persistent volumes. | Replicated Storage can synchronously replicate volumes across Kubernetes zones for high availability. |
| Support | LINBIT's pricing page describes 24×7 support tiers, with Enterprise listing a maximum four-hour initial response and one-hour emergency initial response. | Users can file GitHub issues or ask questions in the Kubernetes Slack #openebs channel. |
Plans
In their own words
OpenEBS
OpenEBS is open-source Kubernetes storage software for developers and platform SREs deploying stateful workloads. It turns storage on Kubernetes worker nodes into local or distributed persistent volumes and operates in userspace rather than relying on Linux kernel-dependent software. Its engines include Replicated PV Mayastor and local volumes using Hostpath, LVM, ZFS, or experimental Rawfile. Mayastor can synchronously replicate volumes across Kubernetes zones. Kubernetes-native operations provide copy-on-write snapshots and clones, while Velero plugins support backup and restore to AWS S3, GCP Object Storage, or MinIO. Volumes expose metrics including IOPS, throughput, latency, and traffic patterns for Prometheus and Grafana. OpenEBS also exposes declarative APIs through Kubernetes custom resources and can be installed with Helm 3.2 or newer. Mayastor disk pools support data-at-rest encryption with user-defined AES-XTS keys. Listed use cases include self-managed databases, observability stacks, CI/CD, object storage, websites, and ML pipelines. Mayastor DiskPools are limited to one block device, and encryption keys cannot be rotated.