maas
MAAS is Canonical's open source platform that automates provisioning and full lifecycle management of physical servers as cloud-like resources, serving large enterprise and government data center operators across telecom, gaming, financial services, and research.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded-
- Headquarters—
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What maas does
MAAS (Metal-as-a-Service) is an open source platform developed and maintained by Canonical Ltd., a privately held UK-incorporated technology company headquartered in London. Launched in 2012, MAAS provides a centralized control plane that automates the full lifecycle of physical servers — discovery, commissioning, deployment, and decommissioning — by interfacing with baseboard management controllers (BMCs), executing pre-commissioning hardware diagnostics, and performing image-based OS installation. The platform exposes a cloud-like API and integrates natively with the dominant infrastructure-as-code and orchestration tools (Terraform, Juju, Ansible), as well as with private cloud stacks (OpenStack, MicroCloud), bare-metal Kubernetes, and identity systems (LDAP, Active Directory, SAML). It also bundles integrated IPAM, DHCP, and DNS services.
MAAS serves large enterprise and government data center operators that need to treat physical server fleets with the same programmatic agility as cloud resources. Named customers include Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile, BT, NTT, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Liberty Global, Tele2, Barclays, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, Roblox, NEC, and Sandia National Laboratories, spanning telecommunications, gaming/edge compute, financial services, and research computing. The Roblox case study — approximately 200,000 containerized workloads migrated from Windows to Linux across global edge nodes in seven days — exemplifies the scale of operations the platform supports.
The business model is hybrid open source with recurring support subscriptions. The software is freely downloadable and usable on a Self-support tier. Paid tiers — Essential ($30/machine/year), Standard ($50/machine/year), and Advanced ($100/machine/year) — add HA support, RBAC, and progressive SLA response times up to 1-hour Sev 1 with 24x7 phone support. Machines hosting MAAS controllers must carry an Ubuntu Pro subscription, which is the primary monetization lever and bundles security patching and enterprise-grade support. Distribution spans direct download and snap packaging, AWS/Azure/GCP cloud marketplaces, Canonical's global enterprise field sales organization, and a partner/reseller channel including Ubuntu certified hardware OEMs. Revenue is not separately disclosed; MAAS revenue is reported within consolidated Canonical figures.
maas firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- maas
- Legal name
- Canonical Group Limited
- Website
- https://maas.io
- Company type
- Private
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- MAAS is Canonical's open source platform that automates provisioning and full lifecycle management of physical servers as cloud-like resources, serving large enterprise and government data center operators across telecom, gaming, financial services, and research.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
maas industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bare Metal Provisioning and Server Lifecycle Management
- NAICS
- Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (5182)
- SIC
- Services-Prepackaged Software (7372), Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373)
- akta.pro primary industry
- General-Purpose Compute (VMs & Bare Metal IaaS) (HDABAAAA)
Keywords
maas business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Ubuntu Pro Support for MAAS: Ubuntu Pro provides comprehensive security patching and enterprise-grade support for MAAS controllers and machines running Ubuntu. MAAS controllers are always supported with Ubuntu Pro.
- MAAS Standalone Support: Standalone Support covers machines managed by MAAS that do not run Ubuntu Pro. Priced per managed machine per year. Includes tiers: Self-support (free), Essential ($30/year), Standard ($50/year), Advanced ($100/year).
- Cloud Marketplace Listings: Canonical offers managed data and AI applications through AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud marketplaces. MAAS can manage infrastructure on these public clouds.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Self-support tier - Free |
| Subscription | Annual | Essential tier - $30 per year per managed machine |
| Subscription | Annual | Standard tier - $50 per year per managed machine |
| Subscription | Annual | Advanced tier - $100 per year per managed machine |
| Subscription | Annual | Ubuntu Pro for MAAS Controllers |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
maas product offering
Product offeringCore offering
MAAS is an open source platform that automates the provisioning and lifecycle management of physical servers, treating bare metal hardware as cloud-like resources. It discovers, commissions, deploys, and manages servers through baseboard management controller (BMC) integration, providing image-based provisioning, integrated IPAM/DHCP/DNS, RBAC with SSO, and a cloud-like API for Infrastructure-as-Code automation via Terraform, Juju, and Ansible. The product is offered as free open source software with optional paid enterprise support through Ubuntu Pro and tiered MAAS Standalone Support subscriptions.
Product overview
MAAS is a single unified product — an open source bare metal provisioning and lifecycle management platform. It provides a centralized environment for managing physical servers through automated discovery, commissioning, deployment, and decommissioning workflows. The platform integrates with DevOps tools (Terraform, Juju, Ansible) for Infrastructure-as-Code automation, supports identity management via LDAP/Active Directory/SAML, and offers integrated IPAM/DHCP/DNS. MAAS serves as foundational infrastructure for private cloud deployments (OpenStack, MicroCloud) and bare metal Kubernetes clusters. Enterprise support is available through Ubuntu Pro and MAAS Standalone Support tiers (Essential $30/machine/year, Standard $50/machine/year, Advanced $100/machine/year).
