Most Kubernetes-centric packages are billed per CPU core. The more compute power your clusters require, the higher the cost.
| Feature | Tanzu (Broadcom) | Red Hat OpenShift | Google GKE Enterprise | |----------|------------------|-------------------|------------------------| | Pricing model | Per core + per cluster | Per core + node | Per cluster + vCPU | | Typical starting annual cost | ~$30k (10 cores) | ~$20k (10 cores) | ~$12k (small clusters) | | Multi-cloud control plane | Included in higher tiers | Add-on (ACM) | Included | | Observability | Separate or bundled | Built-in (Prometheus) | Cloud-native | tanzu pricing
For organizations requiring strict data sovereignty or those running in air-gapped environments (disconnected from the internet), TKG remains the primary choice. Most Kubernetes-centric packages are billed per CPU core
| Alternative | Pricing model | When to consider | |-------------|---------------|------------------| | | Per core + subscription (~$15k/year for 8 cores) | If you already run RHEL. | | Rancher (SUSE) | Per cluster/month (~$2k/year per cluster) | For multi-cluster management without PaaS features. | | Plain upstream K8s | Free (you pay infra only) | If you don’t need supply chain or enterprise support. | | Google Anthos | Per core/month (~$100/core/month) | If you are heavily on GCP. | | Alternative | Pricing model | When to
VMware Tanzu pricing has transitioned to a following Broadcom's acquisition, primarily moving toward per-core billing for its enterprise editions. Commercial tiers generally start around $995 per year for basic features . Pricing Models & Tiers
| Cost category | Typical add-on | |---------------|----------------| | | 22% of license cost (premium 24/7) | | Education | $3k–$5k per course (required for TAP adoption) | | Professional services | $200–$400/hour for implementation | | Infrastructure | Tanzu doesn’t include cloud VMs or vSphere licenses | | Registry | You still pay for Harbor or external container registry |