Option comparison · Managed Kubernetes or GKE, EKS, AKS

Leave the CLOUD Act behind. Keep your Kubernetes.

A data centre region in Switzerland doesn’t change who operates it. Our Managed Kubernetes is standard Kubernetes like GKE, EKS or AKS, but runs in our own data centres in Switzerland. We run the control plane, upgrades and backups, and operate optional services such as Argo CD, Grafana and Loki for you.

Plan your migration What changes Price Calculator
from CHF 305.30 per month No CLOUD Act Backup & Restore included CKA-certified engineers
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Why Switch What Moves Where Migration Pricing FAQ
Why teams switch

Same Kubernetes, different rules

These are the most common reasons teams move their clusters from Google Cloud, AWS or Azure to us.

Data protection

“Our data has to stay in Switzerland, under Swiss law.”

  • Managed Kubernetes runs in our data centres in Switzerland. We are a Swiss company, there is no CLOUD Act risk.
Operations

“We don’t want to run backups, GitOps and monitoring ourselves.”

  • Backup & Restore is standard. Argo CD, Metrics Agent, Grafana and Loki are optional services: you add them in Cockpit, we operate them.
Costs

“We want to know in advance what our cluster costs.”

  • From CHF 305.30 per month in CHF, billed per minute based on actual usage. Plan your setup in the Price Calculator.
Support

“We want engineers who know our setup.”

  • Our CKA-certified engineers support you with cluster configuration, security audits and GitOps.
What moves where

What stays and what you need to adapt

If you run standard Kubernetes without proprietary cloud services, the effort is manageable. Plan for storage, ingress and permissions: on Managed Kubernetes you work with restricted permissions instead of full cluster-admin, and installing your own CRDs is currently not possible.

On Google Cloud, AWS or AzureWith us
GKE, EKS, AKSManaged Kubernetes, including upgrades of control plane and worker nodes by us
Cloud Storage, S3, Blob StorageObject Storage, S3-compatible
Cloud SQL, RDS, Azure DatabaseDatabases: MySQL and PostgreSQL. Connect On-Demand databases via Service Connections
Memorystore, ElastiCache, Azure CacheKey-Value Store (Redis compatible)
Cloud Monitoring, CloudWatch, Azure MonitorMetrics Agent, Grafana, Loki and Alertmanager: optional services, operated by us
Secret Manager, Secrets Manager, Key VaultKeep your secret store: the External Secrets Operator is an optional service and syncs secrets from Google Secret Manager, AWS Secrets Manager, Azure Key Vault and others into Kubernetes Secrets. Or use Sealed Secrets.
Cloud load balancers and ingress controllersServices of type LoadBalancer, the HAProxy Ingress controller as an optional service and automatic TLS certificates
Filestore, EFS, Azure Files (RWX volumes)RWX volumes with the storage class files, currently only in the location nine-es34 (Persistent Storage). Object Storage is often the better fit.
Full cluster-admin, own CRDs and operatorsRestricted permissions, installing CRDs is currently not possible (Security Concepts). Operators and Helm charts that ship CRDs or cluster-wide RBAC (ClusterRoles, ClusterRoleBindings) therefore can’t be installed. Need full cluster-admin for development and testing? Use a vCluster.
Deployments via CI pipelineGitOps with Argo CD, an optional service operated by us. Or keep deploying with kubectl and Helm from your pipeline.

We’ll go through proprietary cloud services and special setups in a migration call.

How the switch works

We support you from analysis to operations

  1. 01

    Consultation

    We review your setup and its dependencies on cloud services.

  2. 02

    Proof of concept

    Your application runs on Managed Kubernetes as a test.

  3. 03

    Migration

    Move data and storage, then switch your traffic over.

  4. 04

    Operations

    Upgrades, backups and the optional services you chose are on us.

How much work would your move be?

We’ll take a look at your setup, with no obligation.

Plan your migration
Pricing

What does Managed Kubernetes cost?

