Northflank
7.3/10Northflank is a Kubernetes-based developer platform for deploying services, jobs, databases and GPU workloads on its managed cloud or on customers' own cloud accounts.
Data last updated November 2026 · Our methodology
Overview
Northflank is a London-based platform-as-a-service built on Kubernetes. Teams connect a GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket repository, and the platform builds from a Dockerfile or Buildpacks, or deploys a ready-made image. It then runs the result as a service, a one-off job or a cron job. Managed PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis come with automated backups and point-in-time recovery. Preview environments can be created for each pull request. Workloads can run on Northflank's own cloud, in regions across the US, Europe and Asia, or inside the customer's own AWS, GCP, Azure or Civo account. Imported Kubernetes clusters, including bare metal, are also supported. Pricing is usage-based and billed by the second, with no fees per seat. On Northflank Cloud, CPU costs $0.01667 per vCPU-hour and memory $0.00833 per GB-hour, so a 1 vCPU, 2 GB service costs about $24 a month. GPUs range from $0.80 an hour for an L4 to $5.87 an hour for a B200. For workloads in the customer's own cloud, Northflank charges $0.02083 per node vCPU-hour as a management fee. The free Sandbox plan covers small projects. Enterprise adds SAML and SCIM, audit logs, a WAF, air-gapped deployment and a 99.99% SLA. Logs can be forwarded to Datadog, New Relic or Splunk. The product suits startups and SaaS teams that want Heroku-style simplicity with the option to move into their own cloud later. The main limitations are that SLAs and many security features are only on Enterprise, there are fewer managed regions than at the hyperscalers, and the review base is small.
Our Rating
Hosting & Infrastructure7.2/10
AI Software7.3/10
Who Northflank is best for
Good fit
It is built around Git-driven builds, a CLI, an API and preview environments.
It can run in the customer's own cloud and offers autoscaling and SOC 2 posture for production SaaS.
A free Sandbox, per-second billing and no seat fees keep early costs low.
Enterprise adds air-gapped and VPC deployment, SAML, SCIM and a 99.99% SLA.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Per-second usage billing with no seat or workspace fees. Northflank's own comparison prices a 2 vCPU, 4 GB service at $48 a month, against $85 at Render.
- The same platform can run workloads in your own AWS, GCP, Azure or Civo account, or on imported Kubernetes clusters, so moving off the managed cloud does not mean switching tools.
- G2 reviewers praise fast support from engineers who know the product.
- Builds from GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket are built in, and preview environments are created for each pull request.
- GPU options run from L4 to B200, so AI workloads can sit next to ordinary services.
Cons
- SLAs, SSO, SCIM, audit logs and the WAF are only available on Enterprise.
- G2 reviewers mention a limited choice of regions and slow builds because local Docker caching is missing.
- Some Trustpilot reviewers report slow support, and the review base is small overall.
- The vendor's pricing and features pages carry a notice about a security incident and ask users to rotate their credentials.
Key Features
Northflank Pricing
Sandbox
- Best-effort support, no SLA
- 2 services, 2 jobs, 1 database
- No horizontal scaling or autoscaling
- 1 BYOC cluster, up to 12 vCPU and 48 GB
- Up to $20 per month of resources on Northflank Cloud
Enterprise
- 99.99% uptime SLA
- Dedicated Slack channel
- Disaster recovery options
- SAML/OIDC, SCIM and audit logs
- WAF and advanced security proxy
- Custom platform fee and usage discounts
- VPC, on-premises or air-gapped deployment
Pay as you go
- GPUs and BYOC
- Proactive support, no SLA
- RBAC, log sinks and alerting
- Usage-based, billed per second
- Autoscaling and high availability
- Unlimited users, projects and workloads
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The Sandbox plan needs no card and allows 2 services, 2 jobs and 1 database, with up to $20 a month of resources.
Yes. You can bring your own AWS, GCP, Azure or Civo account, or import a Kubernetes cluster. Northflank charges $0.02083 per node vCPU-hour, and your cloud provider bills the infrastructure.
Only on Enterprise, which offers a 99.99% SLA. The Sandbox and Pay as you go plans have no SLA.
The pricing page lists SOC 2 Type II, HIPAA and ISO 27001, with details in a trust center.
PostgreSQL, MySQL, MongoDB and Redis, among others, with automated backups and point-in-time recovery.
No. Users are unlimited, and you pay only for the resources you use.
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