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Government · head to head

CKAN vs Teleport

CKAN logo

CKAN

Government

Open Source Data Portal Platform

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

Certificate-based access to servers, Kubernetes, databases and apps, replacing shared credentials and VPNs

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only CKAN has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: CKAN the package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install; Teleport pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • They diverge on capability: CKAN covers Dataset Management, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which CKAN and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where CKAN and Teleport differ
AttributeCKANTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelfreequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryGovernmentCybersecurity
Founded2006Unknown

Identical on both: user rating (Not yet rated).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in CKAN

  • Dataset Management
  • Data Harvesting
  • API Access
  • Visualization
  • Extensions
  • DataPusher
  • Harvester
  • Third-party Tools

Only in Teleport

  • Short-lived certificates
  • Protocol coverage
  • Session recording and replay
  • Access Requests
  • Device Trust
  • Identity provider integration
  • Machine identity
  • FIPS and FedRAMP builds

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

CKAN

  • Publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portalnot Teleport
  • Self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an APInot Teleport

Teleport

  • Removing long-lived SSH keys and shared database passwords so that offboarding an engineer takes one action in the identity providernot CKAN
  • Producing session recordings and per-user database audit trails as direct evidence for SOC 2 or FedRAMPnot CKAN
  • Giving contractors or on-call engineers time-boxed, approved access to production instead of standing admin rightsnot CKAN
  • Replacing a flat VPN with per-resource authorisation across servers, Kubernetes and internal web appsnot CKAN

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

CKAN

  • The package install path requires Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 64-bit specifically; other operating systems must use the source install
  • Only Solr 9 and Solr 8 are supported, and from CKAN 2.10 they are the only Solr versions supported at all
  • A working deployment requires PostgreSQL, Solr, Redis, nginx, supervisor and uWSGI to be installed and maintained separately
  • Python 3.10 or later is required

Teleport

  • Pricing is not published and is described as active users plus protected resources, so an autoscaling estate cannot forecast the bill and finance teams discover the true cost only after the first true-up.
  • The proxy is a hard dependency on reaching production, so it needs its own high availability deployment and a tested break-glass path or an outage in Teleport becomes an outage in your ability to respond to outages.
  • The open source Community Edition omits Access Requests, Device Trust and the FIPS builds, which are exactly the controls an auditor asks about, so the free tier rarely survives a compliance review.
  • Self-hosting means running and upgrading a certificate authority and its backing store, and Teleport releases frequently enough that upgrade work becomes a standing operational commitment.
  • Coverage across protocols is uneven in depth, so teams with legacy systems, unusual databases or bespoke network appliances find gaps that still require the old VPN to remain in place alongside it.

Pricing, plan by plan

CKAN

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Data Management
    • API Access
    • Visualization

Teleport

On request
  • Teleport Community Edition$undefined/year
    • Open source, self-hosted
    • SSH, Kubernetes, database and app access
    • Session recording
  • Teleport Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Cloud-hosted or self-hosted
    • Access Requests and approval workflow
    • Device Trust and hardware key enforcement

Which should you pick?

Choose CKAN if

  • You need dataset management.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want data harvesting.
CKAN review

Choose Teleport if

  • You need short-lived certificates.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
  • You also want protocol coverage.
Teleport review

Questions people ask

Is CKAN or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. CKAN starts at Free and Teleport at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, CKAN or Teleport?
CKAN has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for CKAN and On request for Teleport.
Does CKAN or Teleport run on more platforms?
CKAN runs on Web. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use CKAN for free?
Yes. CKAN has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
What is CKAN best used for?
CKAN is most often used for publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portal, self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an api. Of those, publishing open government datasets in a searchable public data portal and self-hosting a data catalogue with harvesting and an api are not what Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can CKAN do that Teleport cannot?
CKAN covers Dataset Management, Data Harvesting, API Access, Visualization. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

CKAN: Is CKAN open-source and what license is it available under?

Yes, CKAN is an open-source data management system built on Python and available on GitHub. The license terms are available on their GitHub repository.

Source
Teleport: Is the open source edition usable in production?

Yes, but it lacks Access Requests, Device Trust and FIPS builds, which most compliance programmes end up requiring.

CKAN: Does CKAN offer commercial support for organizations?

Yes, CKAN offers commercial support through certified providers including Link Digital and Datopian. Support includes advisory services, application development, integration, managed hosting, and web development.

Source
Teleport: How is it priced?

Not publicly. The vendor prices on active users and protected resources and provides a quote after a sales conversation.

CKAN: Who is responsible for hosting costs when running CKAN?

Organizations deploying CKAN are responsible for their own hosting infrastructure. Commercial providers like Datopian and Link Digital offer managed hosting services if organizations prefer not to self-host.

Source
Teleport: What happens if Teleport goes down?

Nobody reaches the resources behind it, so you need a highly available deployment and a documented break-glass procedure.

Teleport: Does it replace our VPN?

For anything you put behind it, yes. Legacy systems and appliances it does not support will keep the VPN alive.

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