OpenStack
OpenStack is an open-source cloud infrastructure platform (launched 2010) governed by the OpenInfra Foundation, providing modular IaaS services for compute, storage, and networking across on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments. It serves telcos, retailers, HPC, and enterprises — including Walmart, China Mobile, and Blizzard — via a 200+ company partner ecosystem.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersAustin, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What OpenStack does
OpenStack is an open-source cloud computing infrastructure platform, launched in 2010 and governed by the Open Infrastructure Foundation (OpenInfra Foundation), a Delaware 501(c)(6) non-profit corporation headquartered in Austin, Texas. The platform provides infrastructure-as-a-service functionality through a modular architecture of core services — Compute (Nova), Object Storage (Swift), Image Service (Glance), Networking (Neutron), Dashboard (Horizon), Orchestration (Heat), Identity (Keystone), Metering (Ceilometer), and Block Storage (Cinder) — that together control large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources via standardized APIs or a web dashboard. Additional components provide orchestration, fault management, and service management for high availability. The platform supports virtual machines, bare metal, and containers, and is deployed across on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments, with notable production deployments at Walmart (170,000+ cores across 30+ regions), China Mobile (50,000+ servers for NFV), and Blizzard Entertainment.
The project does not generate direct software revenue; it is released under the Apache 2.0 license. The OpenInfra Foundation sustains operations through Platinum, Gold, and Individual membership fees, event sponsorships (OpenInfra Summit, Project Teams Gathering, OpenDev, OpenStack & OpenInfra Days), and donations. Distribution and commercialization occur through the OpenStack Marketplace across public clouds, hosted private clouds, remotely managed private clouds, distros/appliances, consulting/integrators, training, and drivers, served by an ecosystem of 200+ companies including Canonical, Red Hat, Mirantis, VMware, Intel, AMD, ARM, Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung. The latest release, OpenStack 2026.1 "Gazpacho" (April 2026, the 33rd release), was developed by approximately 500 contributors from 100 organizations delivering 9,000 code changes over six months and introduces parallel live migrations for VMware migration, vTPM migration support, enhanced OVN BGP routing, renewed Cyborg AI accelerator management investment, and the SLURP (Skip Level Upgrade Release Process) enabling annual rather than semi-annual upgrades.
OpenStack firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- OpenStack
- Legal name
- The OpenStack Foundation, d/b/a Open Infrastructure Foundation
- Website
- https://openstack.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- OpenStack is an open-source cloud infrastructure platform (launched 2010) governed by the OpenInfra Foundation, providing modular IaaS services for compute, storage, and networking across on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments. It serves telcos, retailers, HPC, and enterprises — including Walmart, China Mobile, and Blizzard — via a 200+ company partner ecosystem.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
OpenStack industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cloud Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Computer Systems Design and Related Services (5415), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Infrastructure Automation & Configuration Management (IaC) (HDABABAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Hyperscale & OCP Server Designs (HDABADAB), Intent-Based Networking & Automation (NetOps) (HDABAFAF), Private Cloud Networking & SDN/NFV Management (HDABABAK)
Keywords
Where OpenStack is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Austin
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
OpenStack business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Open Source Software: OpenStack is open source software released under the Apache 2.0 license. The project itself does not generate direct revenue. The OpenInfra Foundation supports the project through membership fees, event sponsorships, and donations from the ecosystem.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels8 records
Marketing channels12 records
OpenStack product offering
Product offeringCore offering
OpenStack is a set of open-source software components that provide common services for cloud infrastructure, controlling large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources managed through APIs or a dashboard. Beyond standard infrastructure-as-a-service functionality, additional components provide orchestration, fault management, and service management for high availability of user applications across on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments.
Product overview
OpenStack is a set of open-source software components providing cloud infrastructure-as-a-service functionality. The platform operates as a modular architecture with core services including Compute (Nova), Object Storage (Swift), Image Service (Glance), Networking (Neutron), Dashboard (Horizon), Orchestration (Heat), Identity (Keystone), Metering (Ceilometer), and Block Storage (Cinder). These components work together to control large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources managed through APIs or a dashboard. Beyond standard IaaS functionality, additional components provide orchestration, fault management, and service management to ensure high availability. The platform supports deployment in on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- OpenStack Compute (Nova) Manages compute resources in the cloud, handling the creation, scheduling, and lifecycle management of virtual machine instances for organizations building private or public cloud infrastructure.
- OpenStack Object Storage (Swift) Provides scalable object storage for unstructured data, enabling users to store and retrieve large amounts of data via RESTful API for cloud-native applications.
- OpenStack Block Storage (Cinder) Provides persistent block storage for compute instances, enabling storage volumes that can be attached to virtual machines in OpenStack cloud environments.
- OpenStack Networking (Neutron) Provides network connectivity and addressing for virtual machines, offering flexible networking models including enhanced OVN BGP routing for different applications and workloads.
- OpenStack Image Service (Glance) Manages disk images for virtual machines, allowing discovery, registration, and delivery of virtual machine images across OpenStack deployments.
- OpenStack Dashboard (Horizon) Web-based graphical interface for managing OpenStack resources including compute, storage, and networking services across cloud deployments.
