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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
7.1
Number of Reviews
55
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

"Amazon EKS is very stable, and when properly configured, I rate it ten out of ten."
"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."
"I would rate the stability of Amazon EKS ten out of ten, indicating it is highly stable."
"Amazon EKS offers replatforming and migration capabilities to our customers, enabling them to move from AWS to other platforms like AKS with minimal changes."
"EKS provides autoscaling functionality."
"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."
"Amazon EKS provides good support."
"The stability is excellent."
"The most valuable feature of Kubernetes is its support for load balancing."
"I am impressed with the product's coupling of resources and flexibility."
"The most valuable feature is the support for Docker containers."
"It's really scalable and efficient for resource management."
"I like the replication center and the configuration."
"I like Kubernetes' scalability, built-in redundancy, and ease of deployment."
"This product has a rich toolset from the community including CNI plug-ins, Helm packages, operators, dashboards, various integrations, etc."
"One of the most valuable features is the thickness of the cloud platform or on-prem file, which makes the solution straightforward to shift and scale. It works well with different types of deployment strategies and networks."
 

Cons

"Amazon EKS is not a solution that can be fully managed through automation, making it an area of concern where improvement is required."
"The major area for improvement I've seen involves deep diving into one CSP with no equivalent solution elsewhere."
"A cluster is required on-premises, which takes a lot of time."
"Sometimes, we face minor connectivity issues."
"I would like to see a cloud setup bank management feature."
"Amazon EKS should improve its integration."
"Amazon EKS's vulnerability management of data could be improved."
"I'd like improved traffic handling and additional application details within the system."
"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 like to see more validation tools added to this solution, this would provide pre-deployment analysis that developers could use before publishing their infrastructure."
"The setup process could be improved as it's quite complex, especially for newbies."
"One feature I would actually like to see is the network monitoring part. When we talk about communities, it's mostly the computer side. But it does have some enhancements on the networking side which they have recently released. I would like to see more enhancement where we can monitor the networks of the Kubernetes cluster or the Kubernetes workloads."
"Kubernetes can be complicated to understand."
"The pricing could be improved. It would be ideal if it was a bit less."
"Kubernetes is a complex solution. The product needs to be more manageable and user-friendly."
"It would be useful to have a basic and stable interface for monitoring and quick deployment purposes, especially when the deployments are big like a proof of concept or proof of technology. Currently, you need to use the Kubernetes console for all functionalities. It is not a quick-to-learn product if you are not from a Linux background. You need to be very skilled at Linux to learn it quickly. It took me two to three months because I mostly work with Microsoft products. For people who are not from a Linux background, the learning curve is a little bit longer."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"I would like a cheaper version of it."
"The price can be a problem for small-sized businesses."
"My company paid for the license."
"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's pricing is fair enough and a little less costly."
"The tool's pricing is good."
"I rate Amazon EKS’s pricing a nine out of ten."
"The solution is cheaper than one of its competitors."
"I am using the solution's open-source version."
"The solution is affordable."
"In addition to Kubernetes, you have to pay for support."
"This is an open-source solution, so there are no licensing costs associated with its use."
"Kubernetes is open-source."
"Kubernetes is open-source. Kubernetes is free, but we're charged for AWS utilization."
"The solution requires a license to use it."
"I would say the solution is worth the money, but it depends on the required workloads, the type of workload, and the scaling requirements etc."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
21%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
14%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
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?
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: July 2025.
864,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.