Do KubeAid and Syself Autopilot use the same technology on Hetzner?

They share CAPH, the Cluster API provider for Hetzner that Syself maintains and Obmondo contributes to. On top, KubeAid adds Ubuntu and its chart catalog through Argo CD. Syself Autopilot adds Syself Linux, the provisioner, KubeGate and node repair, tested as one release.

Is Obmondo a managed Kubernetes provider?

Obmondo sells operations on top of KubeAid, priced per server: monitoring, alert handling, incident response and patching. The platform runs in your own account or hardware, and you can run KubeAid without a subscription.

How do upgrades compare?

On both, you decide when. In KubeAid you change the version in your config repo and the CLI rolls machines; on Hetzner this is marked work in progress, and any non-end-of-life version is accepted. On Syself Autopilot you trigger a tested update and Syself replaces nodes one at a time, with no rollback.

Can I run databases inside the cluster on Hetzner bare metal?

Yes, on both. KubeAid ships operators for PostgreSQL, MariaDB and MongoDB. On Syself Autopilot you install an operator such as CloudNativePG, ideally on local NVMe on bare metal. Bare metal can also run KubeVirt virtual machines.

Who migrates us and gives us a 24/7 SLA?

Obmondo sells migration and 24x7 response on its Gold and Platinum plans. Syself and agency partners migrate too. Syself Autopilot includes support from the Syself team on business days; Premium Support adds a custom SLA and 24/7 cover.

KubeAid is free to run yourself. Why pay for Syself Autopilot?

Self-hosted, the work is yours, including patching: tracking CVEs, testing fixes and rolling them out to every node, at least monthly. Obmondo takes on parts of it per server. Syself does that work and tests each release on real clusters.

Can we move from KubeAid to Syself Autopilot, and leave later?

Workloads move as they would to any conformant cluster. Your KubeAid config repository works if you install Argo CD. Leaving works the same way. The platform stays: Syself Linux and KubeGate are proprietary, so you build new clusters with another tool. Paid plans can be canceled any time.

Syself Autopilot vs Obmondo KubeAid: Which Is Right for Your Kubernetes on Hetzner?

KubeAid is free to run yourself and has a large app catalog. Self-hosted, you patch the Ubuntu nodes, track CVEs and run upgrades; Obmondo does parts of that per server.¹⁸¹⁰¹¹ Syself Autopilot sets up your Hetzner servers, patches the OS and tests each release.¹⁷³⁰¹⁶

What it is: KubeAid is an AGPLv3 Kubernetes platform kept in Git and applied by Argo CD, with more than 100 maintained Helm charts, from Cilium and monitoring to database operators.¹²
Who does the work: You can run it yourself for free, or pay Obmondo per server to watch the clusters, answer alerts and patch them.²¹⁰ If you host it yourself, you patch the Ubuntu nodes, apply the weekly chart updates and run each upgrade.⁸¹
Where it runs: It builds clusters with Cluster API on AWS, Azure and Hetzner Cloud, bare metal and hybrid, and uses CAPH, the Cluster API provider for Hetzner, there.³⁵

What it is: Syself Autopilot is fully managed Kubernetes on your own Hetzner servers, with standard upstream Kubernetes for your apps.¹³ Syself builds the node OS, the provisioner, KubeGate and the node-repair agent, and tests them together on real clusters before each release.¹⁵¹⁷²⁸¹⁸¹⁶
Who does the work: Syself runs the management cluster, sets up each server and patches the node OS.¹⁷³⁰ Every fix comes as a tested Cluster Stack release that you roll out when you choose. Syself Autopilot includes support from the Syself team.²⁵
Where it runs: It provisions Hetzner Cloud and bare-metal servers in your own Hetzner account, so the servers and the data stay yours.¹³

Which One Fits You?

Tick what applies. The reasons to choose KubeAid are on this list too.

Obmondo KubeAid · 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 Obmondo KubeAid at a Glance

