Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

OpenStack VS Exoscale

Compare OpenStack VS Exoscale and see what are their differences

OpenStack logo OpenStack

OpenStack software controls large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources throughout a datacenter, managed through a dashboard or via the OpenStack API.

Exoscale logo Exoscale

Simple. Sovereign. Sustainable.
  • OpenStack Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-22
  • Exoscale Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-09-30
  • Exoscale Block storage interface at Exoscale
    Block storage interface at Exoscale //
    2025-04-06

European cloud platform for your applications, safe data storage and heavy computations. Complete IaaS at your fingertips: VMs, Object Storage, GPU, K8s, DBaaS.

OpenStack

Pricing URL
-
$ Details
Platforms
-
Release Date
-

Exoscale

$ Details
paid โ‚ฌ5 / Monthly (Micro instance)
Platforms
Cloud
Release Date
2011 October

OpenStack features and specs

  • Open Source
    OpenStack is open source, which means there is no licensing fee and a broad community of users and developers contributes to its development and support.
  • Flexibility
    It supports a wide variety of hardware and software, allowing organizations to customize their cloud infrastructure to meet specific needs.
  • Scalability
    OpenStack can scale horizontally, allowing organizations to add or remove resources as their needs change, effectively managing large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources.
  • Vendor Neutrality
    Being vendor-neutral, OpenStack offers flexibility to avoid vendor lock-in and choose from a wide range of compatible technologies and service providers.
  • Community Support
    A large and active community provides extensive documentation, forums, and support, which can be very helpful for troubleshooting and development.

Possible disadvantages of OpenStack

  • Complexity
    Setting up and managing OpenStack can be complex and requires a significant level of expertise, which may necessitate specialized training for staff.
  • Performance Overhead
    Being a feature-rich platform, it often involves more performance overhead compared to other simpler, more streamlined services.
  • Resource Intensive
    OpenStack can be resource-intensive in terms of CPU, memory, and storage, which might not be suitable for all organizations, especially smaller ones with limited resources.
  • Interoperability Issues
    Integrating OpenStack with existing systems and third-party tools can sometimes present challenges, especially when dealing with legacy infrastructure.
  • Evolving Platform
    The platform is constantly evolving, which can be both a pro and a con. Keeping up to date with the latest releases and changes can be time-consuming and may require ongoing maintenance.

Exoscale features and specs

  • Data Privacy
    Exoscale is based in Switzerland, which has stringent data protection and privacy laws that benefit users seeking enhanced data privacy.
  • European Presence
    Provides multiple data centers across Europe, which is beneficial for businesses needing to comply with data residency requirements.
  • Scalability
    Offers scalable cloud solutions suitable for rapidly growing businesses or for handling variable workloads.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Designed with an intuitive interface that makes managing and deploying cloud resources easier for users.
  • Performance
    Exoscale is known for high performance and reliability, which is crucial for business-critical applications.

Analysis of OpenStack

Overall verdict

  • OpenStack can be an excellent choice for businesses and enterprises looking to deploy a cloud infrastructure, particularly if they value flexibility, scalability, and control over their environment. Being open-source, it also offers cost advantages compared to proprietary solutions, provided the organization has the necessary expertise to manage and maintain it. However, it may be challenging for smaller teams without dedicated IT resources due to its complexity and the steep learning curve associated with its deployment and management.

Why this product is good

  • OpenStack is a popular open-source cloud computing platform that enables users to build and manage both public and private clouds. It offers a flexible and scalable solution for organizations that need to handle large amounts of data and infrastructure. OpenStack is developed by a vast community of developers and organizations, ensuring continuous improvement and adaptation to new technologies. It supports a wide range of APIs, which allows for customization and integration with other services and tools.

Recommended for

    OpenStack is particularly recommended for large enterprises, organizations with skilled IT teams, academic institutions, and service providers that need a highly customizable and scalable cloud solution. It's also a great fit for entities with specific compliance requirements or those that need to run a private cloud with tailored configurations.

Analysis of Exoscale

Overall verdict

  • Exoscale is a solid choice for those seeking a cloud provider that prioritizes data protection and privacy while delivering reliable performance. Its features and compliance with European regulations make it a competitive option in the cloud services market.

Why this product is good

  • Exoscale is considered a good cloud infrastructure provider due to its user-friendly interface, robust security features, and reliable performance. It caters specifically to European data protection requirements and offers a range of services including compute, storage, and applications management. The platform's focus on privacy and compliance makes it appealing to businesses operating within or catering to the European market.

