Substrate
Substrate is a control plane for managing and optimizing Kubernetes clusters, virtual machines, and databases across cloud providers.
What Substrate is
Substrate is a control plane for managing and optimizing Kubernetes clusters, virtual machines, and databases across cloud providers. It supports AWS EKS, Google GKE, Azure AKS, and standalone Kubernetes, with multi-cluster workload deployment and real-time dashboards for cluster health, resource use, and deployment status. Its AI engine offers resource rightsizing, spot instance migration, and scale-to-zero optimization. Integrations include GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted Git, Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google GCR, Azure ACR, and private OCI registries; logs can stream to Elasticsearch, Splunk, CloudWatch, Google Cloud Logging, and Azure Monitor. Security controls include granular organization, project, and resource permissions, custom roles, and secrets encrypted at rest with AES-256, alongside rotation and scoped access. It also lists TOTP multi-factor authentication and API, configuration, and access-event logging. The Free plan includes one BYOC cluster, five secrets, basic monitoring, and one team member.
Good
- Supports multiple managed Kubernetes providers
- Offers multi-cluster deployment and health dashboards
- Free plan includes basic monitoring
- Secrets use AES-256 encryption at rest
Watch out
- Free plan is limited to one cluster
- Starter costs $299 a month
- Paid tiers include a share of verified savings
Who it suits
It suits teams managing infrastructure across cloud providers that want cluster dashboards, deployment controls, and cost optimization. The Free plan is limited to one BYOC cluster and one team member.
Verdict
Substrate combines infrastructure management, cost optimization, integrations, and access controls. Its free tier provides a small starting configuration, while paid plans begin at $299 a month.
Plans and prices
From Substrate's own pricing page, checked 4 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | 1 BYOC cluster · 5 secrets · Community support · Basic monitoring · 1 team member · Free |
| Starter | $299 a month | 3 BYOC clusters · 50 secrets · 2 CI/CD integrations · 5 preview environments · 5 team members · Email support · AI cost optimization · $299 per month |
| Growth | $999 a month | 10 BYOC clusters · Unlimited secrets · 10 CI/CD integrations · 25 preview environments · 25 team members · Priority support · AI cost optimization with savings sharing · Custom alert rules · $999 per month |
| Enterprise | Priced on request | Unlimited clusters · Unlimited everything · Dedicated support engineer · Custom SLA (up to 99.99%) · SSO & SAML · Negotiated performance fee rates · Custom rate overrides · Audit logs & RBAC · Custom |
The facts
Each one read from Substrate's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Access controls
- Security features include organization, project, and resource-level permissions, custom roles, and permission inheritance and overrides.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Account security
- The security page describes TOTP multi-factor authentication, backup codes, enforceable organization MFA policies, and configurable session expiry.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Audit and network security
- Substrate says it logs API calls, configuration changes, and access events, and supports IP-based cluster firewall rules synced with cloud security groups.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Cloud support
- Substrate says it supports AWS EKS, Google GKE, Azure AKS, and standalone Kubernetes clusters.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The platform provides multi-cluster workload deployment and real-time dashboards for cluster health, resource use, and deployment status.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The integrations page lists GitHub, GitLab, self-hosted Git, Docker Hub, Amazon ECR, Google GCR, Azure ACR, and private OCI registries.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Log management
- Substrate lists log streaming to Elasticsearch, Splunk, CloudWatch, Google Cloud Logging, and Azure Monitor.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Performance fee
- The pricing page lists a share of verified savings of 20% on Starter, 18% on Growth, and 15% on Enterprise, with negotiated Enterprise rates also available.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Pricing model
- The pricing page says tiers include monthly subscription fees and resource allocations, with per-unit overage billing beyond included amounts.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Product
- Substrate is a control plane for managing and optimizing Kubernetes clusters, virtual machines, and databases across cloud providers.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Secrets
- The security page says secrets use AES-256 encryption at rest and support rotation, revocation, scoped access, and access logging.checked 4 Oct 2026
Money
- Cost optimization
- Its AI engine offers resource rightsizing, spot instance migration, and scale-to-zero optimization.checked 4 Oct 2026
- Free credits
- The pricing page offers $100 in free credits with no credit card required.checked 4 Oct 2026
The company
- Maker
- The site identifies the company as Substrate Systems, Inc. and names Robert Hogan as Founder, CEO & CFO.checked 4 Oct 2026
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