Both are built on KVM. The difference is everything around it: tenants, self-service, billing, and the people who keep it running at 3 a.m. Warren delivers all of that as a managed platform on your own hardware.
Last reviewed 4 November 2026 · based on public pricing and documentation.
uptime SLA for customer VMs
managed platform upgrades
setup fee
These gaps come up again and again when hosting providers and MSPs try to turn a Proxmox cluster into a service they can sell.
Proxmox has users, pools and permissions, but no tenant object, no enforced quotas, no usage metering and no billing. Providers bolt on third-party portals to fill the gap.
With Warren: tenants, delegated access, quotas, per-unit metering, invoices, pre- and post-pay, local payment methods and KYC are part of the platform.
Storage (ZFS or Ceph), per-node networking, high availability, backup and upgrades are separate pieces your admins keep aligned, test and troubleshoot.
With Warren: Warren operates the whole stack (Ceph storage, OpenSDN networking, the control plane) with 24/7 monitoring and rolling upgrades twice a month.
Enterprise support costs €370 to €1,100 per CPU socket per year. Round-the-clock support reached Premium customers on 19 October 2026; Standard is promised by the end of 2026.
With Warren: a direct Slack line to Warren engineers comes with every plan, backed by a 99.95% uptime SLA with service credits.
Permissions and settings live per cluster, and Proxmox Datacenter Manager is still described as early-stage for running a fleet.
With Warren: one control plane per location, federated so customers see one cloud. IDCloudHost runs four locations in two countries on Warren.
Facts as published by each vendor, checked 4 November 2026.
Topic | Proxmox VE | Warren |
|---|---|---|
What it is | Open-source virtualisation platform (KVM and LXC) that you install and operate | Fully managed cloud platform (KVM) that Warren operates on your hardware |
Who runs it | Your team | Warren runs the platform and 2nd-level support; you run sales and 1st-level support |
Upgrades | You schedule, test and apply them | Rolling upgrades twice a month, release notes in advance, no tenant disruption |
Multiple sites | Per cluster; Datacenter Manager adds a fleet view | Control plane per location, federated into one cloud |
Multi-tenancy | Users, pools and permissions; no tenant object or enforced quotas | Tenants, delegated access and quotas |
Self-service | Proxmox web UI with restricted permissions | Your branded portal, plus REST and GraphQL APIs |
Billing and metering | Not included; third-party tools needed | Built in: metering, price lists, invoices, pre/post-pay, local payments, KYC |
Storage | ZFS, Ceph or external arrays you design and tune | Ceph block and S3-compatible object storage, operated by Warren |
Networking | Linux bridges or Open vSwitch per node; SDN available | OpenSDN: VPCs, firewalls, floating IPs, load balancers, NAT |
Beyond VMs | Containers (LXC) | Managed databases, bare metal, Kubernetes (private beta) |
Software cost | Free; subscriptions €120–€1,100 per CPU socket per year | From €0.50 per GB RAM a month, or revenue share up to 20% (first 3 months free) |
Support | Ticket allowance by tier; 24/7 on Premium only | Direct engineer access on every plan |
Uptime commitment | First-response targets only | 99.95% uptime SLA for customer VMs, with credits |
Price stability | Annual subscription | Locked for the term, up to 10 years |
Lock-in | Open source | Open-source core (KVM, Ceph, OpenSDN), standard VM images |
Proxmox prices are net per occupied CPU socket per year (proxmox.com). Warren prices are list prices; volume and term discounts apply. Spotted something out of date? Contact us and we will correct it.
Tell us roughly what you run. We'll send a written, side-by-side cost comparison and a migration outline for your environment.
Term discounts of 10–30% and volume discounts of 5–10% apply. Revenue share falls as you grow, to 0% in a month you double. See full pricing
Your VMs already run on KVM, so moving to Warren is a planned migration, not a conversion project.
Warren's team leads the migration, whichever platform you run today, with dated milestones in your plan.
Share your cluster inventory. We return a written migration plan and cost comparison.
Warren deploys the platform on compatible hardware, existing or new, with no setup fee.
Workloads move in planned waves, validated in a test environment before each cut-over.
IDCloudHost's first year on Warren, growing to €1.5M ARR in four years across four locations in Indonesia and Singapore.
ReadyIDC launched its cloud on Warren in October 2023, alongside providers across Asia, Europe and Africa.
For customer VMs, with service credits, a dedicated Slack channel and direct access to Warren engineers.
The virtualization world is undergoing a historic inflection point, and thousands of service providers and customers are reassessing their future. That’s why HPE is partnering with innovative partners like Warren. Their managed service approach and modern, open-source platform show significant promise for customers seeking stability and cost-predictability.
Chief Technologist and Solution Portfolio Lead, Service Provider Business Worldwide
No. Warren runs KVM/QEMU under its own resource manager, with Ceph storage and OpenSDN (Tungsten Fabric) networking. Sharing KVM with Proxmox keeps migration straightforward.
Usually. Warren runs on compatible hardware of any vendor or generation; your migration plan lists which nodes can be reused.
On software alone, yes. Warren's fee also covers operations, upgrades, monitoring, 2nd-level support, billing and a customer portal: work you would otherwise staff or buy.
Hardware, data and customers stay yours, in locations you choose. Warren engineers reach the platform through Teleport zero-trust access, with audit trails.
Backups and snapshots are built in, on distributed Ceph storage that heals itself after failures.
You do: sales and 1st-level support stay with your brand. Warren handles the platform and 2nd-level support through a dedicated Slack channel.
Get a written cost comparison and migration outline for your environment.