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

Theme	open source + service	fully managed, on your servers
Delivery model	Obmondo KubeAid Open-source platform you run yourself, or Obmondo runs it on a per-server subscription²	Syself Autopilot Fully managed Kubernetes; Syself runs the management cluster and the cluster lifecycle¹³
Management cluster	Obmondo KubeAid A temporary local cluster hands control to the new cluster, which then manages itself⁶	Syself Autopilot Run by Syself, outside your cluster; if it is unreachable, workloads keep running and changes wait until it is back¹³
Node OS	Obmondo KubeAid Ubuntu 26.04 by default, prepared at boot with cloud-init commands⁸⁷	Syself Autopilot Syself Linux from release 1.36 (1.35 runs Ubuntu), read-only and installed from the Hetzner rescue system, so boot needs no internet or registry. A security team tracks each CVE, checks whether your clusters are exposed and ships the fix in a tested release; support is included¹⁵¹⁷
Security and CVE fixes	Obmondo KubeAid Weekly chart and security updates; no CVE patch deadlines in its public docs¹³²	Syself Autopilot Control plane and kubelet hardened to the CIS Kubernetes Benchmark; an SBOM and VEX verdicts per release, and a release with an overdue CVE does not ship²¹³⁰³¹
Kubernetes upgrades	Obmondo KubeAid Change the version in Git; the CLI’s upgrade and restore-from-backup for Hetzner are marked work in progress⁵⁶	Syself Autopilot Tested updates every week, listed in the Version Hub; you trigger one and Syself drains, removes and replaces each node, with no rollback¹⁴²⁰
Node repair	Obmondo KubeAid Cluster API health checks replace control-plane machines and Hetzner Cloud workers that stay not ready for 3 minutes; no check for bare-metal workers³³	Syself Autopilot Cloud nodes rebooted, then replaced if they don’t recover; bare-metal nodes rebooted, and Syself tells you what broke when the hardware is at fault¹⁸
In-cluster components	Obmondo KubeAid Cilium, Argo CD, Sealed Secrets and monitoring in every cluster, plus 100+ charts updated weekly¹	Syself Autopilot Network plugin, Hetzner integrations, DNS and storage pinned and tested together in each release¹⁴
Backups	Obmondo KubeAid Velero on a schedule; whole-cluster recovery needs extra tooling²	Syself Autopilot Data backups are yours, with Velero and database operators; a lost cluster is recreated from its Cluster object and your manifests in Git, so no etcd backup is needed²²
Support	Obmondo KubeAid Community, or from 1 business day to 1 hour response; 24x7 on Gold and Platinum¹⁰	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 agencies²⁵²⁷
Price	Obmondo KubeAid Free self-hosted; managed from €29 to €265 per server a month¹⁰	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 size²⁵

KubeAid’s feature status changes often; check the KubeAid CLI support table. Obmondo prices are per server per month, before volume discounts.

Who Does the Work of Running Kubernetes

For KubeAid, “vendor” means its charts or Obmondo on a subscription. On Syself Autopilot, metrics, alerting, backups, OIDC, RBAC and logs stay with you.²¹²²⁴¹

open source + service

1 of 16 jobs left to you, 11 shared

fully managed, on your servers

2 of 16 jobs left to you, 6 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
Replace a cloud server that fails Syself Autopilot reboots a failing Hetzner Cloud node and replaces it if it doesn’t recover.¹⁸ KubeAid’s Hetzner chart replaces a cloud machine not ready for 3 minutes, and Obmondo answers the alert on a subscription.³³¹⁰

Obmondo KubeAid Obmondo
Syself Autopilot Syself
Bring a bare-metal server into a cluster Hetzner has no server types or instant delivery for bare metal, so renting is the only manual step. KubeAid installs Ubuntu with CAPH and installimage.⁷ Syself Autopilot checks the disks, writes the sealed Syself Linux image and stops a build that fails a check.¹⁷¹⁹

Obmondo KubeAid 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.¹⁸ With KubeAid, Obmondo’s managed plans include alert handling and incident response.¹¹

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Shared
Operating system Install it, patch it and keep every node the same
Keep every node identical Syself Linux is read-only and replaced as a whole.¹⁵ KubeAid builds each node from the same Ubuntu image and boot commands, but finding a change made on a running node is yours.⁷

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Know about and patch OS CVEs Syself checks each CVE against the SBOM and ships fixes in a release built and tested as one; a release with an overdue CVE does not ship.³⁰ Self-hosted KubeAid leaves triage and patching to you; Obmondo’s plans patch in service windows.³²¹¹

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
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.¹ 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.¹⁴³¹

Obmondo KubeAid You
Syself Autopilot Shared
Roll every node to the new version Kubernetes patches only its three newest minor versions, and clusters move one minor at a time.⁴²⁴³ Once you trigger it, Syself drains, removes and replaces each node on its own.¹⁴ KubeAid’s rolling upgrade is work in progress on Hetzner.⁶⁵ PodDisruptionBudgets are yours.¹⁶

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Replace a control-plane node Syself provisions and heals the control plane on your servers.¹³ KubeAid’s Hetzner chart replaces a control-plane machine not ready for 3 minutes; its whole-cluster restore from backup is marked work in progress.³³⁵⁶

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Test each platform update before it ships Syself tests the node OS, Kubernetes and cluster components together on real clusters.¹⁶ KubeAid’s CI checks its charts without building a cluster.³⁸

