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Developer Tools · head to head

GNAT Pro vs Longhorn

GNAT Pro logo

GNAT Pro

Developer Tools

Software development environments and toolchains for Ada, C/C++ and Rust

From
On request
Free plan
No
Full reviewWebsite
Longhorn logo

Longhorn

Cloud

Open source distributed block storage for Kubernetes, incubating at the CNCF

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Longhorn has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: GNAT Pro no pricing published on website; requires contacting AdaCore directly for quotes; Longhorn there is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which GNAT Pro and Longhorn actually diverge.

Attributes where GNAT Pro and Longhorn differ
AttributeGNAT ProLonghorn
Starting priceOn requestFree
Pricing modelquoteOpen source, no licence fee
Free tierNoYes
PlatformsWebLinux, Kubernetes
CategoryDeveloper ToolsCloud

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 GNAT Pro

Nothing recorded that Longhorn does not also cover.

Only in Longhorn

  • Per-volume controllers
  • Synchronous replication
  • Snapshots and backups
  • Volume expansion
  • Disaster recovery volumes
  • Web interface

What people use each for

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

GNAT Pro

  • Building certified avionics software meeting DO-178B/C standardsnot Longhorn
  • Developing automotive embedded systems with ISO-26262 compliancenot Longhorn
  • Integrating Ada, C/C++, and Rust components in single codebasenot Longhorn
  • Managing software supply chain vulnerabilities and SBOMsnot Longhorn
  • Supporting long-lived software systems spanning decadesnot Longhorn

Longhorn

  • An on-premises Kubernetes cluster with local disks and no SAN that needs replicated persistent volumesnot GNAT Pro
  • Edge sites where shipping a storage array is impractical and three nodes is the whole clusternot GNAT Pro
  • A K3s deployment where the storage layer must be light enough to run alongside the workloadsnot GNAT Pro
  • A team that wants snapshots and S3 backups of persistent volumes without paying per-node storage licencesnot GNAT Pro

Where each one falls short

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

GNAT Pro

  • No pricing published on website; requires contacting AdaCore directly for quotes
  • Vendor indicates per-user, per-year subscription model but does not disclose specific costs

Longhorn

  • There is no vendor and no SLA, so a production incident at three in the morning is your own problem unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime support separately.
  • Synchronous replication across nodes means write latency depends on the slowest replica and the network between nodes, which makes it a poor fit for latency-sensitive databases.
  • Every replica is a full copy, so three-way replication consumes three times the raw capacity, unlike erasure-coded systems that are far more space efficient.
  • It is designed for block storage on modest clusters and does not scale to the node counts or throughput that Ceph or a commercial array handles, so growth eventually forces a migration.
  • Recovery from certain degraded states, such as a volume stuck detaching or replicas failing to rebuild, requires manual intervention and knowledge of Longhorn internals that is not widely held.

Pricing, plan by plan

GNAT Pro

On request

No published plan breakdown. See the GNAT Pro review.

Longhorn

Free
  • LonghornFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed, no licence fee
    • Community support via GitHub and Slack only
    • No vendor SLA or escalation path

Which should you pick?

Choose GNAT Pro if

Nothing in the data separates GNAT Pro from Longhorn on the points above - pick on price and on how each one feels to use.

GNAT Pro review

Choose Longhorn if

  • You need per-volume controllers.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Kubernetes.
  • You also want synchronous replication.
Longhorn review

Questions people ask

Is GNAT Pro or Longhorn better?
Neither clearly leads. GNAT Pro starts at On request and Longhorn at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, GNAT Pro or Longhorn?
Longhorn has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at On request for GNAT Pro and Free for Longhorn.
Does GNAT Pro or Longhorn run on more platforms?
GNAT Pro runs on Web. Longhorn runs on Linux, Kubernetes.
Can I use Longhorn for free?
Yes. Longhorn has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. GNAT Pro starts at On request.
What is GNAT Pro best used for?
GNAT Pro is most often used for building certified avionics software meeting do-178b/c standards, developing automotive embedded systems with iso-26262 compliance, integrating ada, c/c++, and rust components in single codebase, managing software supply chain vulnerabilities and sboms. Of those, building certified avionics software meeting do-178b/c standards and developing automotive embedded systems with iso-26262 compliance are not what Longhorn is typically brought in for.
What can GNAT Pro do that Longhorn cannot?
Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers, Synchronous replication, Snapshots and backups, Volume expansion.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

GNAT Pro: How much does GNAT Pro cost?

GNAT Pro pricing is not published on the website. Customers must request a pricing quote by contacting AdaCore directly or speaking with a GNAT Pro expert.

Source
Longhorn: Who do we call when it breaks?

Nobody, unless you buy SUSE Rancher Prime, which includes commercial support for Longhorn. This is the decisive question for production use.

GNAT Pro: What is GNAT Pro licensing model?

GNAT Pro is sold on a per-user, per-year basis with no license locks. Customers can request pricing for their specific needs.

Source
Longhorn: How much capacity does replication cost?

Full copies, so three replicas means three times the raw capacity. Budget accordingly rather than assuming erasure coding efficiency.

Longhorn: Is it suitable for production databases?

For modest workloads yes, but synchronous replication adds write latency and high-transaction databases usually want something faster.

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