Compare · vs ROSA

Same OpenShift. Full platform. EU-operated.

ROSA manages your OpenShift cluster on AWS. Stakater Cloud adds GitOps, CI/CD, secrets, full observability, and multi-tenancy — hosted in the Netherlands, operated by a Red Hat Premier Partner.

About ROSA

What is Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA)?

ROSA is Red Hat's managed OpenShift offering running on AWS infrastructure. It handles the OpenShift control plane well — but data defaults to AWS, the platform tooling above OpenShift is not included, and you inherit AWS pricing variability and US jurisdiction concerns.

Category
Managed OpenShift on AWS
Platform layer
Your responsibility
EU residency
Partial
Why teams switch

Three reasons teams move from ROSA to Stakater Cloud.

01 / Reason

Unambiguous EU data residency

ROSA runs on AWS — a US company subject to the US CLOUD Act. Stakater Cloud is operated by Stakater AB (Sweden), with default EU deployment in Amsterdam for EU data residency, GDPR alignment, and low-latency European access.

02 / Reason

Full developer platform beyond the cluster

ROSA gives you a managed OpenShift cluster. Stakater Cloud gives you a managed platform: ArgoCD, Tekton, OpenBao, Prometheus, Grafana, Loki, multi-tenancy (MTO), Velero — pre-configured, managed by us, no platform team required.

03 / Reason

Predictable flat pricing, no AWS bill

ROSA combines EC2 costs, OpenShift licensing, and add-ons. Stakater Cloud is a flat monthly subscription from €888/month — one invoice, no per-resource charges, no AWS account to manage.

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
ROSA
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 ROSA to Stakater Cloud in three steps.

A real migration plan, run alongside your team. No two-week sales pitch dressed up as discovery.

  1. 01 / Step

    Map your ROSA workloads

    We scope your existing ROSA setup — clusters, workloads, data volumes, integrations, compliance posture. Honest assessment of what moves cleanly and what needs care.

  2. 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.

  3. 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 ROSA — FAQ

Honest answers, no marketing copy.

Is ROSA GDPR compliant for regulated European workloads? +

ROSA runs on AWS infrastructure — a US company subject to the US CLOUD Act. While AWS has EU regions, data sovereignty concerns persist under GDPR, DORA and NIS2. Stakater Cloud is operated by Stakater AB (Sweden) with all data hosted in the Netherlands. No US parent company, no CLOUD Act exposure.

Does ROSA include GitOps, CI/CD or observability tooling? +

No. ROSA manages the OpenShift control plane. Everything above it you must install, configure, and maintain. Stakater Cloud's Managed KubeStack+ tier includes all of it pre-wired and managed from day one.

How does ROSA pricing compare to Stakater Cloud? +

ROSA pricing is EC2 nodes plus OpenShift licensing plus any platform tooling. It scales unpredictably. Stakater Cloud is flat — from €888/month with no per-resource surprises.

How quickly can I get a production-ready cluster? +

ROSA cluster provisioning takes 30–45 minutes, plus weeks-to-months for platform tooling. Stakater Cloud is production-ready in under 15 minutes — cluster provisioned, GitOps wired, observability running.

Can I migrate from ROSA to Stakater Cloud? +

Yes. We help teams move from ROSA and other managed OpenShift platforms. Book a call and we will assess workloads, data volumes, and compliance requirements.

Want a side-by-side review of ROSA and Stakater Cloud?

Book a 30-minute call. We'll show you exactly how Stakater Cloud stacks up against ROSA for your specific workload — no sales pitch, just an honest conversation.