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Amazon EKS vs Docker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 13, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EKS
Ranking in Container Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
46
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (14th)
Docker
Ranking in Container Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
55
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (5th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Amazon EKS is 14.9%, up from 14.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Docker is 3.1%, down from 3.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Venkatramanan C.S. - PeerSpot reviewer
Amazon EKS: Why It Shines, Where It Struggles, and How It Can Improve
* EKS incurs an additional management fee ($0.10 per hour per cluster) along with EC2 or Fargate costs.May be expensive for smaller workloads compared to alternatives like AWS ECS.Requires expertise to configure and manage Kubernetes resources effectively.Networking (e.g., setting up VPCs, subnets, and service endpoints) can be complex.Simplifies managing multiple Kubernetes clusters, especially for organizations with hybrid or multi-region setups.Integrated dashboards for Kubernetes metrics, logs, and traces.Simplifies observability without needing third-party tools.
Renat Babin - PeerSpot reviewer
Easy to deploy with an impressive networking feature
The volumes for persistent storage could be more user friendly right out of the box. I would like an option to just use it as local storage or some kind of NSF or CIF. Or to mount the volume straight to a Google Drive or through a particular cloud storage. It's not that these things are impossible, but you have to do some extra work or configurations.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"The most valuable features of Amazon EKS are its auto scaling ability and the ability for service discovery."
"I like the scalability they're currently providing. Integration was very easy. It was a good experience."
"Amazon EKS provides good support."
"It is the best service because it has proper security packages."
"The feature that I have found most valuable is that it is very user-friendly."
"The product's most valuable features are scalability, observability, and performance."
"It has valuable monitoring and insights features."
"I can use the autoscaling feature to manage and scale up infrastructure."
"When used in conjunction with Kubernetes, it is seamless because it integrates very well."
"The current version is quite good with our application."
"The most valuable feature is that it gives you the same environment as on a developer machine as well as a production machine relevant to specifications."
"The solution's customer service is good."
"Docker's containerization property is its main selling point."
"The tool's most valuable feature is its sandbox environment. It makes it very easy to run and test applications without needing configurations, which is the core advantage of containerization. Kubernetes and Helm are helpful as they provide high-level metrics, making tracking the status of all the containers and applications running easier."
"There are ways of using Docker where you have absolutely no dependencies on the environment that you work in. This allows us to deploy Docker anywhere anytime and this has been most valuable."
"We are using Docker to host applications."
 

Cons

"Amazon EKS's vulnerability management of data could be improved."
"The solution should include a popup for clusters so that all relevant information is visible at the bottom of a page."
"I believe the initial setup could be a better experience and faster customer support."
"I am not impressed with the tool's Amazon console. It also needs to add security features."
"The tool's setup is complex."
"Amazon EKS is not a solution that can be fully managed through automation, making it an area of concern where improvement is required."
"I'm having difficulty getting my AWS clusters to communicate with my local machine."
"Sometimes, we face minor connectivity issues."
"One of the challenges I face with Docker is debugging containers within the infrastructure. It can be tricky to debug applications inside containers, which is a common issue among developers. If easier tools or methods were available to debug applications within Docker containers, it would be very beneficial."
"As for improving Docker, I would like to see enhancements in its user interface and documentation to make it even more user-friendly and accessible. I believe Docker will expand its scope and reduce limitations to support more applications, both online and offline. For instance, in scenarios like deployments on ships or during upgrades, Docker can continue to offer software services and container-based intelligence."
"There may not be much room for improvement with Docker as it has greatly evolved. However, one area that could be improved upon is the documentation on their website which was once easy to follow but has become quite terrible with numerous versions being released. As an example, the installation process for Docker now requires more than just a one-line command, causing inconvenience. Additionally, based on my experience as a college instructor, teaching students to install Docker was a difficult task due to the lack of straightforward and easy-to-follow documentation. Docker should focus on improving their documentation to make it more user-friendly for all."
"Docker management is very difficult when we have a large number of nodes."
"Enhancing artificial intelligence capabilities and cluster management should be a priority. It should facilitate some security management."
"The vendor should release a monitoring tool or include monitoring capabilities in Docker"
"The product does not have an extensive documentation. The tool does not have good scenarios. We have to go through the GitHub repository and investigate similar scenarios. Also, if you are copying multiple things, then you can jeopardize the copy number. The copying aspect also lacks a UI part. We also need to limit the memory."
"Docker could improve by having more advanced features."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The product pricing depends on the specific requirements."
"The solution is pricey. The tool's pricing is monthly."
"The product is available at such a huge scale in the market since the resources that are offered under the tool are competitively priced and available at a much cheaper rate compared to other solutions."
"The solution is more expensive than other competitors and does not require a license."
"Amazon EKS is expensive."
"Amazon EKS is not a cheap solution."
"The solution is cheaper than one of its competitors."
"My company paid for the license."
"There is a license needed to use Docker."
"We use the open-source version."
"For commercial use, it's about $30 per month. The license itself isn't expensive, but if there are many users, the price becomes high."
"I use the solution's open-source version."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs."
"It's free."
"It's an open-source solution, so it doesn't cost anything"
"Docker is a free tool."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
14%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
19%
Insurance Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Government
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon EKS?
The product's most valuable features are scalability, observability, and performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EKS?
I do not have specific details on EKS's pricing and licensing compared to other services. However, in general, deploying in the cloud offers lower latency and high availability and reduces manual i...
What needs improvement with Amazon EKS?
* EKS incurs an additional management fee ($0.10 per hour per cluster) along with EC2 or Fargate costs.May be expensive for smaller workloads compared to alternatives like AWS ECS.Requires expertis...
What do you like most about Docker?
We are using Docker to host applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
Our customers buy the software and the prices are available on Docker Hub. The subscription is typically yearly, and customers will need to buy the subscription directly. They can purchase it thems...
What needs improvement with Docker?
Docker is a time-tested, proven solution with industry-wide applications. There can be challenges with port mapping, however, that's not related to Docker itself.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GoDaddy, Pearson, FICO, Intuit, Verizon, Honeywell, Logicworks, RetailMeNot, LogMeIn, Conde Nast, mercari, Trainline, Axway
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EKS vs. Docker and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
832,138 professionals have used our research since 2012.