Equinix Discontinues Its Bare Metal IaaS Platform.
Equinix Metal will cease its operations in 2026.
Equinix has announced that its bare-metal infrastructure as a service platform, known as Equinix Metal, will no longer be available starting June 30, 2026. This decision was communicated to customers in a letter signed by Jon Lin, Business Director, and Mike Campbell, Sales Director, providing over 18 months' notice.
Although new features for Equinix Metal are no longer being prioritized, the company is committed to continuing to provide updates regarding performance, security, and stability until the discontinuation date. This bare-metal service is one of the most recent additions to Equinix's portfolio, arising from the acquisition of the hosting company Packet for $100 million. However, once it ceases operation, it will have been in service for nearly six years.
In addition to continuing relevant updates, Equinix has pledged to assist its customers in transitioning to alternatives such as colocation, managed services, and third-party solutions. The platform was designed to enable businesses to deploy x86 and Arm servers within Equinix data centers. Nonetheless, CFO Keith Taylor indicated that Metal represents only 1.25% of the company’s revenue, which influenced the decision to end support for this product.
The company stated, “Equinix is moving towards the end of life for our bare-metal as a service product as we focus on the growth and acceleration of other areas of our business, such as colocation, interconnection, and hyperscale services.” In October 2024, Equinix signed a joint venture agreement worth $15 billion to build xScale data centers aimed at hyperscaler clients, in response to the increasing demand for AI-driven workloads.
The market withdrawal also reflects a highly competitive environment, primarily dominated by hyperscalers such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud.