So long OpenShift, and thanks for all the fish
You keep wearing the same hat and wondering why everything looks the same: maybe it's time for a new fit.
In the early days of Kubernetes, excitement and apprehension lived side by side. While developers saw unprecedented flexibility and scalability, many enterprises saw risk: a complex, rapidly evolving ecosystem that required internal skills, new operational models, and a fundamental shift in mindset.
It’s no surprise that solutions like OpenShift found early traction. Red Hat capitalized on the moment, offering a prepackaged, integrated, and most importantly, "safe" abstraction over vanilla Kubernetes. For many enterprises, OpenShift wasn’t just a technology; it was a comfort zone, a bridge between traditional infrastructure and cloud-native paradigms.
But comfort comes at a cost.
And time has shown that abstractions age, and lock-in creeps in.
Every choice is a vendor lock-in
I used to say this everytime having a technical discussion.
Kubernetes Has Matured. So Has the Ecosystem
Fast-forward to today: Kubernetes is no longer "experimental", as the recent KubeCon events showed us, the entire tech industry is based on Kubernetes which is here to stay.
It is the industry standard, the platform layer for modern infrastructure, and the foundation of enterprise cloud strategies. With maturity came clarity, and with clarity came a new wave of innovation: not from legacy vendors, but from independent, cloud-native players who built solutions for real problems without compromise.
This is where CLASTIX comes in.
The Origins of CLASTIX: Open Source Roots, Enterprise Vision
CLASTIX was born from a deep understanding of one of Kubernetes' core limitations in enterprise environments: multi-tenancy. In large organizations, the need to isolate teams, business units, or customers, without spinning up entire clusters=, is paramount.
To solve this, we built Project Capsule, a lightweight, powerful open-source project for Kubernetes multi-tenancy that enables administrators to segment and secure workloads in a single cluster, reducing overhead without sacrificing control.
Capsule quickly resonated with the community: we were on the right track. It grew, matured, and was eventually donated to the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), where it now lives alongside some of the most respected open-source projects in the world.
Today, Capsule is adopted globally, from NVIDIA and ASML, to TomTom Engineering, WarGaming, and even major players in Japan, many of whom visited our booth at the Project Pavilion at KubeCon EU 2025 in London: a quiet but powerful validation of our approach.
Multi-Tenancy at the Namespace level was just the beginning of our battle against Kubernetes limitations, and a small portion of our broader vision.
Kamaji: Reimagining Kubernetes Control Planes
Building on the success of Project Capsule, we launched Kamaji, a new open-source project that addresses another critical challenge: the scalability and manageability of Kubernetes control planes in large environments.
Kamaji is a Hosted Control Plane solution that allows operators to run thousands of Kubernetes clusters, each with its own control plane, but centrally managed and operated. Unlike alternative solutions, Kamaji delivers:
A 100% upstream, vanilla Kubernetes experience
No opinionation, no vendor wrapping, no lock-in
A modular, composable architecture that fits modern platform engineering practices
It is the first open-source project of its kind to offer a true, CNCF-compliant Kubernetes distribution, free from proprietary dependencies — the anti-thesis to projects like Hypershift.
So compelling is this vision that NVIDIA selected Kamaji to power its DOCA Platform — a monumental validation of our technical foundation. Ironically, even Red Hat now indirectly benefits from Kamaji’s architecture — a true David vs Goliath moment in the cloud-native space.
Why Enterprises Are Switching from OpenShift to CLASTIX
We believe in empowering organizations to take back control of their infrastructure. That's why we now offer a free migration path from OpenShift to CLASTIX Kubernetes, powered by Capsule and Kamaji. It’s not just about cost — it’s about freedom, ownership, and future-proofing.
Here are the 3 core reasons customers are making the move:
Dramatic Cost Savings
OpenShift licensing and infrastructure overheads can be eye-watering. Our licensing model is:Simple: pay per managed cluster
Transparent: no complicated pricing calculators
Efficient: less than 1/3 the cost of OpenShift
Say goodbye to bloated contracts, and hello to predictable, scalable costs.
No Vendor Lock-In
CLASTIX technologies are:Based on upstream Kubernetes
CNCF-compliant with a fully open roadmap
Portable across any environment: cloud, on-prem, hybrid
We don’t build walled gardens. As witnessed by our commitment to the Kubernetes Cluster API community, we built bridges, giving you the freedom to evolve without proprietary constraints and relying on the upstream, way bigger than any other private entity.
Proven Scalability, Enterprise Grade
Our software is trusted by some of the most demanding environments in the world: Rackspace, OVHcloud, IONOS, NVIDIA.
These aren’t just names — they are global validation points for our architecture, scalability, and performance. With CLASTIX, you get infrastructure that meets — and often exceeds — the operational excellence of hyperscalers.
Support that Moves at the Speed of Mission-Critical
One of our most meaningful engagements was with a U.S. Department of Defense agency. During a critical implementation phase, we delivered a feature request — not a bug fix — in just hours, not days.
“I’ve never seen any vendor able to deliver not a fix, but a full feature request within hours. I’m speechless.”
— 🔒 [Name Redacted, U.S. Department of Defense]
This is what partnership looks like. We don’t just ship code — we support missions.
Where We’re Going
CLASTIX isn’t just another vendor. We’re a technology-first company built by engineers, for engineers. We believe the future of Kubernetes lies in open, modular, portable systems, not monoliths or locked ecosystems.
OpenShift had its moment and played an important role in Kubernetes adoption.
So long, and thanks for all the fish.
The industry is ready to move forward.
It’s time to scale more intelligently, operate more efficiently, and own your infrastructure again.
Ready to Migrate? Let’s Talk, it's free!
Whether you’re running OpenShift today, exploring Hosted Control Planes, or simply looking to reduce cost and complexity, let’s chat.
CLASTIX developed a migration path to unchain your Kubernetes clusters from OpenShift, and yes, we'll migrate you for free.