- OpenStack Orchestration (Heat)
Quantifiable outcome
- 40 Million+ cores managed globally
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use OpenStack
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
OpenStack technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability1 record
Feature5 records
OpenStack partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- VEXXHOSTcoreVEXXHOST is listed as the provider powering openstack.org and is recognized as a key infrastructure partner for the OpenStack project.
- OKESTROcoreOKESTRO provides a comprehensive solution that seamlessly integrates all aspects of business operations. Listed as OpenInfra Foundation Member Spotlight, demonstrating deep integration and support for OpenStack.
- AtlancisminorFeatured in the Marketplace Spotlight. Atlancis OpenStack Cloud for CSPs guarantees local sovereignty of data, reduces cost of acquisition and ownership, provides hyper-scalability and flexibility, and ensures users have access to local support.
- OpenMetalminorOpenMetal provides hosted private cloud solutions built on OpenStack, promoting true cloud native architecture with standardized APIs, dedicated hardware, and vendor independence.
- Ecosystem Members (200+ companies)coreOver 200 companies participate in the OpenStack ecosystem, including major technology vendors, cloud providers, telecommunications companies, and system integrators. Members include Canonical, Red Hat, Mirantis, VMware, Intel, AMD, ARM, Huawei, Ericsson, Nokia, Samsung, and many others.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
OpenStack competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Mirantis: Mirantis is the leading pure-play commercial OpenStack distribution and managed services provider. It is the most direct peer as it specializes exclusively in OpenStack and related open infrastructure technologies, serving enterprises that need commercial support for the platform.
- Red Hat OpenStack Platform: Red Hat OpenStack Platform is a major commercial OpenStack distribution integrated with Red Hat Enterprise Linux. Red Hat is also a Platinum member of the OpenInfra Foundation ecosystem, making it a core commercial peer for OpenStack-based private cloud deployments.
- Canonical Charmed OpenStack: Canonical provides Charmed OpenStack, an Ubuntu-based OpenStack distribution with Juju orchestration. It is a direct commercial peer offering an alternative enterprise-grade OpenStack deployment path, particularly strong in telco and government segments.
- SUSE: SUSE has historically offered SUSE Cloud built on OpenStack and remains part of the OpenStack ecosystem. While SUSE has shifted strategic focus to Kubernetes, it is a direct peer in the open source enterprise infrastructure space where OpenStack competes for workloads.
- Apache CloudStack: Apache CloudStack is the closest open source alternative to OpenStack for building IaaS clouds. While smaller in footprint, it competes directly for the same private cloud and service provider use cases, often at lower operational complexity.
Broad incumbents
- VMware (Broadcom): VMware is the incumbent private cloud platform that OpenStack directly competes against, particularly in enterprise virtualization. Broadcom's acquisition and pricing changes have made VMware a target for migration to OpenStack, defining the competitive dynamic between the two platforms.
- Nutanix: Nutanix is a hyperconverged infrastructure provider competing for the same enterprise private cloud workloads as OpenStack. It is a broader incumbent offering an integrated hardware/software stack as an alternative to do-it-yourself OpenStack deployments.
- Microsoft Azure Stack: Azure Stack and Azure Local are Microsoft's on-premises extensions of Azure, competing directly with OpenStack for enterprises wanting hybrid cloud with hyperscaler consistency. It represents a broad incumbent alternative backed by significant R&D investment.
Emerging players
- Platform9: Platform9 offers managed private cloud solutions including OpenStack-as-a-Service. It targets enterprises that want OpenStack without operational complexity, positioning as an emerging player with a managed-service approach that competes for the same workload as self-managed OpenStack deployments.
Regional players
- ZStack: ZStack is a China-based open source IaaS platform modeled on OpenStack with strong regional presence in Asia-Pacific markets. It offers comparable functionality for building private and hybrid clouds, particularly relevant in markets where data sovereignty and local support are prioritized.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
OpenStack social profiles
Digital presenceOpenStack financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
OpenStack leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
OpenStack funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
OpenStack 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 OpenStack
What does OpenStack do?
OpenStack is a set of open-source software components that provide common services for cloud infrastructure, controlling large pools of compute, storage, and networking resources managed through APIs or a dashboard. Beyond standard infrastructure-as-a-service functionality, additional components provide orchestration, fault management, and service management for high availability of user applications across on-premises, public cloud, and edge environments.
Is OpenStack a public or private company?
OpenStack is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was OpenStack founded?
OpenStack was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is OpenStack based?
OpenStack is headquartered in Austin, United States, in the North America region.
How does OpenStack make money?
One revenue line is on record: open Source Software.
Who are OpenStack's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Mirantis, Red Hat OpenStack Platform, Canonical Charmed OpenStack, SUSE and Apache CloudStack. Broad incumbents are VMware (Broadcom), Nutanix and Microsoft Azure Stack. Platform9 is listed as an emerging player. ZStack is listed as a regional player.
Does OpenStack have an API?
Yes. OpenStack provides APIs for managing cloud infrastructure resources including compute, storage, and networking. The platform exposes standard APIs that developers can use to programmatically provision and manage cloud resources. API documentation is available at developer.openstack.org. Developer documentation is at developer.openstack.org.
What industry is OpenStack in?
OpenStack's product category is Cloud Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABABAF, Infrastructure Automation & Configuration Management (IaC), with a secondary code of HDABADAB, Hyperscale & OCP Server Designs. Its NAICS code is 5415 and its SIC code is 7370.