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Cloud · head to head

Crossplane vs Qovery

Crossplane logo

Crossplane

Cloud

The Cloud-Native Framework for Platform Engineering

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Qovery logo

Qovery

Cloud

Deployment platform that provisions and operates Kubernetes inside your own cloud account

From
On request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Crossplane has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Crossplane requires Kubernetes expertise and infrastructure; Qovery no plan publishes a price, deployment minute overage rates are not disclosed, and there is a 14 day trial rather than a free tier, so you cannot budget or compare against alternatives without going through sales.
  • They diverge on capability: Crossplane covers Kubernetes extension, Qovery covers Bring your own cloud.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Crossplane and Qovery actually diverge.

Attributes where Crossplane and Qovery differ
AttributeCrossplaneQovery
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsKubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCPWeb, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes

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

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 Crossplane

  • Kubernetes extension
  • Custom API building
  • Resource management anywhere
  • Declarative interfaces
  • Component library
  • Provider ecosystem

Only in Qovery

  • Bring your own cloud
  • Preview environments
  • Cluster lifecycle
  • Terraform provider
  • MCP server
  • Policy as code

What people use each for

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

Crossplane

  • Building platform-as-a-service offerings for internal teamsnot Qovery
  • Creating unified control layers for multi-cloud infrastructurenot Qovery
  • Designing declarative APIs for infrastructure provisioningnot Qovery

Qovery

  • A regulated business that must keep application data inside its own AWS account but has nobody to build a deployment platformnot Crossplane
  • Giving twenty engineers preview environments per pull request without writing and maintaining Terraform and Helm by handnot Crossplane
  • Standardising deployment across AWS and GCP when acquisitions have left the organisation on two cloudsnot Crossplane
  • Replacing a managed platform when data residency rules put every hosted option out of reachnot Crossplane

Where each one falls short

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

Crossplane

  • Requires Kubernetes expertise and infrastructure
  • Steep learning curve for teams new to Kubernetes patterns
  • Provider ecosystem smaller than Terraform

Qovery

  • No plan publishes a price, deployment minute overage rates are not disclosed, and there is a 14 day trial rather than a free tier, so you cannot budget or compare against alternatives without going through sales.
  • The GPL-3.0 engine and console do not constitute a self-hostable product, because the control plane and API are closed and the self-hosted option is gated behind Enterprise, so the open licence gives you no exit if the company changes direction.
  • Qovery provisions managed Kubernetes into your account, which means the cloud bill sits on top of the licence and Qovery initiates control plane and ingress controller upgrades on infrastructure your team is accountable for.
  • The company repositioned to agentic infrastructure in June 2026 and now ships a deployment platform, a browser development portal and autonomous coding agents concurrently, so a buyer of the deployment product is not at the centre of the roadmap.
  • Team and Business are capped at two and three connected clusters with fixed 4 vCPU CI runners and no single sign-on on Team, which pushes teams of moderate size onto quoted Enterprise pricing earlier than the plan names imply.

Pricing, plan by plan

Crossplane

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Crossplane review.

Qovery

On request
  • Team$undefined/year
    • Billed on usage with no published rate card
    • 10 users, up to 100 environments, 2 connected clusters
    • 5,000 deployment minutes and 7 day audit logs
  • Business$undefined/year
    • Billed on usage with no published rate card
    • 20 users, up to 250 environments, 3 connected clusters
    • 10,000 deployment minutes and 30 day audit logs
  • Enterprise$undefined/year
    • Custom users, environments and clusters
    • Self-hosted or air-gapped control plane
    • On-premises and bring-your-own-Kubernetes

Which should you pick?

Choose Crossplane if

  • You need kubernetes extension.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP.
  • You also want custom api building.
Crossplane review

Choose Qovery if

  • You need bring your own cloud.
  • You work on Web, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes.
  • You also want preview environments.
Qovery review

Questions people ask

Is Crossplane or Qovery better?
Neither clearly leads. Crossplane starts at Free and Qovery at On request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Crossplane or Qovery?
Crossplane has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Crossplane and On request for Qovery.
Does Crossplane or Qovery run on more platforms?
Crossplane runs on Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP. Qovery runs on Web, CLI, REST API, Kubernetes.
Can I use Crossplane for free?
Yes. Crossplane has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Qovery starts at On request.
What is Crossplane best used for?
Crossplane is most often used for building platform-as-a-service offerings for internal teams, creating unified control layers for multi-cloud infrastructure, designing declarative apis for infrastructure provisioning. Of those, building platform-as-a-service offerings for internal teams and creating unified control layers for multi-cloud infrastructure are not what Qovery is typically brought in for.
What can Crossplane do that Qovery cannot?
Crossplane covers Kubernetes extension, Custom API building, Resource management anywhere, Declarative interfaces. Qovery covers Bring your own cloud, Preview environments, Cluster lifecycle, Terraform provider.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Crossplane: Is Crossplane free?

Yes, Crossplane is open source and free to use. It requires a Kubernetes cluster but has no licensing costs.

Source
Qovery: Does Qovery run my applications on its own servers?

No. It provisions and operates Kubernetes inside your AWS, GCP, Azure or Scaleway account, so compute and data stay with your cloud provider and that bill is entirely separate from the Qovery licence.

Crossplane: What is Crossplane used for?

Crossplane is used to build control planes and platforms for infrastructure management, enabling platform teams to expose safe APIs to other teams.

Source
Qovery: Can I self-host Qovery?

Only on Enterprise. The deployment engine and console are GPL-3.0, but the control plane is closed source and the self-hosted and air-gapped deployments are commercial Enterprise features.

Qovery: What does it cost?

Qovery does not publish a rate card. Team and Business are billed on usage and quoted through sales, and Enterprise is fully custom. There is a 14 day trial with no card required.

Qovery: What survives if I stop paying?

The Kubernetes cluster and the workloads keep running in your cloud account, but you lose the console, the deployment pipeline, preview environments and every process built on top of them.

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