Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service
Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service (SKS) is a managed Kubernetes service for deploying and hosting containerized applications in Europe.
What Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service is
Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service (SKS) is a managed Kubernetes service for deploying and hosting containerized applications in Europe. Exoscale runs the control plane and handles its upgrades, reducing routine cluster maintenance. The product page says a fully managed cluster can be started in less than one minute. A free Starter Cluster includes a managed control plane, CLI, API, Terraform integration, and automatic control-plane patch upgrades. Karpenter can provision compute resources dynamically. SKS integrates Network Load Balancers for ingress and supports Kubernetes-compatible instance pools. Its CSI driver can attach block or object storage for stateful workloads. Clusters start with minimal exposure, and users manage authentication, network policies, and role-based access. Kubernetes Audit provides visibility into user and system actions. SKS supports multiple clusters, with a limit of three. It is vanilla Kubernetes, so monitoring, GitOps, and security tools are not installed by default.
Good
- Managed control plane and control-plane upgrades
- Free Starter Cluster
- Terraform integration
- Storage support for block or object workloads
- Kubernetes Audit visibility
Watch out
- Limited to three clusters
- Monitoring, GitOps, and security tools are not installed by default
- Starter Cluster has no SLA
Who it suits
SKS may suit European teams, including developers and data engineers, who want managed Kubernetes for cloud-native applications. It is also relevant to users who need control over cluster access and policies, and can supply their own additional tooling.
Verdict
SKS handles control-plane operations and offers a free cluster option, with additional availability and autoscaling features in Pro. Its vanilla Kubernetes setup leaves monitoring, GitOps, and security tooling to the user.
Plans and prices
From Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service's own pricing page, checked 3 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Starter Cluster | Free | No SLA · managed control plane · CLI, API, Terraform integration · control-plane patch auto-upgrades · SKS is billed per hour; Starter Cluster is free. |
| Pro Cluster | — | 99.95 % SLA · highly available control plane · etcd backups · Karpenter autoscaling · Billed per hour; the pricing page shows a price template rather than a numeric amount. |
The facts
Each one read from Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Audit
- Kubernetes Audit provides visibility into user and system actions.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Autoscaling
- Karpenter can dynamically provision compute resources, and Pro Cluster includes this autoscaling feature.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Cluster setup
- The product page says fully managed clusters can be started in less than one minute.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- Exoscale lists Kubernetes Cloud Controller Manager, Karpenter, Terraform, Packer, Vault, Pulumi, and Crossplane among its integrations.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Exoscale describes its cloud platform as built to help European teams develop cloud-native applications and specifically mentions developers and data engineers.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Limits
- SKS is vanilla Kubernetes and does not include additional tooling such as monitoring, GitOps, or security solutions installed by default.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Managed operations
- Exoscale operates the control plane and provides control-plane upgrades, reducing cluster maintenance work for customers.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Networking
- SKS integrates Network Load Balancers for ingress traffic and supports Kubernetes-compatible instance pools.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Purpose
- SKS is a managed Kubernetes service for deploying, scaling, and hosting containerized applications in Europe.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Security controls
- Clusters are provisioned with minimal exposure by default, and users control authentication, network policies, and role-based access.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Standards
- Exoscale says every SKS release passes the CNCF Kubernetes conformance tests and supports required Kubernetes APIs.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Storage
- The Exoscale CSI driver supports attaching block or object storage for stateful workloads.checked 3 Oct 2026
- Support
- All Exoscale customers receive included ticket support, with paid support plans offering faster response times and additional channels or coverage.checked 3 Oct 2026
The company
- Founded
- 2011checked 28 Sep 2026
- Headquarters
- Lausanne, Switzerlandchecked 28 Sep 2026
Alternatives to Exoscale Scalable Kubernetes Service
- 1
KubeSphere
Free planOpen sourceWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted8.1From $65 a month - 2
Google Kubernetes Engine
Free planWebAPILinuxSelf-hosted7.6Free plan - 3
HashiCorp Nomad
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS7.3Free plan - 4
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Container Registry
Free planWebAPILinux7.0Free plan - 5
MicroK8s
Free planLinuxmacOSSelf-hostedWindows6.9From $25 a year - 6
Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform
Free planWebAPILinuxmacOS6.8Free plan