# Amazon EKS vs K3s

| Attribute | Amazon EKS | K3s |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 53.2 (73% (medium)) | 51 (44% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 49 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 11 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 34,199 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A fully managed Kubernetes platform that automates cluster and infrastructure management, allowing teams to build and run production-grade containerized workloads with AWS's operational reliability and security. Supports unified workload management across cloud, on-premises, and edge locations. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What is Amazon EKS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Amazon EKS offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0.10 per hour. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/eks/","question":"Is Amazon EKS free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Amazon EKS supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What platforms does Amazon EKS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Amazon EKS can be deployed cloud / SaaS, hybrid, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"Can Amazon EKS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 11 integrations for Amazon EKS, including Cast AI, Tailscale, 1Password, Okta, Trend Micro, Orca Security, Vanta and Arctic Wolf, plus 3 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"What does Amazon EKS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed HIPAA and GDPR for Amazon EKS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Amazon EKS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/security/?nc1=f_cc","question":"What security certifications does Amazon EKS have?","confidence":0.7},{"answer":"Amazon EKS is available worldwide. Its primary market is the United States. The vendor is headquartered in the United States.","source":"https://aws.amazon.com/sagemaker/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_sgm","question":"Where is Amazon EKS available?","confidence":0.75}]` | `[{"answer":"K3s is a certified Kubernetes implementation that maintains full conformance while streamlining deployment through bundled components, simplified storage options, and a single-binary installation model suitable for resource-constrained environments and edge computing scenarios. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://k3s.io","question":"What is K3s?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"K3s is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the Apache-2.0 licence. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://k3s.io","question":"Is K3s free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"K3s supports Linux and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://k3s.io","question":"What platforms does K3s support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. K3s can be deployed cloud / SaaS, on-premise and self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://k3s.io","question":"Can K3s be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 9 integrations for K3s, including Traefik, CoreDNS, Helm, etcd, Local Path Provisioner, MariaDB, MySQL and PostgreSQL, plus 1 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://k3s.io","question":"What does K3s integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. K3s is published under the Apache-2.0 licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s","question":"Is K3s open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A fully managed Kubernetes platform that automates cluster and infrastructure management, allowing teams to build and run production-grade containerized workloads with AWS's operational reliability and security. Supports unified workload management across cloud, on-premises, and edge locations. | K3s is a minimal Kubernetes distribution designed for production use in resource-constrained environments like edge devices and IoT appliances. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","managed_control_plane":true}` | `{"hosting":"self","rootless":true,"arm_support":true,"cncf_maturity":"sandbox","orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"managed_control_plane":false,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` |
| integrations.count | 11 | 9 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Cast AI"},{"name":"Tailscale"},{"name":"1Password"},{"name":"Okta"},{"name":"Trend Micro"},{"name":"Orca Security"},{"name":"Vanta"},{"name":"Arctic Wolf"},{"name":"Asana"},{"name":"LucidLink"},{"name":"Brave Search API"},{"name":"Argo CD","native":true},{"name":"AWS Controllers for Kubernetes","native":true},{"name":"Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator","native":true}]` | `[{"name":"Traefik"},{"name":"CoreDNS"},{"name":"Helm"},{"name":"etcd"},{"name":"Local Path Provisioner"},{"name":"MariaDB"},{"name":"MySQL"},{"name":"PostgreSQL"},{"name":"SQLite"}]` |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | - |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"linux":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":false,"name":"Kubernetes Version Support - Standard Tier","summary":"$0.10/hour for first 14 months","features":["Standard Kubernetes version support for 14 months"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0.1,"period":"hour","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Kubernetes cluster with standard version support","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Kubernetes Version Support - Extended Tier","summary":"$0.60/hour for remaining 12 months","features":["Extended Kubernetes version support for 12 months"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0.6,"period":"hour","currency":"USD"}],"description":"Kubernetes cluster with extended version support","contactSales":false}],"addOns":[{"name":"EKS Provisioned Control Plane"},{"name":"EKS Auto Mode"},{"name":"EKS Capabilities"},{"name":"EKS Hybrid Nodes"}],"summary":"From $0.10/hour. Pay-as-you-go with hourly billing, no minimum fees or upfront commitments. Additional charges for EC2 instances, storage, and optional features.","currency":"USD","sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/eks/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-10-13T10:30:53.144Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0.1,"period":"hour","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["hour"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://k3s.io","retrievedAt":"2026-08-03T14:26:35.599Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | commercial |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.1,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | - |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-30T16:10:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.1-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T19:02:03Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.1-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.5%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-30T16:10:03Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.5+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.5-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T19:00:17Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.5-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.9%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-30T16:09:21Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.9+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.9-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T19:00:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.9-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.12%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-30T16:09:32Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.12+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.12-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T18:59:34Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.34.12-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.1-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T01:46:13Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.1-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.5-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T01:44:31Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.5-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.35.9-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T01:44:28Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.35.9-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.34.12-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-24T01:44:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.34.12-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-14T15:50:04Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc5%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-11T20:09:46Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc5+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc4%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-09T21:09:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc4+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc3%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-03T18:45:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc3+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc2%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-02T21:07:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc2+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-09-02T17:37:12Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc1+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.4%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-27T15:53:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.4+k3s1"},{"url":"https://github.com/k3s-io/k3s/releases/tag/v1.36.4-rc1%2Bk3s1","date":"2026-08-21T17:10:45Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.36.4-rc1+k3s1"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 8 |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":3,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=go&package_name=github.com%2Fk3s-io%2Fk3s&per_page=100","last_12m":1,"max_severity":"HIGH"}` |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Amazon EKS | K3s |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Self-hosted only |
| **Standards** |  |  |
| OCI / CRI compliant | - | - |
| CNCF Certified Kubernetes conformant | - | ✓ |
| **Security** |  |  |
| Rootless operation | - | ✓ |
| **Architecture** |  |  |
| Daemonless architecture | - | - |
| **Platform** |  |  |
| Windows containers | - | - |
| ARM architecture support | - | ✓ |
| **Workloads** |  |  |
| GPU scheduling | - | - |
| Stateful workloads | - | ✓ |
| **Networking** |  |  |
| Built-in networking / CNI | - | ✓ |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Vendor-managed control plane | ✓ | ✗ |
| **Ecosystem** |  |  |
| CNCF maturity | - | Sandbox |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | ✓ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T18:56:36.568Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*