Amazon EKS vs Google Kubernetes Engine
A detailed comparison to help you choose between Amazon EKS and Google Kubernetes Engine.
 Amazon EKS AWS-managed Kubernetes with automatic control plane patching and scaling | Google Kubernetes Engine Managed Kubernetes on Google Cloud with automated scaling and updates | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| Rating | 4.1 (140 reviews) | 4.6 (314 reviews)✓ |
| Pricing model | paid | freemium |
| Starting price | From €73/mo | Free tier available✓ |
| Best for | Organizations already committed to AWS who need production Kubernetes without managing the control plane infrastructure. | Teams running containerized workloads who want managed Kubernetes without operational overhead and need native GCP service integration. |
| Tags | ||
| Tags | managed optionapi accessus datacentereu datacenterapac datacenterterraform provider | free tiermanaged optionapi accesseu datacenterus datacenterapac datacenterterraform provider |
| Visit Amazon EKS → | Visit Google Kubernetes Engine → | |
Amazon EKS
Pros
- + Eliminate control plane management and security patching
- + Integrate natively with AWS IAM, CloudWatch, and VPC networking
- + Choose between EC2 or Fargate for compute without managing nodes
- + Run multi-az clusters with automatic failover
Cons
- - AWS-only solution with vendor lock-in for infrastructure
- - Higher total cost than self-managed Kubernetes due to control plane fees
- - Steeper learning curve if unfamiliar with AWS ecosystem
Google Kubernetes Engine
Pros
- + Scale applications automatically across thousands of containers
- + Simplify cluster upgrades with automated control plane and node management
- + Integrate directly with Google Cloud services like Cloud Build and Artifact Registry
- + Reduce security complexity with Workload Identity and native IAM controls
Cons
- - Higher cost than self-managed Kubernetes for small, simple workloads
- - Requires Google Cloud account and familiarity with GCP ecosystem
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