# Amazon EKS vs Kubernetes

| Attribute | Amazon EKS | Kubernetes |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 53.2 (73% (medium)) | 63.6 (29% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 100 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 128,295 |
| 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":"A platform for orchestrating containerized applications across clusters of computers, automatically handling deployment, scaling, and updates based on decades of production experience at Google and community best practices. It is indexed under Container Orchestration Tools.","source":"https://kubernetes.io","question":"What is Kubernetes?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Kubernetes 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://kubernetes.io","question":"Is Kubernetes free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Kubernetes supports a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://kubernetes.io","question":"What platforms does Kubernetes support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Kubernetes 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://kubernetes.io","question":"Can Kubernetes be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Kubernetes 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/kubernetes/kubernetes","question":"Is Kubernetes open source?","confidence":0.95}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":true}` | `{"cloud":true,"hybrid":true,"on_prem":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. | An open source platform that automatically schedules, deploys, and manages containerized applications across clusters of machines, providing self-healing and automatic scaling capabilities. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"both","gui_dashboard":true,"orchestration":"kubernetes","managed_control_plane":true}` | `{"hosting":"both","orchestration":"kubernetes","k8s_conformant":true,"stateful_workloads":true,"windows_containers":true,"built_in_networking_cni":true}` |
| integrations.count | 11 | - |
| 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}]` | - |
| language.primary | - | Go |
| license.spdx | - | Apache-2.0 |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":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","summary":"Free and open source","sourceUrl":"https://kubernetes.io","retrievedAt":"2026-09-07T13:11:24.491Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | low | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":0.1,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 1 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.38.0-alpha.1","date":"2026-09-29T08:46:22Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.38.0-alpha.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.1","date":"2026-09-23T19:13:17Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.5","date":"2026-09-23T18:58:18Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.5"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.9","date":"2026-09-23T19:35:01Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.9"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.12","date":"2026-09-23T19:58:45Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.12"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0","date":"2026-08-26T16:29:12Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.37.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.4","date":"2026-08-20T11:48:16Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.8","date":"2026-08-20T18:59:55Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.8"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.11","date":"2026-08-20T18:45:38Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.11"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc.1","date":"2026-08-20T02:44:01Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-rc.0","date":"2026-08-06T12:04:57Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-rc.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.3","date":"2026-07-23T00:35:52Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.7","date":"2026-07-22T22:28:35Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.7"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.10","date":"2026-07-22T22:01:08Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.10"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-beta.0","date":"2026-07-20T23:21:18Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-beta.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-alpha.3","date":"2026-07-08T18:11:06Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-alpha.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.37.0-alpha.2","date":"2026-06-25T02:40:51Z","type":"prerelease","version":"v1.37.0-alpha.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.36.2","date":"2026-06-12T11:34:56Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.36.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.35.6","date":"2026-06-12T11:32:40Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.35.6"},{"url":"https://github.com/kubernetes/kubernetes/releases/tag/v1.34.9","date":"2026-06-12T11:30:42Z","type":"stable","version":"v1.34.9"}]` |
| reliability.status_page | yes | - |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.scorecard | - | 7.6 |
| security.trust_center | https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/ | https://kubernetes.io/docs/tutorials/security/cluster-level-pss/ |

## Capabilities (Container Orchestration Tools)

| Capability | Amazon EKS | Kubernetes |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Orchestration scope | Kubernetes | Kubernetes |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud + self-hosted | Cloud + self-hosted |
| **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 | - | - |
| **UX** |  |  |
| GUI dashboard | ✓ | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T20:10:20.842Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*