Full cluster, starting at CHF 305.30
Worker node nine-standard-1 CHF 31.70
Worker node nine-standard-2 CHF 60.20
Worker node nine-standard-4 CHF 117.20

All prices per month in CHF. The full cluster includes the control plane and 1× nine-standard-1 worker node, billed per minute based on actual resource and service usage. Backup & Restore is included, optional services are priced separately. Full price overview in the Price Calculator.

Case study · mühlemann+popp

From Google Cloud to Managed Kubernetes, for health data

A Swiss healthcare company wanted its medical data stored and processed only in Switzerland. Customer-controlled keys on Google Cloud weren’t enough, the customer required a Swiss provider because of the CLOUD Act. We had to adapt the existing code, as the application was optimised for Google Cloud. After that, it moved from GKE to Managed Kubernetes without significant problems or downtime, on time and on budget. Google Cloud Storage was replaced by our Object Storage, and we run Argo CD, Grafana and Loki.

«Nine supported us optimally with their Managed Kubernetes solution to migrate our client's application to Kubernetes.»
Silvan MühlemannCTO & Co-Founder
Case studies: mühlemann+popp View All →
FAQ

Frequently asked questions about switching from GKE, EKS or AKS

Is Managed Kubernetes compatible with GKE, EKS and AKS?
Yes, for standard workloads. Managed Kubernetes is standard Kubernetes with no proprietary APIs, and your deployments with kubectl and Helm work as usual. Administrators get restricted cluster-admin permissions, though: Helm charts and operators that install CRDs or cluster-wide RBAC (ClusterRoles, ClusterRoleBindings) therefore won’t work. You also need to adapt the cloud services around the cluster, such as storage, databases and load balancers. Details in the Security Concepts.
How long does a migration take?
That depends on how many proprietary cloud services your application uses. We clarify this in the consultation and test it in a proof of concept before the actual migration.
Can I keep my secret manager?
Yes, with External Secrets as an optional service. The External Secrets Operator syncs secrets from an external secret manager, for example Google Secret Manager, AWS Secrets Manager or Azure Key Vault, into Kubernetes Secrets.
What about storage that several pods write to at the same time?
RWX volumes are available with the storage class files, currently only in the location nine-es34. In most cases, Object Storage is the better fit.
What is included in the base price?
The fully managed control plane, upgrades of control plane and worker nodes, and Backup & Restore. Backups are taken nightly and kept for 30 days. Optional services such as Argo CD or the observability stack are priced separately.
Do you also offer Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)?
Not for new customers. We continue to support existing GKE customers. For new Kubernetes projects, we recommend Managed Kubernetes.

Technical details in our documentation.

From the docs

Go deeper on docs.nine.ch

All Managed Kubernetes docs
Security Concepts →Restricted cluster-admin and what it means for CRDs. Ingress →HAProxy ingress controller and automatic TLS certificates. External Secrets →Sync secrets from your existing secret store. Service Connections →Connect Managed Kubernetes to On-Demand databases and Key-Value Store. Persistent Storage →Storage classes, RWX volumes and encryption at rest. Backup and Restore →Nightly backups, 30 days retention, restore with Velero.
One provider

One provider, from rack to app.

From colocation to Root and Managed Products, platforms and services: all with us, in our Swiss data centres. Grow from one layer to the next without switching providers.

One Swiss teamGrow without switching providers
Services
Databases Key-Value Store OpenSearch SLA Monitoring Managed Services Cloudflare
Platform Products
Deploio vCluster Airlock Microgateway WAF
Managed Products
Managed Dedicated Server Managed Virtual Server Managed GPU Server Managed Kubernetes
Root Products
Root Dedicated Server Root CloudVM Root GPU Server
Storage & Backup
Object Storage
Colocation & Housing
Colocation Server Housing
Not quite right?

This might fit better

Need full cluster-admin for dev and test? vCluster →A virtual cluster on Managed Kubernetes with full cluster-admin and no base cluster fee. Don’t want to run Kubernetes at all? Deploio →git push and we build and run your app, without Kubernetes or YAML.

How much work would your move be?

We’ll take a look at your setup, with no obligation.

Plan your migration Managed Kubernetes

Talk to Our Experts

Do you have questions about our products? No problem. Contact our sales department or go directly to your Cockpit to see all the possibilities at Nine.

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