Startup Heptio Inc. is looking to differentiate its platform from the numerous Kubernetes software distributions inundating the market with what it calls the first “undistribution” of the container orchestration software.

Heptio’s new Kubernetes subscription service is aimed at helping enterprises achieve the multicloud goal of avoiding getting locked into a particular provider’s information technology infrastructure platform. The new service also helps companies deploy applications in the cloud in a way that looks similar to how apps are deployed on-premises.

Heptio product marketing manager Eryn Muetzel argues in a blog post that most distributions of Kubernetes defeat one of the open-source project’s main aims, which is to deliver software that’s independent of most cloud providers.

The “undistribution” Kubernetes subscription service is therefore designed to be a low-cost and open-source alternative to the assortment of hosted container services offered by companies such as Google LLC and Amazon Web Services Inc. Heptio said its subscription service is “centered around a true open-source version of Kubernetes, and allows organizations to build a multicloud strategy that provides the option to run on [a variety of] hosted solutions.”

Those “solutions” include the Google Kubernetes Engine and Azure Container Service, as well as alternatives from Microsoft Corp. and Red Hat Inc. They help companies manage software containers, which allow applications to run unchanged in multiple computer environments.

In its pitch, Heptio said that most Kubernetes distributions undermine the project’s open-source origins because they limit flexibility and ultimately try to lock customers into that particular distribution. Heptio said most companies do this by adding proprietary features that won’t be compatible with future releases of the upstream version of Kubernetes, which users may come to depend on.

A second problem Heptio wants to overcome is that many distributions are unable to keep pace with the rapid release schedule of Kubernetes, which means they don’t always offer the latest new features. The company claimed its new subscription service overcomes these problems, adding that it’s also significantly cheaper than other Kubernetes distributions, which typically cost about $15,000 per server.

Heptio offers a number of pricing options, including one at $3,000 per month for “business critical” configurations with clusters of up to 25 nodes. Heptio’s “undistribution” comes with a reference architecture focused on upstream versions of Kubernetes, plus a variety of open-source tools it says are designed to “fill gaps in the Kubernetes ecosystem.”

Image: Heptio