diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index 614d291e..969a60d8 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -454,6 +454,17 @@ version = "1.0.0"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "acbf1af155f9b9ef647e42cdc158db4b64a1b61f743629225fde6f3e0be2a7c7"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "colored"
+version = "2.0.4"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "2674ec482fbc38012cf31e6c42ba0177b431a0cb6f15fe40efa5aab1bda516f6"
+dependencies = [
+ "is-terminal",
+ "lazy_static",
+ "windows-sys 0.48.0",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "comfy-table"
 version = "7.0.1"
@@ -1751,6 +1762,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "regex",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "paste"
+version = "1.0.14"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "de3145af08024dea9fa9914f381a17b8fc6034dfb00f3a84013f7ff43f29ed4c"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "pem"
 version = "1.1.1"
@@ -2589,6 +2606,17 @@ version = "0.5.2"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 checksum = "6e63cff320ae2c57904679ba7cb63280a3dc4613885beafb148ee7bf9aa9042d"
 
+[[package]]
+name = "spinoff"
+version = "0.8.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "20aa2ed67fbb202e7b716ff8bfc6571dd9301617767380197d701c31124e88f6"
+dependencies = [
+ "colored",
+ "once_cell",
+ "paste",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "stackable-cockpit"
 version = "0.0.0-dev"
@@ -2708,6 +2736,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde_json",
  "serde_yaml",
  "snafu",
+ "spinoff",
  "stackable-cockpit",
  "tera",
  "tokio",
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index 2e9f8069..02cc4633 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ serde_json = "1.0"
 serde_yaml = "0.9"
 sha2 = "0.10"
 snafu = "0.7"
+spinoff = "0.8.0"
 stackable-operator = { git = "https://github.com/stackabletech/operator-rs.git", tag = "0.47.0" }
 tera = "1.18"
 tokio = { version = "1.29.0", features = ["rt-multi-thread", "macros", "fs", "process"] }
diff --git a/rust/stackablectl/Cargo.toml b/rust/stackablectl/Cargo.toml
index 90afa366..0612223c 100644
--- a/rust/stackablectl/Cargo.toml
+++ b/rust/stackablectl/Cargo.toml
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@ serde_json.workspace = true
 serde_yaml.workspace = true
 serde.workspace = true
 snafu.workspace = true
+spinoff.workspace = true
 tera.workspace = true
 tokio.workspace = true
 tracing-subscriber.workspace = true
diff --git a/rust/stackablectl/src/output/mod.rs b/rust/stackablectl/src/output/mod.rs
index a0325601..a5b77f76 100644
--- a/rust/stackablectl/src/output/mod.rs
+++ b/rust/stackablectl/src/output/mod.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ use std::{
 };
 
 use snafu::{ResultExt, Snafu};
+use spinoff::{spinners, Color, Spinner};
 use tera::Tera;
 
 mod error;
@@ -88,11 +89,11 @@ where
     }
 }
 
-#[derive(Debug)]
 pub struct Output<C>
 where
     C: ContextExt,
 {
+    progress: Option<Spinner>,
     renderer: Tera,
     context: C,
 }
@@ -106,20 +107,22 @@ where
         let no_color = use_colored_output(!no_color);
         context.set_no_color(no_color);
 
-        Ok(Self { renderer, context })
+        Ok(Self {
+            progress: None,
+            renderer,
+            context,
+        })
     }
 
-    fn create_renderer() -> Result<Tera> {
-        let mut renderer = Tera::default();
-
-        renderer
-            .add_raw_templates(vec![
-                ("result", include_str!("templates/result.tpl")),
-                ("error", include_str!("templates/error.tpl")),
-            ])
-            .context(CreationSnafu)?;
+    pub fn enable_progress(&mut self, initial_message: String) {
+        self.progress
+            .get_or_insert(Spinner::new(spinners::Dots, initial_message, Color::Green));
+    }
 
-        Ok(renderer)
+    pub fn set_progress_message(&mut self, message: String) {
+        if let Some(progress) = self.progress.as_mut() {
+            progress.update_text(message)
+        }
     }
 
     pub fn render(self) -> Result<String> {
@@ -134,6 +137,19 @@ where
                 .context(RenderSnafu),
         }
     }
+
+    fn create_renderer() -> Result<Tera> {
+        let mut renderer = Tera::default();
+
+        renderer
+            .add_raw_templates(vec![
+                ("result", include_str!("templates/result.tpl")),
+                ("error", include_str!("templates/error.tpl")),
+            ])
+            .context(CreationSnafu)?;
+
+        Ok(renderer)
+    }
 }
 
 impl<C> Deref for Output<C>