What is STACKIT Kubernetes Engine?
STACKIT Kubernetes Engine (SKE) is a managed Kubernetes service from EU data centers. STACKIT runs the control plane in a highly available setup, handles updates and self-healing, and delivers CNCF-conformant clusters that are fully API-compatible with upstream Kubernetes. Billing is pay-as-you-go: an hourly fee for cluster management plus the cost of the worker nodes. Because STACKIT hosts in the EU01 (Frankfurt) and EU02 (Berlin) regions, you get a sovereign Kubernetes service without US-CLOUD Act risk and with full GDPR compliance.
Core Features
- Managed control plane: STACKIT runs the control plane in a highly available setup and owns its availability and maintenance.
- Auto-upgrades and self-healing: Kubernetes and OS versions are updated automatically, and SKE detects and repairs faulty nodes on its own.
- Event-driven autoscaling: Pods and nodes scale with demand, including scaling down during low-traffic periods.
- Pause clusters: Non-production clusters can be temporarily shut down. You only pay for the resources you actually use.
- CNCF-conformant: Full API compatibility with upstream Kubernetes. Existing manifests and Helm charts run without changes.
- Infrastructure as code: Provision and manage via the Terraform provider, SKE API, and STACKIT CLI for repeatable, automated workflows.
Typical Use Cases
Cloud-native microservices: Teams deploy containerized microservices architectures on SKE. Autoscaling and a managed control plane noticeably reduce operational overhead.
CI/CD pipelines: DevOps teams run GitLab or Jenkins pipelines on SKE. Container images and build artifacts stay in EU data centers.
Stateful workloads: Databases and stateful services run with persistent storage via the CSI drivers for STACKIT Block and File Storage.
Migration of legacy containers: Existing containerized applications migrate to SKE without rewriting manifests.
Benefits
- Data sovereignty: All workloads run in EU data centers (EU01, EU02) without US-CLOUD Act risk.
- Lower operational overhead: Managed control plane, auto-upgrades, and self-healing free up your team.
- Cost transparency: Pay-as-you-go per cluster and node, and pausing non-production clusters saves more.
- Vendor-independent: CNCF conformance prevents lock-in, keeping migration to and from other providers open.
Integration with innFactory
As a STACKIT partner, innFactory supports you across the full Kubernetes lifecycle: cluster architecture and sizing, migration from AWS EKS, GKE, or AKS, GitOps setup with ArgoCD, observability, and security hardening. This gets you into production on SKE and keeps your platform maintainable over the long term.
Available Tiers & Options
Standard SKE
- Managed control plane
- Auto-upgrades
- Event-driven autoscaling
- Self-service operational responsibility
Private SKE
- Control plane reachable only via STACKIT Network Area
- No public API exposure
- Increased isolation
- Higher networking effort
Typical Use Cases
Technical Specifications
Frequently Asked Questions
How is STACKIT Kubernetes Engine billed?
SKE uses pay-as-you-go billing: each cluster incurs an hourly fee for the managed control plane (cluster management), and worker nodes are billed separately as Compute Engine instances. Non-production clusters can be paused to save costs.
Which Kubernetes versions does SKE support?
SKE offers the current minor versions (for example 1.31 to 1.34). Patch versions are applied automatically; minor upgrades happen via the portal or a maintenance window. Expiring versions are automatically upgraded to the next release.
Which regions does SKE run in?
SKE runs in the EU regions EU01 (Frankfurt) and EU02 (Berlin). Operating in EU data centers delivers a sovereign Kubernetes service without US-CLOUD Act risk.
Is SKE CNCF-conformant?
Yes, SKE runs CNCF-conformant Kubernetes clusters and is API-compatible with upstream Kubernetes. Existing manifests and Helm charts work without modification.
How do auto-upgrades and self-healing work?
SKE runs the control plane in a highly available setup, applies Kubernetes and OS updates automatically, and repairs faulty nodes on its own. Maintenance windows are configurable.
How do I migrate from AWS EKS, GKE, or AKS?
Because SKE is CNCF-conformant, standard manifests run unchanged. You move persistent data and cluster state with tools like Velero. innFactory supports the migration including GitOps setup.
