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Cloud · head to head

Crossplane vs Teleport

Crossplane logo

Crossplane

Cloud

The Cloud-Native Framework for Platform Engineering

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Teleport logo

Teleport

Cybersecurity

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

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; 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: Crossplane covers Kubernetes extension, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Crossplane and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where Crossplane and Teleport differ
AttributeCrossplaneTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelUnknownquote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsKubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCPLinux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud
CategoryCloudCybersecurity

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 Crossplane

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

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.

Crossplane

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

Teleport

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

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

Crossplane

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Crossplane review.

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 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 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 Crossplane or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. Crossplane 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, Crossplane or Teleport?
Crossplane has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Crossplane and On request for Teleport.
Does Crossplane or Teleport run on more platforms?
Crossplane runs on Kubernetes, AWS, Azure, GCP. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use Crossplane for free?
Yes. Crossplane has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport 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 Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can Crossplane do that Teleport cannot?
Crossplane covers Kubernetes extension, Custom API building, Resource management anywhere, Declarative interfaces. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

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
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.

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
Teleport: How is it priced?

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

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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