No. 9 of 28 ·Software-Defined Storage Software

Longhorn

Web · Linux · Self-hosted · API

Freedom report

Two barsScore 6.4

Longhorn is ranked #9 of 28 in software-defined storage software on Freedom251. It runs on API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web. There is a free plan.

Longhorn plans and pricing

Longhorn Free Free, open source software · Distributed block storage for Kubernetes longhorn.io · 2 Oct 2026

What it does: Longhorn is a distributed block storage system for Kubernetes.
Replication: It replicates block storage across multiple nodes and data centers to increase availability.
Snapshots and backups: It supports scheduled recurring snapshots and backups to NFS or S3-compatible secondary storage.
Disaster recovery: It can create cross-cluster disaster recovery volumes so data can be recovered in a second Kubernetes cluster.
Management UI: Longhorn provides a GUI dashboard and its home page describes the management UI as free.
Upgrades: The documentation says the Longhorn software stack can be upgraded without disrupting running storage volumes.
Installation options: The documentation lists installation with kubectl, Helm, Fleet, Flux, and ArgoCD, among other methods.
Security: Longhorn supports mTLS to secure and encrypt gRPC communication between its control plane and data plane, but mTLS is disabled by default.
Privileges: Longhorn components require root access with privileged permissions to perform volume operations and management.
Storage requirements: The installation guide says backup requires an NFSv4 client, while ReadWriteMany volumes require NFSv4.1.
Enterprise support: SUSE Storage is described as an enterprise-ready Longhorn-based distribution with additional support, security, lifecycle management, and certified integrations.
Project status: Longhorn is a CNCF incubating project.
Price from: Free

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