Glasskube
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2023
- HeadquartersVienna, Austria
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Glasskube does
Glasskube, Inc. is the Vienna-based company behind Distr, an open-source software distribution platform that enables software vendors to ship self-hosted applications to customer-controlled environments including VPC, GovCloud, BYOC, and air-gapped deployments. The platform is built on OCI-compliant artifact registries and embeds deployment agents (Docker and Kubernetes agents) inside customer infrastructure to handle installation, updates, observability, license enforcement, and diagnostic collection without requiring SSH access. Glasskube, Inc. is incorporated in the USA, backed by Y Combinator and Pioneer Fund, and operates with 1-10 employees.
The core product surface includes the Distr Platform, a white-labeled Customer Portal, an OCI-compliant Artifact Registry with vulnerability scanning, License Management with programmable license keys, Secrets Management, centralized logs and metrics, alerting, preflight checks, and support bundles. Three deployment models (Registry, Pull, and Push) cover the spectrum from passive artifact hosting to active push-based updates for BYOC scenarios. The platform supports Docker Compose, Kubernetes, VMs, and bare metal targets, with a reported 200+ customer organizations, 5,000+ agent downloads, and 1,100+ GitHub stars.
Revenue is generated through a four-tier model: a free open-source self-hosted tier, a Cloud Starter usage-based tier starting at $40/month, a Pro subscription with entitlements and white-labeling, and an Enterprise tier with custom pricing and SLAs. Go-to-market combines product-led growth (free trial, open-source self-hosting, comprehensive API) with an enterprise demo motion targeting security-conscious buyers. Reference customers include Artifact, Lerian, Sophris.ai, Basedash, Ozgar AI, and Weave. The company closed a $500,000 seed round in August 2024.
Glasskube firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Glasskube
- Legal name
- Glasskube, Inc.
- Website
- https://distr.sh
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2023
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Glasskube industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Software Distribution Platform
- NAICS
- Software Publishers (5132), Software Publishers (51321)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Field Service Management (FSM) & Dispatch Platforms (HDAEALAM)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Maker / DIY Electronics & Physical Computing Platforms (EDAFANAC)
Keywords
Where Glasskube is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Vienna
- HQ country
- Austria
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Glasskube business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Subscription - Open Source Tier: Free forever open-source self-hosted option providing basic artifact registry and licensing features for individual developers and small teams.
- Subscription - Cloud Starter Tier: Cloud-hosted option for initial deployments, providing managed infrastructure with usage-based scaling.
- Subscription - Pro Tier: Advanced features including artifact entitlements, white-labeling, and enhanced support for growing software vendors.
- Subscription - Enterprise Tier: Custom pricing with SLAs, dedicated support, and enterprise-grade features for large-scale deployments.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Pay-as-you-go | Open Source - Free forever self-hosted option |
| Usage-based | Monthly | Cloud Starter - Initial cloud deployments |
| Subscription | Monthly | Pro - Advanced features for growth |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise - Custom pricing and SLAs |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Glasskube product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Distr is an open-source software distribution platform that enables software vendors to deliver self-hosted applications to customers in VPC, GovCloud, air-gapped, and BYOC environments. It combines OCI-compliant artifact registry, embedded deployment agents, license management, a white-labeled customer portal, and observability tooling so that vendors can install, update, and support self-hosted software without per-customer operational overhead.
Product overview
Distr is an open-source software distribution platform developed by Glasskube, designed as a unified platform-plus-modules architecture. The core Distr Platform serves as the central hub for managing software distribution to customer-controlled environments. It is complemented by Deployment Agents (Docker Agent and Kubernetes Agent) that run embedded in customer infrastructure, a white-labeled Customer Portal for end-user self-service, and an integrated Artifact Registry for OCI-compliant artifact storage with vulnerability scanning. Additional modules include License Management with programmable license keys, Secrets Management for secure credential distribution, Logs and Metrics for deployment observability, Alerts for health monitoring, Preflight Checks for environment validation, and Support Bundles for diagnostics. The platform supports multiple deployment models (Registry Mode, Pull Mode, Push Mode) and targets Docker Compose, Kubernetes, VMs, and bare metal environments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Distr: Open source platform for distributing self-hosted software to customers. Supports Docker Compose, Kubernetes, VM and bare metal deployments with embedded agents.
