Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Platform9 VS Rancher

Compare Platform9 VS Rancher and see what are their differences

Platform9 logo Platform9

Platform9 is the provider of SaaS managed hybrid cloud and container orchestration solutions at both individual and business levels.

Rancher logo Rancher

Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service
  • Platform9 Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-03
  • Rancher Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-24

Platform9 features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Platform9 offers a user-friendly interface and straightforward setup, making it accessible for organizations without deep cloud-native expertise.
  • Managed Kubernetes
    It provides fully managed Kubernetes services, reducing the operational burdens of managing Kubernetes clusters on your own.
  • Hybrid Cloud Support
    Platform9 supports multi-cloud and hybrid cloud environments, allowing for seamless management across private data centers, public clouds, and edge locations.
  • Zero-Touch Upgrades
    Automated, zero-downtime upgrades for Kubernetes clusters ensure that customers can continuously benefit from the latest features and security updates without manual intervention.
  • 24/7 Support
    Platform9 offers round-the-clock support, which can be crucial for businesses that operate in multiple time zones or require constant oversight.

Possible disadvantages of Platform9

  • Cost
    As a managed service, Platform9 could be more expensive compared to self-managed solutions, especially for large-scale deployments.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    While it supports multiple cloud environments, relying heavily on Platform9 for orchestration and management might lead to some degree of vendor lock-in.
  • Complexity in Advanced Use Cases
    For users with very specific or niche use cases, the abstraction layer provided by Platform9 might limit the custom configurations possible with raw Kubernetes.
  • Feature Limitation
    Some users report limitations in the feature set when compared to the direct use of underlying cloud providers' native tools or open source Kubernetes distributions.

Rancher features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Rancher provides an intuitive interface for managing Kubernetes clusters, making it accessible for both seasoned DevOps professionals and those new to container orchestration.
  • Multi-Cluster Management
    Rancher simplifies the management of multiple Kubernetes clusters, whether they are on-premise, in the cloud, or a combination of both, from a single dashboard.
  • Comprehensive Monitoring
    Rancher includes built-in monitoring and alerting features using Prometheus and Grafana, providing robust insights into cluster health and performance.
  • Security and Access Control
    Rancher offers detailed Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) policies to ensure that users have appropriate permissions, enhancing security and compliance.
  • Integrated CI/CD Pipelines
    Rancher integrates seamlessly with popular CI/CD tools, streamlining the development and deployment process across multiple environments.
  • Scalability
    Rancher is designed to easily scale with your needs, supporting a large number of clusters and nodes efficiently.
  • Open-Source
    Rancher is an open-source project, which means it is free to use and benefit from community contributions and transparency.

Possible disadvantages of Rancher

  • Complex Initial Setup
    While Rancher simplifies ongoing management, the initial setup and configuration can be complex and time-consuming for newcomers.
  • Resource Intensive
    Running Rancher can be resource-intensive, requiring substantial CPU and memory, which might be a concern for smaller environments or budgets.
  • Potential Overhead
    Introducing Rancher adds an additional layer between the user and the Kubernetes clusters, potentially introducing latency and an extra point of failure.
  • Learning Curve
    Despite its user-friendly interface, Rancher encompasses a wide array of features that require time and effort to learn and utilize fully.
  • Limited Vendor Support
    Some cloud providers have more robust support and native tools for their Kubernetes services, which might make Rancher less appealing if tight integration with a specific provider's ecosystem is required.

Platform9 videos

Platform9 Company Introduction

Rancher videos

Slime Rancher Review - Worthabuy?

More videos:

  • Review - 2019 Honda Rancher 420 Review Long term 1000 plus KM
  • Review - TEST RIDE: 2015 Honda Rancher 420

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Platform9 and Rancher)
DevOps Tools
7 7%
93% 93
Cloud Computing
12 12%
88% 88
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Continuous Integration And Delivery

User comments

Share your experience with using Platform9 and Rancher. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Platform9 and Rancher

Platform9 Reviews

3 Cloud Alternatives to Amazon Web Services (That Aren’t Google or Microsoft)
Another worthy alternative to Amazon Web Services is Platform9, a hybrid cloud provider that also offers a best of both worlds scenario in terms of deploying workflows across both public and private cloud spaces. Platform9 has designed a service that allows for the packaging of applications in a way that lets them deploy across any underlying infrastructure, giving...
Source: medium.com

