Portainer
✓ Verified by EU AltsContainer management UI for Docker and Kubernetes — a New Zealand/European alternative to Rancher.
Overview
Portainer is a Auckland, New Zealand-based European company building cloud infrastructure, developer tools, and open source software since 2016. Despite its EU base, EU Alts has verified that Portainer independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in New Zealand, and hosts customer data with UNKNOWN in United States or European Union (customer-dependent), so it may still fall under the reach of the US CLOUD Act — worth weighing against AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure on this specific point.
Why European teams pick Portainer
Teams in Europe still consider Portainer for its cloud infrastructure product and New Zealand presence, operating since 2016, but unlike a fully EU-owned provider, Portainer independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in New Zealand, and hosts customer data with UNKNOWN in United States or European Union (customer-dependent) — so it does not fully avoid US CLOUD Act exposure the way some other alternatives to AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure do.
See more EU cloud infrastructure tools or browse other startups from New Zealand.
About
Portainer is a container management platform providing a web UI for Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and Nomad. It simplifies container orchestration for teams without deep DevOps expertise — allowing developers to deploy, manage, and monitor containers without memorising Docker CLI commands. Portainer Community Edition is open-source (zlib) and self-hostable on any EU server. Because Portainer is self-hosted, all infrastructure data and configuration stays on EU servers. It is widely used by EU development teams managing containers on Hetzner, OVHcloud, or on-premise servers.
Details
- Founded
- 2016
- Headquarters
- Auckland, New Zealand
- Ownership
- Independently owned (New Zealand)
- Hosting
- UNKNOWN, United States or European Union (customer-dependent)
- CLOUD Act
- Exposed
Other EU startups like Portainer
- Unchained Engine Switzerland — Open-source headless e-commerce framework for Node.js, self-hostable and Swiss-made.
- Codebahn Sweden — Codebahn is managed Git and CI for European teams.
- Curity Sweden — Swedish identity and API access platform. OAuth and OpenID Connect infrastructure for organisations where security and control are non-negotiable.
- Hanko Germany — Open-source passkey and passwordless authentication from Kiel, Germany. Made and hosted in Europe, with self-hosting available.
- cidaas Germany — German cloud identity and access management (CIAM) platform — made and hosted in Germany, with dedicated German server locations for regulated sectors.
- Ploq The Netherlands — Ploq is EU-built webhook infrastructure: retries, event filtering, and health monitoring, GDPR-compliant end to end. SDKs for Node.js and Java, a WordPress plugin, and a forkable Mac/Windows app for sending and receiving events.
Frequently asked questions
What is Portainer?
Portainer is a container management platform providing a web UI for Docker, Docker Swarm, Kubernetes, and Nomad. It simplifies container orchestration for teams without deep DevOps expertise — allowing developers to deploy, manage, and monitor containers without memorising Docker CLI commands. Portainer Community Edition is open-source (zlib) and self-hostable on any EU server. Because Portainer is self-hosted, all infrastructure data and configuration stays on EU servers. It is widely used by EU development teams managing containers on Hetzner, OVHcloud, or on-premise servers.
What does Portainer do?
Portainer is container management ui for docker and kubernetes — a new zealand/european alternative to rancher. It is listed under cloud infrastructure, developer tools, and open source on EU Alts because its core functionality serves teams looking for a European cloud infrastructure tool with EU data residency, typically as a switch away from AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure.
Is Portainer a good European cloud infrastructure alternative?
Portainer is a fit for European businesses evaluating cloud infrastructure options where data residency and GDPR alignment matter — typical buyers include EU-based SaaS teams, public-sector projects, regulated industries (healthcare, finance, legal), and any organisation that needs to demonstrate that customer data does not leave the EU. It also overlaps with developer tools and open source use cases.
Is Portainer GDPR compliant?
Portainer is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand and processes user data under the GDPR by default. However, EU Alts has verified that Portainer independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in New Zealand, and hosts customer data with UNKNOWN in United States or European Union (customer-dependent), which means — unlike a fully EU-owned provider — it may still be reachable under the US CLOUD Act, similar to AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure in that respect.
How do teams switch from AWS to Portainer?
Teams evaluating a move from AWS, Google Cloud, and Azure to Portainer should note: Portainer independently owned, with its ultimate ownership based in New Zealand, and hosts customer data with UNKNOWN in United States or European Union (customer-dependent), so this switch narrows but may not fully close the US CLOUD Act gap. Weigh that against the cloud infrastructure workflow fit before treating it as a complete Schrems II fix.
Where is Portainer based?
Portainer is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand. The company was founded in 2016. Its main website is https://www.portainer.io.