Is Syself Autopilot a KubeOne alternative?

For Kubernetes on Hetzner, yes. KubeOne is a tool you run against one cluster at a time. Syself Autopilot is a managed service for Hetzner Cloud and bare metal, with controllers that keep the cluster running.

Does KubeOne support Hetzner bare metal?

Not as a provider. KubeOne’s machine-controller creates Hetzner Cloud servers only. Hetzner bare-metal servers join as static nodes you create and maintain, and KubeOne installs Kubernetes on them over SSH. Syself Autopilot installs Syself Linux on your bare-metal servers and watches their health.

What happens when a control-plane node fails?

With KubeOne you follow a manual guide: delete the instance, remove its etcd member with `etcdctl`, re-create the server with Terraform and run `kubeone apply`. On Syself Autopilot, controllers detect the failure and replace the machine.

How do upgrades compare?

On both, you decide when. With KubeOne you change the version and run `kubeone apply` with `--upgrade-machine-deployments`, one minor version at a time; OS packages update separately. On Syself Autopilot you trigger a tested update, and Syself replaces nodes one at a time. There is no rollback, so a stalled upgrade is fixed forward.

What about Managed KubeOne?

Kubermatic describes Managed KubeOne as fully managed KubeOne covering installation, upgrades and repair, with Hetzner Cloud among its providers. It names no Hetzner bare-metal option and is priced on request. Syself Autopilot covers Hetzner Cloud and bare metal and publishes its pricing model.

What about Kubermatic Kubernetes Platform?

KKP is Kubermatic’s multi-cluster platform. Both editions list Hetzner Cloud and bare metal through Tinkerbell; the Enterprise Edition needs a license. Hetzner sits in KKP’s Tier 2, and its docs name only Tier 1 providers in the regular end-to-end tests. KKP runs each cluster’s control plane in a shared seed cluster. Syself Autopilot gives every cluster its own API server, etcd and certificate authorities.

KubeOne is free. Why pay for Syself Autopilot?

The license is free. Terraform, control-plane repairs and patching stay with you. Patching means tracking CVEs, testing fixes and rolling them out to every node, at least monthly. Syself Autopilot does that work on your Hetzner servers for a platform fee plus a usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend.

Who does the migration and runs our databases?

Syself’s team or agencies and integrators migrate you. You run the databases, or an agency runs them for you in your cluster. Premium Support, bought separately, adds 24/7 cover under a custom SLA.

Can we move from KubeOne to Syself Autopilot?

Yes. Both run upstream Kubernetes, so manifests, Helm charts and data move as they would to any conformant cluster. One Cluster object replaces your Terraform, KubeOne manifest and MachineDeployments; add-ons you added yourself need reinstalling.

Syself Autopilot vs Kubermatic KubeOne: Which Is Right for Your Kubernetes on Hetzner?

KubeOne is free and installs upstream Kubernetes. You then patch the node OS, track CVEs, repair a failed control plane by hand and test each upgrade. Syself Autopilot is run by Syself and does that work on your Hetzner servers in releases tested on real clusters.

What it is: KubeOne is an Apache-2.0 command-line tool that installs, upgrades and repairs a single Kubernetes cluster with kubeadm, running its steps over SSH.¹⁵¹⁷
Who does the work: You run it from a workstation or pipeline, along with the Terraform that creates the servers.²⁰ Patching the node OS, repairing a failed control plane and testing each upgrade on your own mix of OS and add-ons stay with you.²⁹²⁵¹⁸ Kubermatic sells business-critical support and Managed KubeOne, which it describes as fully managed; neither has a published price.¹⁵³⁴
Where it runs: It supports Hetzner Cloud among ten providers; machines it cannot create, such as Hetzner bare-metal servers, join as static nodes you create and maintain.¹⁸²⁴

What it is: Syself Autopilot is a separate managed Kubernetes service for Hetzner. It runs upstream Kubernetes on parts Syself builds and tests together: Syself Linux, KubeGate, the provisioner and the repair and upgrade controllers.¹³⁶³⁶ It replaces failed cloud nodes, repairs control-plane failures and tells you what broke when bare-metal hardware fails.⁴⁸
Who does the work: Syself builds the node OS, Syself Linux, installs it on every server and ships CVE fixes in new tested releases.³⁶³⁸ Each Cluster Stack release is tested on real clusters before you can use it.⁵ With Syself Autopilot, you reach the Syself team directly.¹³
Where it runs: It provisions Hetzner Cloud and bare-metal servers in your own Hetzner account, so the servers and the data stay yours.¹

Which One Fits You?

