01 / Reason
Unambiguous EU data residency, no Microsoft dependency
ARO runs on Microsoft Azure — a US company subject to the US CLOUD Act. Stakater Cloud is operated by Stakater AB (Sweden), default Amsterdam, no Azure account required.
Compare · vs ARO
Same OpenShift. Full platform. No Azure dependency.
ARO manages your OpenShift cluster on Azure. Stakater Cloud gives you OpenShift plus the entire platform layer — GitOps, CI/CD, secrets, observability, multi-tenancy — hosted in the Netherlands.
About ARO
What is Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO)?
ARO is Microsoft's managed OpenShift service on Azure. It provisions and upgrades your OpenShift control plane — but the developer platform above OpenShift remains your team's responsibility. And as an Azure-hosted service, your data sits under US jurisdiction.
- Category
- Managed OpenShift on Azure
- Platform layer
- Your responsibility
- EU residency
- Partial
Why teams switch
Three reasons teams move from ARO to Stakater Cloud.
02 / Reason
Full developer platform included beyond the cluster
ARO gives you a managed OpenShift cluster. Stakater Cloud gives you a managed platform — pre-wired and operated by Stakater SRE.
03 / Reason
Predictable flat pricing, no Azure bill
ARO combines Azure VM costs, OpenShift licensing, and platform tooling. Stakater Cloud is a flat monthly subscription from €888/month — no Azure egress, no separate cloud account.
Side by side
How Stakater Cloud compares.
The real alternative isn't switching cloud providers — it's spending 12–18 months building this yourself with an internal platform team.
Capability
Stakater Cloud
ARO
DIY on hyperscaler
Managed OpenShift cluster
EU data residency by default
Partial
Partial
GitOps pre-configured (ArgoCD)
CI/CD pre-configured (Tekton)
Secrets management (OpenBao)
Multi-tenancy (MTO)
Observability (Prometheus / Grafana / Loki)
Basic
No hyperscaler lock-in
Predictable EU pricing
Partial
Time to first workload
< 15 min
Days–weeks
Months
Migration path
From ARO to Stakater Cloud in three steps.
A real migration plan, run alongside your team. No two-week sales pitch dressed up as discovery.
- 01 / Step
Map your ARO workloads
We scope your existing ARO setup — clusters, workloads, data volumes, integrations, compliance posture. Honest assessment of what moves cleanly and what needs care.
- 02 / Step
Stand up the Stakater Cloud target
Your dedicated OpenShift cluster is provisioned in under 15 minutes, EU-hosted, with the full platform layer pre-wired — GitOps, CI/CD, observability, secrets, multi-tenancy.
- 03 / Step
Migrate workloads with our SRE
Stakater SRE runs the migration alongside your team. Containerised workloads move first; data, integrations, and DNS cutover are scheduled around your risk tolerance.
Stakater Cloud vs ARO — FAQ
Honest answers, no marketing copy.
Is ARO GDPR compliant for regulated European workloads? +
ARO runs on Microsoft Azure — a US company subject to the US CLOUD Act. Stakater Cloud is Swedish-operated with data in the Netherlands.
Does ARO include GitOps, CI/CD or observability tooling? +
No. ARO manages the OpenShift control plane. Everything above you must install, configure, and maintain. Stakater Cloud's Managed KubeStack+ tier includes all of it.
How does ARO differ from AKS? +
ARO is managed OpenShift on Azure (enterprise platform); AKS is managed Kubernetes on Azure. Both are Azure-hosted with similar data sovereignty implications.
How does ARO pricing compare to Stakater Cloud? +
ARO is Azure VM costs plus OpenShift licensing — variable, hard to predict. Stakater Cloud is flat from €888/month with platform included.
Can I migrate from ARO to Stakater Cloud? +
Yes. Book a call and we'll scope your migration.
Get Started
Want a side-by-side review of ARO and Stakater Cloud?
Book a 30-minute call. We'll show you exactly how Stakater Cloud stacks up against ARO for your specific workload — no sales pitch, just an honest conversation.