Directory Cloud InfrastructureContainers & Kuberneteskcp

kcp

Open Source

About kcp

kcp allows building platforms and SaaS-like services using Kubernetes and its API capabilities. It provides workspaces that allow teams to work without interference from others when consuming platform services. Services are implemented as global operators. It does not replace Kubernetes but complements it as a backend to host Kubernetes-like APIs as SaaS. kcp is a CNCF Sandbox project.

Used for

Building platforms and SaaS-like services with Kubernetes technology.
Isolating teams working on platform services through workspaces.
Offering APIs to many user workspaces as a SaaS service provider.
Scheduling workspaces to kcp instances called shards.
Hosting Kubernetes-like APIs as a backend for platforms.

Who it is for

Platform engineers building platforms.
SaaS service providers offering APIs to many user workspaces.

From kcp's own website, read 2026-10-23. How we build listings.

How to evaluate Containers & Kubernetes

This is how the CIOPages Research Team evaluates this category. It is not an assessment of kcp. It comes from our Kubernetes Platforms buyer guide.

25%

Control Plane & Day-2 Lifecycle

Managed vs. self-managed control plane and its SLA; how Kubernetes version upgrades roll (in-place, surge, blue-green) and how disruptive they are to running pods; long-term-support version options; CVE patch cadence and how quickly fixes reach the fleet; automated node remediation and certificate rotation

20%

Fleet & Multi-Cluster Management

Single console and API to govern many clusters across clouds, on-prem, and edge; declarative cluster lifecycle and config (Cluster API or equivalent); fleet-wide policy and drift detection; zero-touch provisioning for edge; whether it manages clusters it did not create (imported/attached) or only its own

20%

Security & Compliance

Default-deny posture and admission control (Pod Security, OPA/Kyverno); image scanning and signing in the supply chain; RBAC plus OIDC/enterprise-identity integration; network policy and microsegmentation; CIS-benchmark conformance, audit logging, and FedRAMP/FIPS coverage where regulated

15%

Networking, Storage & Service Mesh

CNI options and how locked-in the default is; ingress and gateway controllers with TLS, rate-limiting, and WAF; CSI drivers for block/file/object and stateful-workload maturity; service mesh integration (Istio, Linkerd, Cilium); cross-cluster connectivity and load balancing

10%

Developer Experience & Self-Service

Namespace and cluster self-service vs. ticket-based provisioning; GitOps support (Argo CD, Flux) as a first-class workflow; developer portal and golden-path integration (Backstage or built-in console); IDE plugins and local-dev parity; how opinionated the platform is about how teams ship

10%

Cost, Portability & Commercial Model

Licensing unit (per-core, per-node, per-cluster, consumption) and how it scales with you; control-plane and extended-support fees; realistic exit cost and how provider-shaped the abstractions are; GPU/AI scheduling support; ecosystem breadth (operators, Helm, marketplace) and how much you must self-integrate

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CIOPages put this listing together from public sources. It’s information, not an endorsement. How we build listings. Work here? Claim this listing or .