Recommended for

  • Startups and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) based in Europe
  • Organizations with stringent data privacy and compliance needs
  • Developers and enterprises looking for a user-friendly cloud platform
  • Companies needing scalable and reliable cloud infrastructure solutions

OpenStack videos

OpenStack Summit Primer, The Who, What, Why and How of OpenStack

More videos:

  • Review - Red Hat OpenStack Platform GPU use case
  • Review - Performance Analysis Review for Production OpenStack Private Cloud in SaaS

Exoscale videos

Exoscale - Automation Introduction

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to OpenStack and Exoscale)
Cloud Computing
78 78%
22% 22
VPS
72 72%
28% 28
Cloud Infrastructure
81 81%
19% 19
Cloud Hosting
100 100%
0% 0

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing OpenStack and Exoscale.

What makes your product unique?

Exoscale's answer:

Exoscale differentiates through European data sovereigntyโ€”Swiss-based with data centers exclusively in Europe (Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Croatia and Bulgaria). It emphasizes GDPR compliance, Swiss data protection laws, and a simple, developer-friendly UX without the complexity of hyperscalers.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Exoscale's answer:

  • Data stays in Europe under strict privacy laws (key for regulated industries)
  • Transparent, predictable pricing without hidden egress fees
  • Simpler interface compared to AWS/Azure/GCP complexity
  • Strong focus on IaaS essentials (compute, storage, Kubernetes) rather than 200+ services. Product focus rather than โ€œeverythingโ€: the company message consistently targets a curated set of cloud-native building blocks, optimized for teams that want to move fast without excessive platform complexity.
  • Open-source leaning and interoperable interfaces (e.g., S3-compatible object storage; Kubernetes; OpenAPI-aligned API v2), which reduces lock-in risk.
  • Local support in European time zones

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Exoscale's answer:

European SMBs, startups, and enterprises with data residency requirementsโ€”particularly in fintech, healthcare, government, and SaaS sectors needing GDPR-compliant infrastructure without US cloud act exposure.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare OpenStack and Exoscale

OpenStack Reviews

35+ Of The Best CI/CD Tools: Organized By Category
OpenStack is a cloud framework. It provides users and enterprises with horizontal scale infrastructure. Its tools allow you to compute, store and share data and resources. It also provides self-service administration that users can interact with directly.

Exoscale Reviews

We have no reviews of Exoscale yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Exoscale might be a bit more popular than OpenStack. We know about 2 links to it since March 2021 and only 2 links to OpenStack. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

OpenStack mentions (2)

  • Learn OpenStack by Example: Part 1 - Install DevStack
    In my first post, I looked into what is OpenStack and how, if done right, can be quite a powerful ally in our cloud deployment strategies. In this post, I want to start looking at how we can create an application to learn the basics and components of the system. - Source: dev.to / over 5 years ago
  • Learn OpenStack by examples: Part 0 - Summary and Goals
    While searching for solutions and documentation on the various problems I've come across, I would often see references to OpenStack and it got my curiosity going. What is OpenStack? What services does it offer and who owns it? How do I learn to use it? What are it's costs and limitations? - Source: dev.to / over 5 years ago

Exoscale mentions (2)

  • A developer's guide to deploy applications on Kubernetes
    IMPORTANT: I use the Scalable Kubernetes Service (SKS) from Exoscale (Switzerland) in the tutorial, but if you don't want to spend money on this, you can follow along with a local k3d cluster. Simply follow the instructions at the bottom of "The Cluster" section. - Source: dev.to / over 3 years ago
  • March Cloud Native Romandie Meetup
    Next Pierre-Yves Ritschard and Mathieu Corbin from Exoscale presented SKS, a Kubernetes as-a-Service, operating the userโ€™s cluster on their behalf and taking care of the underlying infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / over 5 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing OpenStack and Exoscale, you can also consider the following products

Linode - We make it simple to develop, deploy, and scale cloud infrastructure at the best price-to-performance ratio in the market.

DigitalOcean - Simplifying cloud hosting. Deploy an SSD cloud server in 55 seconds.

Microsoft Azure - Windows Azure and SQL Azure enable you to build, host and scale applications in Microsoft datacenters.

Amazon EC2 - Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.

Heroku - Agile deployment platform for Ruby, Node.js, Clojure, Java, Python, and Scala. Setup takes only minutes and deploys are instant through git. Leave tedious server maintenance to Heroku and focus on your code.

Vultr - Global, automated cloud infrastructure from the broadest array of AMD and NVIDIA GPUs to virtual CPUs, bare metal, Kubernetes, storage, and networking solutions.