Products and services
- Distr Platform Open-source software distribution platform that enables software vendors to deliver self-hosted applications to customers in VPC, GovCloud, air-gapped, and BYOC environments, providing deployment management, artifact distribution, license control, and customer observability.
Quantifiable outcome
- Deployments in hours vs days/weeks
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Glasskube
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Glasskube technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
Feature6 records
Glasskube partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- GitHubcoreDistr maintains its open-source repository on GitHub with 1100+ stars and 20+ contributors. The platform uses GitHub Actions for CI/CD integration and GitHub Discussions for community engagement.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Glasskube competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- JFrog: Large, publicly-traded artifact management and DevOps platform with Artifactory for OCI registries, vulnerability scanning, and distribution. A broader incumbent with overlapping artifact registry and security scanning capabilities.
- GitLab: End-to-end DevOps platform with built-in package registries, deployment automation, and self-hosted offerings. A broad incumbent that competes for parts of the software delivery workflow, including self-hosted deployments.
- Pulumi: Infrastructure-as-code and deployment automation platform with self-hosted Pulumi Cloud options. Broader infrastructure automation scope but overlaps on the self-hosted delivery and policy-driven deployment dimensions.
Direct peers
- Rafay Systems: Enterprise Kubernetes management platform with deployment, multi-cluster operations, and self-hosted enterprise features. Overlaps with Distr on Kubernetes deployment targets and enterprise operational tooling.
- Cloudsmith: Cloud-native artifact management and package distribution platform with OCI registry support, serving software vendors distributing to enterprise customers. Directly comparable to Distr's OCI-compliant artifact registry.
- Octopus Deploy: Deployment automation server for on-premises and hybrid cloud environments, widely used by software vendors delivering self-hosted installations. Highly comparable on the deployment automation and update workflow dimensions.
- Plural: Open-source Kubernetes application deployment platform targeting similar self-hosted and BYOC use cases for software vendors. Plural and Distr overlap significantly on Kubernetes-native distribution with embedded agents.
- Replicated: The incumbent leader in self-hosted software distribution, offering KOTS and enterprise delivery tooling. Distr directly competes with Replicated and even has a comparison page targeting this competitor.
Emerging players
- Portainer: Container management UI for Docker, Docker Swarm, and Kubernetes with self-hosted and air-gapped deployment options. Partial overlap with Distr on embedded deployment agents and self-hosted management for containerized environments.
- Akuity: Commercial Argo CD platform with managed and self-hosted enterprise distribution, application delivery, and multi-cluster operations. An emerging Kubernetes application delivery platform with comparable use cases for self-hosted enterprise deployments.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Glasskube social profiles
Digital presenceGlasskube compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Glasskube financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Glasskube leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Glasskube funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Glasskube M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Glasskube
What does Glasskube do?
Distr is an open-source software distribution platform that enables software vendors to deliver self-hosted applications to customers in VPC, GovCloud, air-gapped, and BYOC environments. It combines OCI-compliant artifact registry, embedded deployment agents, license management, a white-labeled customer portal, and observability tooling so that vendors can install, update, and support self-hosted software without per-customer operational overhead.
Is Glasskube a public or private company?
Glasskube is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Glasskube founded?
Glasskube was founded in 2023. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Glasskube based?
Glasskube is headquartered in Vienna, Austria, in the Europe region.
How does Glasskube make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Subscription - Open Source Tier is the primary driver. The others are subscription - Cloud Starter Tier, subscription - Pro Tier and subscription - Enterprise Tier.
Who are Glasskube's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are JFrog, GitLab and Pulumi. Direct peers are Rafay Systems, Cloudsmith, Octopus Deploy, Plural and Replicated. Emerging players are Portainer and Akuity.
Does Glasskube have an API?
Yes. Full API on all tiers for programmatic management of artifacts, licenses, and deployments. Distr provides comprehensive API access for automation across cloud and self-hosted deployments. Developer documentation is at distr.sh/docs.
What industry is Glasskube in?
Glasskube's product category is Software Distribution Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAEALAM, Field Service Management (FSM) & Dispatch Platforms, with a secondary code of EDAFANAC, Maker / DIY Electronics & Physical Computing Platforms. Its NAICS code is 5132 and its SIC code is 7372.