Tick what applies. The answer includes the needs where KubeOne is the better choice.

Kubermatic KubeOne · 0Syself Autopilot · 0

Tick what applies to you

The answer updates as you go. Every need on the list counts, including the ones that point away from us.

Syself Autopilot vs KubeOne at a Glance

One short fact per side for each theme, each linked to its source.

Theme	self-run	fully managed, on your servers
Delivery model	Kubermatic KubeOne A CLI you run against one cluster at a time; nothing keeps running to watch the control plane¹⁵¹⁷	Syself Autopilot Managed service; Syself’s controllers reconcile every cluster¹
Creating servers	Kubermatic KubeOne Example Terraform you run creates the control plane, network, firewall and load balancer²⁰	Syself Autopilot Syself Autopilot creates Hetzner Cloud servers in your account and installs every node; renting bare-metal servers is the only manual step¹⁶⁷
Hetzner Cloud	Kubermatic KubeOne Supported; machine-controller creates and scales worker servers from MachineDeployments¹⁸²¹	Syself Autopilot Supported; Syself Autopilot creates and sets up the servers for you⁶
Hetzner bare metal	Kubermatic KubeOne No Hetzner bare-metal provider; servers join as static nodes you create and maintain²²²⁴	Syself Autopilot Renting the servers is the only manual step; Syself Autopilot checks the disks, installs Syself Linux, joins them to the cluster and watches their health⁷⁴
Node OS	Kubermatic KubeOne Ubuntu 24.04, Rocky Linux 9, RHEL 9 or Flatcar; workers configured through cloud-init or Ignition¹⁹³⁰	Syself Autopilot From release 1.36, Syself Linux: read-only, replaced rather than patched, installed from the rescue system so nodes boot with nothing to download. A security team tracks each CVE, checks whether your clusters are exposed and ships the fix in a tested release; support is included³⁶
OS patching	Kubermatic KubeOne An unattended-upgrades add-on you can enable, patching packages on each node in place²⁷²⁹	Syself Autopilot Each CVE checked against the release’s SBOM and fixed in a new tested release; a release with an overdue CVE does not ship; CVEs re-audited daily in the Version Hub²³⁸
Security posture	Kubermatic KubeOne Docs show how to run Trivy’s CIS check yourself; release SBOMs cover the CLI binary⁴⁰³¹	Syself Autopilot Control-plane and kubelet flags set to the CIS Benchmark; an SBOM and a VEX verdict per CVE for each release¹⁰³⁹
Kubernetes	Kubermatic KubeOne Upstream Kubernetes via kubeadm; v1.14 supports 1.34, 1.35 and 1.36¹⁷⁴¹	Syself Autopilot Upstream Kubernetes in a tested Cluster Stack release that pins the OS, Kubernetes and in-cluster components²
Upgrades	Kubermatic KubeOne Edit the version and run `kubeone apply`; workers need `--upgrade-machine-deployments`; one minor at a time²⁶	Syself Autopilot Tested updates every week, listed in the Version Hub; you trigger one and Syself drains, removes and replaces each node, with no rollback²⁹
Node repair	Kubermatic KubeOne Control-plane repair is a manual runbook: etcd cleanup, Terraform, then `kubeone apply`²⁵	Syself Autopilot Cloud nodes rebooted, then replaced; control-plane failures repaired automatically; on bare metal, Syself tells you what broke when the hardware is at fault⁴⁸
In-cluster components	Kubermatic KubeOne Canal by default, Cilium optional; Hetzner cloud controller and CSI ship as add-ons, reconciled when you run `kubeone apply`¹⁷²⁷²⁸	Syself Autopilot Network plugin, Hetzner cloud controller and storage driver pinned and upgraded together in each release²
Support	Kubermatic KubeOne Community Slack and GitHub, Kubermatic business-critical support, or Managed KubeOne, with no published SLA¹⁶¹⁵³⁴	Syself Autopilot Support from the Syself team on business days included with Syself Autopilot; Premium Support with a custom SLA and 24/7 cover; migration by Syself or agencies¹³¹⁴
Price	Kubermatic KubeOne Free, Apache-2.0; support and Managed KubeOne priced on request¹⁵³⁴	Syself Autopilot A platform fee plus a usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend, not to nodes or clusters; request a 14-day trial without limits or a free plan for one cluster of up to 5 nodes of any size¹³

KubeOne releases move often; check the KubeOne docs for the current version. Kubermatic does not publish support prices. Price Syself Autopilot for your servers in the pricing calculator.

