01 / Reason
OpenShift over Kubernetes — built for enterprise
GKE gives you managed Kubernetes. OpenShift adds enterprise-grade security hardening, a developer console, stricter RBAC defaults, integrated image management, and enterprise support.
Compare · vs GKE
Enterprise OpenShift in Europe. Everything included.
GKE manages Kubernetes on Google Cloud — the platform layer is still yours. Stakater Cloud delivers managed OpenShift with GitOps, CI/CD, full observability, and more, hosted in the EU.
About GKE
What is Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?
GKE is Google Cloud's managed Kubernetes service. Standard GKE manages the control plane; Autopilot removes node management overhead. But the application platform layer remains your team's responsibility in both modes.
- Category
- Managed Kubernetes on GCP
- Platform layer
- Your responsibility
- EU residency
- Partial
Why teams switch
Three reasons teams move from GKE to Stakater Cloud.
02 / Reason
Autopilot does not solve the platform problem
Autopilot removes node provisioning overhead, but your CI/CD, GitOps, secrets, observability, and multi-tenancy still need platform ownership. Stakater Cloud provides the full platform layer, managed.
03 / Reason
No Google Cloud dependency for EU-regulated workloads
GKE runs on Google Cloud — a US company subject to the US CLOUD Act. For GDPR/DORA/NIS2 alignment, Stakater Cloud offers default EU deployment, Swedish operation, and ISO 27001:2022 + 9001:2015.
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
GKE
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 GKE 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 GKE workloads
We scope your existing GKE 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 GKE — FAQ
Honest answers, no marketing copy.
Is GKE the same as OpenShift? +
No. GKE is managed Kubernetes on Google Cloud. OpenShift is an enterprise application platform built on Kubernetes — it adds security hardening, developer console, integrated image registry, stricter default RBAC, built-in developer tooling, and enterprise support from Red Hat.
Does GKE Autopilot solve the platform engineering problem? +
Autopilot removes node provisioning, but the application platform — GitOps, CI/CD, secrets, observability, multi-tenancy, compliance tooling — is still your responsibility. Stakater Cloud provides the managed platform layer.
Is GKE suitable for EU-regulated workloads? +
GKE runs on Google Cloud, a US-headquartered company subject to the US CLOUD Act. Stakater Cloud is default EU, Swedish-operated, ISO 27001:2022 certified.
What does Stakater Cloud include that GKE does not? +
Managed OpenShift plus a complete pre-configured platform: ArgoCD, Tekton, OpenBao, full observability, MTO, Velero, RHACS, and more. GKE gives you Kubernetes — the rest is yours to build.
Can I move workloads from GKE to Stakater Cloud? +
Yes. We help teams migrate containerised workloads. Book a call to assess.
What SLA does Stakater Cloud offer compared to GKE? +
Stakater Cloud carries a 99.9% uptime SLA on the cluster control plane, with multi-AZ high availability available. GKE publishes 99.95% on regional clusters at the Kubernetes API layer, but everything above — applications, observability, ingress, backup, multi-tenancy — is your team's SLA to define and operate.
Is Stakater Cloud certified to ISO 27001 and ISO 9001? +
Yes — ISO 27001:2022 (information security) and ISO 9001:2015 (quality management), independently audited annually. GKE inherits Google Cloud certifications for the underlying infrastructure, but Google is a US-headquartered company subject to the US CLOUD Act.
Are backups and disaster recovery included with Stakater Cloud? +
Yes. Velero-based backup of cluster resources and persistent volumes is part of the managed platform, with documented restore procedures. On GKE, backup design and operational ownership remain your team's responsibility (Backup for GKE is a separately priced Google product).
Get Started
Want a side-by-side review of GKE and Stakater Cloud?
Book a 30-minute call. We'll show you exactly how Stakater Cloud stacks up against GKE for your specific workload — no sales pitch, just an honest conversation.