Comparison
Proxmox VE vs Nutanix Kubernetes Platform
Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP, formerly D2iQ) is Nutanix's commercial KubeVirt distribution. Per-core pricing, free Starter tier on AHV, $710/core/yr Ultimate. For the broader Nutanix AHV comparison see our Proxmox vs Nutanix AHV page.
NKP Ultimate vs Proxmox VE
Worker-node licensing at $710/core/yr Ultimate (Full-Stack, Production support). No multi-year discount published.
Proxmox VE Standard
$22,097
over 3 years · $7,366/yr
Nutanix Kubernetes Platform (NKP, ex-D2iQ)
$845,184
over 3 years · $281,728/yr
Saving with Proxmox
$823,087
over 3 years
Licensing unit for Nutanix: per CPU core per year (worker nodes only). Confidence: high. Indicative — verify with vendor before contract.
What you get with NKP
NKP is the Nutanix-blessed KubeVirt platform — managed Kubernetes for containers, KubeVirt for VMs, integrated with AHV underneath. The story is "one platform for VMs and containers" with the operational integration that goes with that. Free Starter tier sits on Nutanix AOS; Pro and Ultimate add commercial support and full-stack lifecycle.
Where NKP makes sense
- You're already running Nutanix AOS and want a first-class K8s story on the same hardware.
- Your workload is genuinely container-native and VMs are a long-tail second case.
- You need the lifecycle integration between K8s and the underlying HCI platform.
Where the cost gap shows up
The per-core pricing is brutal on dense hardware. A 64-core host costs $45,440/yr on NKP Ultimate, compared to roughly $1,200/yr on Proxmox VE Premium (per socket). For pure VM workloads where K8s is irrelevant, NKP is the wrong tool — you're paying for a K8s control plane and KubeVirt orchestration that you'd never use. The 2026 NKP Metal SKU adds bare-metal KubeVirt VMs but the unit economics don't change.
Where Proxmox VE fits
- VM-first workloads. Containers via LXC for lightweight cases, K8s on top if needed.
- Per-socket pricing that doesn't punish dense hardware.
- No HCI lock-in — run Proxmox on any commodity x86, reuse existing storage, integrate with whatever K8s platform you choose.