Who Does the Work of Running Kubernetes

See which jobs you keep with each. On both, backups of your data, metrics, dashboards and alerting stay with you.⁴²¹¹

self-run

7 of 14 jobs left to you, 7 shared

fully managed, on your servers

0 of 14 jobs left to you, 5 shared

Each segment is one job. Point at it to see which job it is, or click it to read why.

Left to you Shared Handled by the vendor, or not needed

Servers Create, provision and replace the machines
Create the servers for a new cluster With KubeOne you run Terraform for the control plane and network, and machine-controller creates Hetzner Cloud workers.²⁰²¹

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Bring Hetzner bare-metal servers into a cluster Hetzner has no server types or instant delivery for bare metal, so renting is the only manual step. Syself Autopilot then installs Syself Linux, joins the server to the cluster and watches its health; with KubeOne you install Linux and list it as a static node.⁷⁴²⁴

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Syself
Replace a cloud server that fails Syself reboots a failing Hetzner Cloud node and replaces it from a fresh image if it doesn’t recover.⁴ With KubeOne you delete a broken Machine and its MachineDeployment creates a new one; static nodes are yours.²¹²²²⁴

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Handle a failing bare-metal server Syself reboots the node and, when the hardware is at fault, tells you what broke so you can open the Hetzner ticket. Hetzner has no API for tickets, so that step stays with you.⁴ With KubeOne a bare-metal server is a static node you maintain.²⁴

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Shared
Operating system Install it, patch it and keep every node the same
Install the operating system on each node Syself builds each node in the rescue system from a tested image, so it boots with nothing to download.⁶³ With KubeOne, Terraform picks a Hetzner image and Operating System Manager configures workers; choosing and testing that OS is yours.²⁰³⁰

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Keep every node identical Every Syself node runs the same sealed image.³ KubeOne nodes are general-purpose Linux installs updated in place, so keeping them alike is your job.²⁹

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Syself
Know about and patch OS CVEs Syself records a VEX verdict for each new CVE and ships fixes in a new tested release; a release with an overdue CVE does not ship.³⁸³ KubeOne offers an unattended-upgrades add-on; deciding which CVEs affect you is yours.²⁷²⁹

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Syself
Kubernetes Install, configure and upgrade the components
Decide when to upgrade Neither moves a cluster to a new version on its own.²⁶ Syself ships tested updates every week, and the Version Hub shows what changed, what got fixed and where security stands; you choose when each cluster moves.²³⁹

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Shared
Roll every node to the new version KubeOne rolls the control plane on `kubeone apply` and workers with an extra flag; OS packages update separately.²⁶²⁹ Once you trigger it, Syself drains, removes and replaces each node on its own, moving the OS, Kubernetes and in-cluster components together.² On both, PodDisruptionBudgets are yours.

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Test each update of the OS, Kubernetes and in-cluster components Kubernetes ships a minor version about three times a year.⁴³ Kubermatic tests KubeOne per provider; testing your mix of OS, add-ons and Terraform is yours.¹⁸ Syself runs more than 400 tests on real clusters per release, including every upgrade path.⁵

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Inside the cluster The network plugin, the Hetzner integration and storage
Upgrade the network plugin, Hetzner controller and storage driver together KubeOne reconciles its add-ons each time you run `kubeone apply`.²⁷ A Syself release moves them together when you trigger an update.²

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Day to day Backups, access, logs and the workloads
Be on call when a node or the control plane fails With KubeOne nothing repairs the control plane until someone runs the repair steps.²⁵ Syself repairs nodes and the control plane, and its team helps with the rest.⁸¹³

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Shared
Recover a lost cluster and your data KubeOne’s restic add-on backs up etcd to an S3 bucket once you turn it on.⁴⁴ Syself recreates a lost cluster from its Cluster object and your manifests in Git, so there is no etcd snapshot to restore.¹¹ For data, it ships the Hetzner volume driver and documents CloudNativePG.²³⁵

Kubermatic KubeOne Shared
Syself Autopilot Shared
Lock down access, networking and logs Syself Autopilot checks every node connection by certificate, keeps a default-deny host firewall on, and lets you limit API server access and add OIDC.⁴⁵¹⁰³⁶³⁷ KubeOne’s Hetzner Terraform example allows all traffic in its private network.²⁰

Kubermatic KubeOne You
Syself Autopilot Shared

On every option, Syself Autopilot included, you still back up workloads and data, run monitoring and alerting, and set access, encryption and network policies. See what you own and what Syself manages.

