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Amazon EKS vs Kubernetes 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
53
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (19th)
Kubernetes
Ranking in Container Management
4th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.1
Number of Reviews
78
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Amazon EKS is 11.8%, down from 13.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Kubernetes is 5.5%, down from 8.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Rock Wang - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing complex environments effortlessly while focusing on growth
The most beneficial aspect of Amazon EKS is that it helps manage the Kubernetes master node, so I don't need to maintain the master node, including tasks like upgrading. This allows me to focus on business code. If using services like Fargate, I only need to maintain my workload, simply uploading code that will be deployed to the Kubernetes cluster. This is especially beneficial for startup companies that lack the technical resources to manage the Kubernetes cluster. Furthermore, Amazon EKS allows me to utilize Kubernetes cluster-level expansion. If there’s insufficient resource on a machine, the cluster can automatically expand to add new nodes.
Venu Boddu - PeerSpot reviewer
Manage infrastructure automation and smooth application deployment with robust auto-scaling capabilities
Kubernetes is highly valuable for its node-based setup, which allows for the running of multiple pods. This feature is essential for infrastructure automation and application deployment. Kubernetes also offers rollback control and auto-scaling capabilities, which are crucial for maintaining an application's availability even if nodes or pods go down. Additionally, Kubernetes supports load balancing to distribute traffic efficiently across multiple pods.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The most beneficial aspect of Amazon EKS is that it helps manage the Kubernetes master node, so I don't need to maintain the master node, including tasks like upgrading."
"Provides high performance and easy manageability."
"Amazon EKS can be used to implement and create clusters."
"Amazon EKS is very scalable."
"The main benefits that I received from using Amazon EKS are that it is a managed cluster and offers simplicity."
"The most important aspect of Amazon EKS is that it is easy to set up and very easy to upgrade."
"It has always helped me. It is the repository where we store our images...The microservices appear to be well-made, and I don't have any comments on them as I don't see any flaws."
"The good thing was the integration of services. The only thing we had to think about was how we were pushing the code to GitHub or Bitbucket."
"There are many good features. I feel that the scale-out features, like replica sets, are very good. The number of running containers can be autoscaled."
"Having fast storage classes is very important."
"The most important feature is container orchestration."
"Kubernetes offers a lot of great features such as scalability and great portability of applications."
"Offers a crucial feedback process"
"Kubernetes provides scalable clustering for containers and other means of deployment."
"This solution provides a comprehensive way to scale up our ports and containers, without having to use multiple products."
"It has a complete loading feature set for replica site deployment."
 

Cons

"I would like Amazon EKS to be easier to configure on various environments like Windows or Linux installations"
"Setup depends on what kind of architecture you have"
"Amazon EKS's vulnerability management of data could be improved."
"I would like to see a warm-up time for AWS Fargate, similar to what GCP Cloud Run has."
"There is room for improvement in the interface of Amazon EKS."
"There is room for improvement in making Amazon EKS less error-prone when writing on the YAML file."
"There is room for improvement in stability. I faced some problems with the App."
"The documentation part of the product is an area of concern that needs to be made easier from an improvement perspective."
"The tool needs to improve its UI. The tool is very complex and basic."
"The initial setup of Kubernetes is difficult. However, if you are used to the flow then it is easier. The length of time it takes for the implementation depends on the project."
"We would to have additional features related to security within the API, instead of needing to install add-ons."
"Although we face issues when migrating to new versions of Kubernetes, such as misunderstandings on using new features or integration with proxy services, these issues can be addressed with proper preparation."
"I think that the GUI dashboard in Kubernetes is very simple and that there are no great options."
"Kubernetes should improve its consistency across different types of deployments. My customers tell me that they get much better performance when Kubernetes is deployed on VM versus PaaS services from Azure."
"The setup process could be improved as it's quite complex, especially for newbies."
"The configuration is a bit complicated."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The tool's pricing is good."
"Pricing is dependent upon instance type."
"Amazon EKS is quite pricey, but the functionality it provides is worth it."
"The solution is pricey. The tool's pricing is monthly."
"My company paid for the license."
"Amazon EKS is very cost-effective."
"The price can be a problem for small-sized businesses."
"Amazon EKS’s pricing is ok compared to its competitors."
"The solution requires a license to use it."
"The management layer is free, which is perfect. You don't need to pay money for the management layer, but in AWS develop service, you need to pay. I think it is €75 per month for the management layer. It is free here, so you can have as many Kubernetes clusters as you need. You are paying just for the workload, that is, for the machine, CPU, memory, and everything."
"Microsoft provides reasonable costs for Kubernetes."
"The price of Kubernetes could be lower. However, it is less expensive than VMware Tanzu. Additionally, technical support is expensive. The overall cost of the solution is approximately $1,000 annually."
"In addition to Kubernetes, you have to pay for support."
"You need to pay for a license if you buy branded products. For example, if you take the services from Azure, AWS, or Google, the price of the Kubernetes cluster is inclusive of the service that's being offered to us on a pay-and-use model."
"Kubernetes is open source and is an orchestration platform. It is a cost effective solution and its pricing depends on your company and how you use it"
"There is a license to use Kubernetes."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Government
7%
 

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?
My experience with pricing for Amazon EKS is limited as there's a separate team for that, and I do not have much knowledge of specifics. However, the pricing is based on the instance type we use in...
What needs improvement with Amazon EKS?
We usually get deployed and only need to tweak the source code; however, I think the monitoring part and observability part could be improved.
What do you like most about Kubernetes?
There are many good features. I feel that the scale-out features, like replica sets, are very good. The number of running containers can be autoscaled.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Kubernetes?
Since we use Kubernetes on-premises, the costs are related to our expertise and the personnel we hire.
What needs improvement with Kubernetes?
Although we face issues when migrating to new versions of Kubernetes, such as misunderstandings on using new features or integration with proxy services, these issues can be addressed with proper p...
 

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service
K8
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GoDaddy, Pearson, FICO, Intuit, Verizon, Honeywell, Logicworks, RetailMeNot, LogMeIn, Conde Nast, mercari, Trainline, Axway
China unicom, NetEase Cloud, Nav, AppDirect
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EKS vs. Kubernetes and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
861,524 professionals have used our research since 2012.