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Cloud · head to head

OpenEBS vs Teleport

OpenEBS logo

OpenEBS

Cloud

Open source container-attached storage for Kubernetes

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 OpenEBS has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • 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.; 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: OpenEBS covers Replicated engine, Teleport covers Short-lived certificates.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which OpenEBS and Teleport actually diverge.

Attributes where OpenEBS and Teleport differ
AttributeOpenEBSTeleport
Starting priceFreeOn request
Pricing modelOpen source, no licence feequote
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsLinuxLinux, 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 OpenEBS

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

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.

OpenEBS

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

Teleport

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

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

OpenEBS

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

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 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 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 OpenEBS or Teleport better?
Neither clearly leads. OpenEBS 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, OpenEBS or Teleport?
OpenEBS has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for OpenEBS and On request for Teleport.
Does OpenEBS or Teleport run on more platforms?
OpenEBS runs on Linux. Teleport runs on Linux, macOS, Windows, Kubernetes, Cloud.
Can I use OpenEBS for free?
Yes. OpenEBS has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Teleport starts at On request.
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 Teleport is typically brought in for.
What can OpenEBS do that Teleport cannot?
OpenEBS covers Replicated engine, Local PV engines, Kubernetes-native management, Snapshots and clones. Teleport covers Short-lived certificates, Protocol coverage, Session recording and replay, Access Requests.

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.

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.

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.

Teleport: How is it priced?

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

OpenEBS: Does it cost anything?

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

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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