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Cloud · head to head

Longhorn vs Proxmox VE

Longhorn logo

Longhorn

Cloud

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

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Proxmox VE logo

Proxmox VE

Cloud

Open-source hypervisor combining KVM and LXC virtualisation

From
€120/year
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Longhorn has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: 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.; Proxmox VE per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Longhorn and Proxmox VE actually diverge.

Attributes where Longhorn and Proxmox VE differ
AttributeLonghornProxmox VE
Starting priceFree€120/year
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feesubscription
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinux, KubernetesLinux, Web, API, Self-hosted

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 Longhorn

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

Only in Proxmox VE

Nothing recorded that Longhorn does not also cover.

What people use each for

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

Longhorn

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

Proxmox VE

  • Open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platformsnot Longhorn
  • Cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisorsnot Longhorn
  • High-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuitynot Longhorn
  • Container deployments using LXC as lighter-weight alternative to Dockernot Longhorn
  • Hybrid VM and container workloads in a single management interfacenot Longhorn
  • Backup and archival infrastructure alongside primary virtualisationnot Longhorn

Where each one falls short

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

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.

Proxmox VE

  • Per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
  • Linux-based host only; Windows hypervisors not supported, limiting adoption in Windows-focused organisations
  • Clustering and high-availability setup requires operational expertise and careful network configuration
  • Commercial support tiers limit advanced features (just-in-time access, network flow logs) to paid subscriptions
  • Smaller ecosystem of third-party plugins and integrations compared to VMware vSphere

Pricing, plan by plan

Longhorn

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

Proxmox VE

€120/year
  • Community$120/year
    • Enterprise Repository access
    • Community forum support only
    • Per-socket subscription model
  • Basic$370/year
    • 3 support tickets per year
    • 1 business day response time
    • Stable updates and Enterprise Repository
  • Standard$550/year
    • 10 support tickets per year
    • 4-hour response time for critical issues
    • Remote SSH support and offline updates
  • Premium$1100/year
    • Unlimited support tickets
    • 2-hour response time for critical issues
    • Remote SSH support and offline updates

Which should you pick?

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

Choose Proxmox VE if

  • You work on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted.
Proxmox VE review

Questions people ask

Is Longhorn or Proxmox VE better?
Neither clearly leads. Longhorn starts at Free and Proxmox VE at €120/year, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Longhorn or Proxmox VE?
Longhorn has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Longhorn and €120/year for Proxmox VE.
Does Longhorn or Proxmox VE run on more platforms?
Longhorn runs on Linux, Kubernetes. Proxmox VE runs on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted.
Can I use Longhorn for free?
Yes. Longhorn has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Proxmox VE starts at €120/year.
What is Longhorn best used for?
Longhorn is most often used for an on-premises kubernetes cluster with local disks and no san that needs replicated persistent volumes, edge sites where shipping a storage array is impractical and three nodes is the whole cluster, a k3s deployment where the storage layer must be light enough to run alongside the workloads, a team that wants snapshots and s3 backups of persistent volumes without paying per-node storage licences. Of those, an on-premises kubernetes cluster with local disks and no san that needs replicated persistent volumes and edge sites where shipping a storage array is impractical and three nodes is the whole cluster are not what Proxmox VE is typically brought in for.
What can Longhorn do that Proxmox VE cannot?
Longhorn covers Per-volume controllers, Synchronous replication, Snapshots and backups, Volume expansion.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

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.

Proxmox VE: What is the licensing model for Proxmox VE?

Proxmox VE is open-source and free to deploy. Optional subscription tiers provide technical support, priority response times, and access to the Enterprise Repository for stable update channels. All tiers include identical virtualisation features.

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.

Proxmox VE: Can I run Proxmox VE without a support subscription?

Yes. Community Edition (€120/year per socket) provides Enterprise Repository access with community-based support through forums. The core Proxmox VE platform is fully functional without any subscription.

Source
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.

Proxmox VE: What hypervisors does Proxmox VE support?

Proxmox VE includes both KVM for full virtualisation and LXC for Linux containers. It does not support Xen or Hyper-V. Workloads on those platforms must be migrated or reimplemented.

Source
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