kubernetes

GKE vs AKS vs EKS

The three major cloud providers Google Cloud (GKE), Microsoft Azure (AKS), and Amazon Web Services (EKS) offer managed Kubernetes services with different features, pricing, and operational models.

This comparison highlights practical differentiators.

Aspect	GKE (Google)	AKS (Azure)	EKS (AWS)
Control plane	Fully managed, auto-replicated (no fee) ✅	Managed, free control plane ✅	Managed (small hourly fee) ⚠️
Cluster creation speed	Fast (few mins) 🚀	Moderate ⏱️	Slowest first create 🐢
Upgrade cadence	Fast adoption of new K8s versions ⭐	Moderate ⏳	Slightly behind GKE ⏳
Surge / zero-downtime upgrades	Node auto-upgrade + surge built-in ✅	Supported (needs config) ⚠️	Supported (more manual planning) ⚠️
Autoscaling	Node, Pod (HPA/VPA), multi-dimensional (GKE Autopilot) ✅	Node + HPA + KEDA (event) ✅	Node + HPA; Karpenter adds power (extra setup) ⚠️
Operational modes	Standard & Autopilot (hands-off) ✅	Standard only (some features in fleet mode) ⚠️	Standard; serverless Fargate (limited) ⚖️
Networking	VPC-native (Alias IP), advanced L7/L4 ✅	Azure CNI / Kubenet; dual-stack maturing ⚠️	VPC CNI fast; IP exhaustion risk (tunable) ⚠️
Ingress / LB	Multi-class + Cloud LB + NEG ✅	App GW Ingress Controller strong ✅	ALB Controller install required ⚠️
Multi-zone / regional	Regional clusters (control plane + nodes) ✅	AZ support; zone-aware config ⚠️	Multi-AZ standard ✅
Security / IAM	Workload Identity smooth ✅	AAD integration strong ✅	IRSA powerful but config-heavy ⚠️
Default hardening	Autopilot enforces policies 🔒	Baseline; Defender adds more (paid) ⚠️	Baseline; GuardDuty / Inspector add-ons (paid) ⚠️
Service mesh	Anthos / Istio managed (optional) ✅	Open Service Mesh / Istio add-ons ⚠️	App Mesh / Istio DIY ⚠️
Storage	Filestore / Persistent Disk performant ✅	Azure Disk / Files versatile ✅	EBS fast; EFS (RWX) higher latency ⚖️
Marketplace / add-ons	Rich container marketplace ⭐	Azure Marketplace strong ⭐	AWS Marketplace broad (ops-heavy) ⚠️
Cost model	Pay nodes (Autopilot per pod-hour) 💲⚖️	Pay nodes only (control plane free) 💲✅	Pay nodes + control plane fee + extras 💲⚠️
Observability	Cloud Logging + Metrics tight integration ✅	Azure Monitor Container Insights ✅	CloudWatch basic; many add Prom/Grafana ⚠️
Learning curve	Easiest managed UX 😀	Smooth for Microsoft-centric teams 😀	Steeper; many knobs 🧗
Best fit	Data/AI, fast iteration, low ops ✅	Hybrid / Microsoft stack / AD integration ✅	Highly tunable, deep AWS ecosystem ✅
Common downsides	Autopilot limits some daemonsets ⚠️	Occasional API throttling / regional variance ⚠️	More YAML + IAM complexity ❌

Decision Guide (Pick by Scenario)

For minimal ops & fast iteration: GKE (especially Autopilot) is the top choice. Its speed and managed experience are ideal for teams that want to focus on apps, not infra. 🚀
For Microsoft-centric & hybrid environments: AKS provides the smoothest integration with Azure AD, Windows Server containers, and existing Azure investments. 🔗
For maximum control & deep ecosystem integration: EKS is the most tunable platform, perfect for teams that need granular control over networking, security (IAM), and scaling within the AWS ecosystem. ⚙️

Practical Notes

Start with whichever cloud your org already uses—network + IAM integration usually outweighs raw feature deltas.
Invest early in cluster autoscaling and right-sizing your nodes before considering multi-cloud migrations for cost savings.
Standardize your core add-ons. How you handle ingress (e.g., NGINX vs. a cloud-native load balancer), logging/metrics (e.g., Prometheus/Grafana vs. cloud-native tools), and secret management will differ subtly per provider. Choose a strategy early.
Keep version skew low; plan regular upgrades (quarterly). GKE often exposes new versions first; lag on others can impact feature parity.

Emoji Legend

✅ strength

⚠️ trade-off

❌ weaker

🚀 speed

⭐ standout

🔒 security

⚖️ situational

😀 easy

🧗 steeper effort

Quick Tip

Optimize cost first with proper node families, autoscaling thresholds, and rightsizing before switching providers. Operational consistency often beats minor price differences.

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