What Each One Costs

Both run on the same Hetzner servers, so the server bill is the same. KubeOne is free, and running it is your work. The Syself fee covers that work and support from the Syself team.⁴⁶¹³

self-run

License, Apache-2.0: €0
Kubermatic business-critical support: Not published

fully managed, on your servers

What Syself runs for you

Servers, OS, Kubernetes and cluster components
Releases tested on real clusters, with SBOM and VEX
Support from the Syself team

Platform fee Usage-based fee

Usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend, not to nodes or clusters.

Estimate your price or tell us about your setup for a tailored price

Request a 14-day trial without limits or a free plan for one cluster of up to 5 nodes of any size, no vCPU cap, bare metal included.

Your servers Billed separately by your cloud or bare-metal provider

Syself Autopilot charges a platform fee plus a usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend, not to nodes or clusters; see pricing and the pricing calculator.¹³ Kubermatic does not publish prices for KubeOne support.¹⁵

Questions Teams Ask Before Switching

Short answers, each linked to Syself’s and Kubermatic’s documentation.

: For Kubernetes on Hetzner, yes. KubeOne is a tool you run against one cluster at a time.¹⁵ Syself Autopilot is a managed service for Hetzner Cloud and bare metal, with controllers that keep the cluster running.¹
: Not as a provider. KubeOne’s machine-controller creates Hetzner Cloud servers only.¹⁸²² Hetzner bare-metal servers join as static nodes you create and maintain, and KubeOne installs Kubernetes on them over SSH.²⁴²³ Syself Autopilot installs Syself Linux on your bare-metal servers and watches their health.⁷⁴
: With KubeOne you follow a manual guide: delete the instance, remove its etcd member with `etcdctl`, re-create the server with Terraform and run `kubeone apply`.²⁵ On Syself Autopilot, controllers detect the failure and replace the machine.⁸
: On both, you decide when. With KubeOne you change the version and run `kubeone apply` with `--upgrade-machine-deployments`, one minor version at a time; OS packages update separately.²⁶²⁹ On Syself Autopilot you trigger a tested update, and Syself replaces nodes one at a time. There is no rollback, so a stalled upgrade is fixed forward.²⁹
: Kubermatic describes Managed KubeOne as fully managed KubeOne covering installation, upgrades and repair, with Hetzner Cloud among its providers.³⁴ It names no Hetzner bare-metal option and is priced on request. Syself Autopilot covers Hetzner Cloud and bare metal and publishes its pricing model.¹¹³
: KKP is Kubermatic’s multi-cluster platform.³² Both editions list Hetzner Cloud and bare metal through Tinkerbell; the Enterprise Edition needs a license.³³ Hetzner sits in KKP’s Tier 2, and its docs name only Tier 1 providers in the regular end-to-end tests.⁴⁷ KKP runs each cluster’s control plane in a shared seed cluster.⁴⁸ Syself Autopilot gives every cluster its own API server, etcd and certificate authorities.⁴⁹¹
: The license is free.¹⁵ Terraform, control-plane repairs and patching stay with you.²⁰²⁵ Patching means tracking CVEs, testing fixes and rolling them out to every node, at least monthly.²⁹¹⁸⁴³ Syself Autopilot does that work on your Hetzner servers for a platform fee plus a usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend.⁴⁶⁵¹³
: Syself’s team or agencies and integrators migrate you. You run the databases, or an agency runs them for you in your cluster.¹³¹⁴ Premium Support, bought separately, adds 24/7 cover under a custom SLA.
: Yes. Both run upstream Kubernetes, so manifests, Helm charts and data move as they would to any conformant cluster.¹¹⁷ One Cluster object replaces your Terraform, KubeOne manifest and MachineDeployments; add-ons you added yourself need reinstalling.

Other Comparisons

Running KubeOne on Hetzner?

Request a 14-day trial without limits on your own Hetzner account or a free plan for one cluster of up to 5 nodes of any size. You can price your servers in the pricing calculator first.

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Syself Autopilot vs Kubermatic KubeOne: vs Which Is Right for Your Kubernetes on Hetzner?