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- MAAS (Metal-as-a-Service) An open source platform that provides a centralized environment for managing and provisioning physical servers as if they were cloud resources. MAAS automates the entire lifecycle of machines from initial setup to final decommissioning, including discovering, commissioning, deploying, and managing bare metal servers through baseboard management controller (BMC) integration. Designed for enterprise IT, DevOps, and infrastructure teams operating large-scale physical server fleets.
- MAAS Standalone Support Subscription-based enterprise support service for machines managed by MAAS that do not run Ubuntu Pro. Offered in tiered annual pricing per managed machine, providing SLAs, high availability support, role-based access control, knowledge base access, and 24/7 phone and ticket support at higher tiers.
- Ubuntu Pro for MAAS Controllers Subscription-based support and security service required for machines hosting MAAS controllers. Provides comprehensive security patching and enterprise-grade support for MAAS controllers and Ubuntu-based infrastructure, billed annually per machine.
Quantifiable outcome
- Faster time-to-delivery for server provisioning
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use maas
Customer profileNamed customers15 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
maas technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration9 records
Feature6 records
maas partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.
- TerraformcoreMAAS integrates with Terraform for infrastructure-as-code provisioning. Users can use Terraform provider for MAAS to programmatically manage bare metal resources as code.
- JujucoreMAAS integrates with Juju orchestration engine to automate, orchestrate, and model entire physical infrastructure deployments from a single workflow.
- AnsiblecoreMAAS supports Ansible integration for configuration management and automation of physical infrastructure deployments.
- OpenStackflagshipMAAS serves as the foundational infrastructure provider for OpenStack private cloud deployments, streamlining the process from bare metal to fully operational cloud environment.
- MicroCloudcoreMAAS serves as foundational infrastructure provider for MicroCloud lightweight cloud deployments alongside LXD for containers and VMs.
- LandscapecoreMAAS combined with Landscape enables automated security patching, application auditing, access management and compliance tasks across Ubuntu machines.
- Ubuntu Certified HardwarecoreMAAS works with all Ubuntu certified servers. Certified hardware ecosystem provides compatibility assurance for enterprise deployments.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
maas competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Cisco Intersight / UCS Manager: Cisco's full-stack data center management platform including bare metal server provisioning; a broad incumbent with overlapping capability set against MAAS.
- HPE OneView: HPE's broad infrastructure lifecycle management platform covering compute, storage, and fabric; competes with MAAS at the OEM level for enterprise data center automation.
- AWS Outposts / Bare Metal Instances: AWS-managed on-premises and bare metal instance offerings that compete with MAAS by bundling hardware provisioning with hyperscaler cloud services.
Direct peers
- OpenStack Ironic: OpenStack project for bare metal provisioning that competes directly with MAAS as a free, open source alternative, often deployed alongside OpenStack clouds.
- Foreman: Open source lifecycle management tool for physical and virtual servers, offering provisioning and configuration management directly overlapping with MAAS's core capabilities.
- Tinkerbell: Equinix's open source bare metal provisioning platform designed for declarative, API-driven server lifecycle management — a directly comparable solution for cloud-style physical infrastructure.
- Dell RackHD: Dell's open source platform for automated server provisioning and lifecycle management, overlapping with MAAS in target use cases and enterprise infrastructure focus.
- Red Hat Satellite: Red Hat's infrastructure provisioning and lifecycle management platform for hybrid environments, directly comparable to MAAS for enterprise on-premises server automation.
Emerging players
- Digital Rebar: Open source data center provisioning platform offering bare metal deployment with infrastructure-as-code workflows; a smaller-scale peer with comparable IaC positioning.
Others
- Canonical Landscape: Canonical's own server fleet management product; not a direct MAAS competitor but sits alongside it in the same product portfolio, addressing adjacent lifecycle tasks.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
maas social profiles
Digital presencemaas financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
maas leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
maas funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
maas 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 maas
What does maas do?
MAAS is an open source platform that automates the provisioning and lifecycle management of physical servers, treating bare metal hardware as cloud-like resources. It discovers, commissions, deploys, and manages servers through baseboard management controller (BMC) integration, providing image-based provisioning, integrated IPAM/DHCP/DNS, RBAC with SSO, and a cloud-like API for Infrastructure-as-Code automation via Terraform, Juju, and Ansible. The product is offered as free open source software with optional paid enterprise support through Ubuntu Pro and tiered MAAS Standalone Support subscriptions.
Is maas a public or private company?
maas is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was maas founded?
maas was founded in -1.
How does maas make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Ubuntu Pro Support for MAAS are the primary driver. The others are MAAS Standalone Support and cloud Marketplace Listings.
Who are maas's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Cisco Intersight / UCS Manager, HPE OneView and AWS Outposts / Bare Metal Instances. Direct peers are OpenStack Ironic, Foreman, Tinkerbell, Dell RackHD and Red Hat Satellite. Digital Rebar is listed as an emerging player. Canonical Landscape is listed as an others.
Does maas have an API?
Yes. MAAS provides a cloud-like API to programmatically manage the entire hardware lifecycle as code. This API enables developers and DevOps teams to automate, orchestrate, and model entire physical infrastructure deployments from a single workflow.
What industry is maas in?
maas's product category is Bare Metal Provisioning and Server Lifecycle Management. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABAAAA, General-Purpose Compute (VMs & Bare Metal IaaS). Its NAICS code is 541513 and its SIC code is 7372.