Rancher Reviews

Kubernetes Alternatives 2023: Top 8 Container Orchestration Tools
Rancher is an open-source container orchestration platform. With it, you can manage production containers across different platforms, including on-premises and the public cloud. As a Platform as a Service, it simplifies container management by allowing access to a set of available open source technologies, rather than having to build platforms from scratch.
Top 12 Kubernetes Alternatives to Choose From in 2023
Rancher also offers integration with popular container runtimes and networking solutions, making it an excellent choice for teams seeking a comprehensive PaaS solution for their Kubernetes deployments.
Source: humalect.com
11 Best Rancher Alternatives Multi Cluster Orchestration Platform
Create a Kubernetes cluster, then link it to Rancher to use Rancher with Kubernetes. Rancher offers a web-based dashboard, an API, tools for deploying and scaling containerized apps and services, and resources for managing and monitoring your cluster.
Docker Alternatives
An open-source code, Rancher is another one among the list of Docker alternatives that is built to provide organizations with everything they need. This software combines the environments required to adopt and run containers in production. A rancher is built on Kubernetes. This tool helps the DevOps team by making it easier to testing, deploying and managing the...
Source: www.educba.com
Heroku vs self-hosted PaaS
All in all I’m intrigued by Rancher but since I am looking for something simple then it is too advanced and resource intensive for my small side projects. I will however look into Rancher a bit more later and try to deploy one of my projects to it. That will probably be a blog post in it’s own!
Source: www.mskog.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Rancher should be more popular than Platform9. It has been mentiond 24 times since March 2021. 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.

Platform9 mentions (3)

  • free-for.dev
    Platform9 - Managed Kubernetes plane. Free plan offers management capabilities up to 3 clusters & 20 nodes. Note: you must provide cluster infrastructure by yourself. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Show HN: SetOps – Run containers, databases and more in your own AWS account
    Https://platform9.com/ And probably a dozen more. It's kind of wild. - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Free for dev - list of software (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.)
    Platform9 - Managed Kubernetes service designed for developers. Free developer accounts come with up to 3 clusters & 20 nodes cluster. - Source: dev.to / almost 4 years ago

Rancher mentions (24)

  • Terraform code for kubernetes on vsphere?
    I don't know in which extend you plan to use Kubernetes in the future, but if it is aimed to become several huge production clusters, you should looks into Apps like Rancher: https://rancher.com. Source: over 2 years ago
  • I want to provide some free support for community, how should I start?
    But I think once you have a good understanding of K8S internal (components, how thing work underlying, etc.), you can use some tool to help you provision / maintain k8s cluster easier (look for https://rancher.com/ and alternatives). Source: over 2 years ago
  • Don't Use Kubernetes, Yet
    A few years, I would have said no. Now, I'm cautiously optimistic about it. Personally, I think that you can use something like Rancher (https://rancher.com/) or Portainer (https://www.portainer.io/) for easier management and/or dashboard functionality, to make the learning curve a bit more approachable. For example, you can create a deployment through the UI by following a wizard that also offers you... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago
  • Building an Internal Kubernetes Platform
    Alternatively, it is also possible to use a multi-cloud or hybrid-cloud approach, which combines several cloud providers or even public and private clouds. Special tools such as Rancher and OpenShift can be very useful to run this type of system. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
  • Five Dex Alternatives for Kubernetes Authentication
    Rancher provides a Rancher authentication proxy that allows user authentication from a central location. With this proxy, you can set the credential for authenticating users that want to access your Kubernetes clusters. You can create, view, update, or delete users through Rancher’s UI and API. - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Platform9 and Rancher, you can also consider the following products

Puppet Enterprise - Get started with Puppet Enterprise, or upgrade or expand.

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

Terraform - Tool for building, changing, and versioning infrastructure safely and efficiently.

Packer - Packer is an open-source software for creating identical machine images from a single source configuration.

Red Hat OpenShift - Application and Data, Application Hosting, and Platform as a Service

HHVM - HHVM is an open-source virtual machine designed for executing programs written in Hack and PHP.