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OpenEBS vs Spring Cloud Gateway

OpenEBS logo

OpenEBS

Cloud

Open source container-attached storage for Kubernetes

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Spring Cloud Gateway logo

Spring Cloud Gateway

APIs

API gateway built on Project Reactor for building microservices

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: OpenEBS there is no vendor on the other end of an incident unless you separately contract DataCore, so an outage at three in the morning is resolved by your own team and a public Slack channel.; Spring Cloud Gateway released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier
  • They diverge on capability: OpenEBS covers Replicated engine, Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenEBS and Spring Cloud Gateway actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenEBS and Spring Cloud Gateway differ
AttributeOpenEBSSpring Cloud Gateway
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feeopen-source
PlatformsLinuxJava, Spring Boot
CategoryCloudAPIs
FoundedUnknown1998

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 OpenEBS

  • Replicated engine
  • Local PV engines
  • Kubernetes-native management
  • Snapshots and clones
  • No licence fee
  • Hardware independence

Only in Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Routing
  • Path Rewriting
  • Circuit Breaker
  • Spring Boot
  • Spring Security
  • Spring Cloud
  • Java support
  • Spring Boot support

What people use each for

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

OpenEBS

  • Running Cassandra or Kafka on Kubernetes where the application already replicates and node-local volumes are sufficientnot Spring Cloud Gateway
  • A platform team that needs persistent volumes on bare metal Kubernetes without a per node subscriptionnot Spring Cloud Gateway
  • An edge or lab deployment where a commercial storage licence cannot be justifiednot Spring Cloud Gateway
  • Replacing hostpath volumes with something that has snapshots and a Container Storage Interface drivernot Spring Cloud Gateway

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • API Developmentnot OpenEBS
  • API Gatewaynot OpenEBS
  • API Testingnot OpenEBS
  • API Documentationnot OpenEBS
  • Microservicesnot OpenEBS

Where each one falls short

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

OpenEBS

  • There is no vendor on the other end of an incident unless you separately contract DataCore, so an outage at three in the morning is resolved by your own team and a public Slack channel.
  • The project has several storage engines with different maturity and different operational characteristics, and choosing the wrong one for your workload produces poor results that look like a product failure.
  • Documentation and upgrade guidance assume real Kubernetes storage knowledge, so teams without that expertise underestimate the operational load they are taking on.
  • Project governance shifted after DataCore acquired MayaData in 2021, which means the direction of a supposedly neutral project is influenced by one commercial sponsor.
  • Disaster recovery, cross-cluster replication and policy-driven data services are thinner than in the commercial alternatives, so organisations with those requirements end up building them or buying a product anyway.

Spring Cloud Gateway

  • Released under the Apache 2.0 license, free and open source with no commercial tier

Pricing, plan by plan

OpenEBS

Free
  • OpenEBSFree
    • Apache 2.0 licensed
    • All storage engines included
    • No node or capacity limits

Spring Cloud Gateway

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Core Spring Cloud Gateway
    • Community support

Which should you pick?

Choose OpenEBS if

  • You need replicated engine.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux.
  • You also want local pv engines.
OpenEBS review

Choose Spring Cloud Gateway if

  • You need routing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Java, Spring Boot.
  • You also want path rewriting.
Spring Cloud Gateway review

Questions people ask

Is OpenEBS or Spring Cloud Gateway better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenEBS starts at Free and Spring Cloud Gateway at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, OpenEBS or Spring Cloud Gateway?
OpenEBS starts at Free and Spring Cloud Gateway at Free.
Does OpenEBS or Spring Cloud Gateway run on more platforms?
OpenEBS runs on Linux. Spring Cloud Gateway runs on Java, Spring Boot.
Can I use OpenEBS for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is OpenEBS best used for?
OpenEBS is most often used for running cassandra or kafka on kubernetes where the application already replicates and node-local volumes are sufficient, a platform team that needs persistent volumes on bare metal kubernetes without a per node subscription, an edge or lab deployment where a commercial storage licence cannot be justified, replacing hostpath volumes with something that has snapshots and a container storage interface driver. Of those, running cassandra or kafka on kubernetes where the application already replicates and node-local volumes are sufficient and a platform team that needs persistent volumes on bare metal kubernetes without a per node subscription are not what Spring Cloud Gateway is typically brought in for.
What can OpenEBS do that Spring Cloud Gateway cannot?
OpenEBS covers Replicated engine, Local PV engines, Kubernetes-native management, Snapshots and clones. Spring Cloud Gateway covers Routing, Path Rewriting, Circuit Breaker, Spring Boot.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

OpenEBS: Who supports it in production?

The project is community supported. Commercial support is available from DataCore, which acquired the original sponsor MayaData in 2021. Establish that relationship before production, not during an incident.

Spring Cloud Gateway: Is Spring Cloud Gateway free?

Yes, Spring Cloud Gateway is free and open-source software. It is part of the Spring ecosystem and available through GitHub repositories with open-source dependencies like spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webflux and spring-cloud-starter-gateway-server-webmvc.

Source
OpenEBS: Which engine should we use?

If your application replicates its own data, use a Local engine and avoid replicating twice. If it does not, such as with PostgreSQL, use the Replicated engine.

Spring Cloud Gateway: What enterprise support is available for Spring Cloud Gateway?

Tanzu Spring provides optional enterprise support including Day 0 access to security patches for organizations requiring guaranteed support, but specific pricing is not published on the Spring Cloud Gateway project page.

Source
OpenEBS: Does it cost anything?

No licence fee. The cost is operational, and a support contract if you want someone accountable.

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