Obmondo KubeAid 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 A Cluster Stack moves them as one tested version.¹⁴ KubeAid ships weekly chart updates that you pull into your Git repository and apply when you choose.¹

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Syself
Run databases and message queues inside the cluster KubeAid includes the operators.¹ Syself Autopilot ships the storage and documents operators such as CloudNativePG.²³ You run the databases, or an agency runs them for you in your cluster.²⁷

Obmondo KubeAid Obmondo
Syself Autopilot Shared
Run GitOps tooling Argo CD comes with every KubeAid cluster; on Syself Autopilot you install Argo CD or Flux.¹²⁶

Obmondo KubeAid Obmondo
Syself Autopilot You
Day to day Backups, access, logs and the workloads
Answer alerts at night and on weekends Obmondo’s Gold and Platinum plans cover 24x7.¹⁰ Syself Autopilot includes support from the Syself team on business days; Premium Support adds a custom SLA and 24/7 cover.²⁵

Obmondo KubeAid Obmondo
Syself Autopilot Shared
Back up volumes and cluster state KubeAid includes Velero on a schedule.² Syself recreates a lost cluster from its Cluster object and your manifests in Git, so there is no etcd snapshot to restore. Volume data is yours to back up, for example with Velero.²²

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Shared
Lock down access, networking and logs KubeAid ships an opt-in default-deny namespace policy, a bare-metal host firewall, NetBird and Keycloak.³² Syself nodes check certificates behind a default-deny firewall.³⁹ You can limit API access and add OIDC.²⁸²⁹

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot Shared
Store metrics, build dashboards and route alerts KubeAid installs a monitoring stack, and Obmondo’s plans watch the alerts.¹¹¹ Syself repairs failing nodes but ships no metrics store, dashboards or alert routing for your apps.¹⁸⁴¹

Obmondo KubeAid Shared
Syself Autopilot You

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

The server bill is the same. Self-hosted KubeAid is free, and running it is your work.⁴⁰ Obmondo charges per server for operations.¹¹¹⁰ Syself Autopilot charges a platform fee and a usage-based fee tied to your infrastructure spend.²⁵

open source + service

Self-hosted, open source: €0
Per server a month, monitoring and alerts: €29
Per server a month, business-hours plans: €129–€165
Per server a month, 24x7 plans: €199–€265
Per hour of consulting, after the free hours in your plan: From €49

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

Obmondo’s volume discounts show only in its calculator. Consulting beyond your plan’s free hours is billed per minute, €198 an hour outside business hours.¹⁰ Migration has no published price.¹¹

Questions Teams Ask Before Choosing

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

: They share CAPH, the Cluster API provider for Hetzner that Syself maintains and Obmondo contributes to.⁶¹² On top, KubeAid adds Ubuntu and its chart catalog through Argo CD.⁸¹ Syself Autopilot adds Syself Linux, the provisioner, KubeGate and node repair, tested as one release.¹⁵¹⁷²⁸¹⁸¹⁶
: Obmondo sells operations on top of KubeAid, priced per server: monitoring, alert handling, incident response and patching.¹¹¹⁰ The platform runs in your own account or hardware, and you can run KubeAid without a subscription.²
: On both, you decide when. In KubeAid you change the version in your config repo and the CLI rolls machines; on Hetzner this is marked work in progress, and any non-end-of-life version is accepted.⁶⁵⁹ On Syself Autopilot you trigger a tested update and Syself replaces nodes one at a time, with no rollback.¹⁴²⁰¹⁶
: Yes, on both. KubeAid ships operators for PostgreSQL, MariaDB and MongoDB.¹ On Syself Autopilot you install an operator such as CloudNativePG, ideally on local NVMe on bare metal.²³ Bare metal can also run KubeVirt virtual machines.²⁴
: Obmondo sells migration and 24x7 response on its Gold and Platinum plans.¹¹¹⁰ Syself and agency partners migrate too.²⁷ Syself Autopilot includes support from the Syself team on business days; Premium Support adds a custom SLA and 24/7 cover.²⁵
: Self-hosted, the work is yours, including patching: tracking CVEs, testing fixes and rolling them out to every node, at least monthly.⁴⁰⁸¹ Obmondo takes on parts of it per server.¹¹¹⁰ Syself does that work and tests each release on real clusters.¹⁷³⁰¹⁴¹⁶²⁵
: Workloads move as they would to any conformant cluster.¹³ Your KubeAid config repository works if you install Argo CD.²⁶ Leaving works the same way. The platform stays: Syself Linux and KubeGate are proprietary, so you build new clusters with another tool.³¹³⁴ Paid plans can be canceled any time.²⁵

Other Comparisons

Running Kubernetes 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 Obmondo KubeAid: vs Which Is Right for Your Kubernetes on Hetzner?