Kubernetes has become the de facto standard for container orchestration. GKE, EKS, and AKS each have different pricing models with real cost implications.
Control Plane Fees: Where It Starts
| Provider | Service | Control Plane Cost |
|---|---|---|
| AWS | EKS | $0.10/hour = $73/month per cluster |
| Azure | AKS | Free |
| GCP | GKE Standard | $0.10/hour = $73/month per cluster |
| Oracle | OKE | Free |
Azure and OCI win immediately — running 5 clusters on AKS saves $365/month vs EKS.
6-Node Production Cluster (4 vCPU, 16 GB per node)
| Provider | Node Type | 6 Nodes/Month | Control Plane | Total/Month |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AWS EKS | m5.xlarge | $840 | $73 | $913 |
| Azure AKS | D4s v5 | $840 | Free | $840 |
| GCP GKE | n2-standard-4 | $848 | $73 | $921 |
| OCI OKE | E4.Flex 2 OCPU | $280 | Free | $280 |
Spot/Preemptible Nodes
All clouds offer deeply discounted interruptible nodes (up to 90% off). A common pattern: 2–3 on-demand nodes for stateful workloads + Spot nodes for stateless — reducing total cluster cost by 50–70%.
GKE Autopilot: Pay Per Pod
GKE Autopilot charges per pod resource — ideal for variable workloads where you're not fully utilising nodes. For a cluster running at 40% utilisation, Autopilot can save 55% vs GKE Standard.
Why GCP is Recommended Despite Higher Cost
- Google created Kubernetes — GKE gets new features first
- GKE Autopilot is genuinely innovative for variable workloads
- Google's global network is best for distributed Kubernetes
- Automatic sustained use discounts apply without reservations
Recommendation by Use Case
| Scenario | Best Choice |
|---|---|
| Cost is primary driver | OCI OKE |
| Microsoft-heavy organisation | Azure AKS |
| Variable workloads, pod-level billing | GCP GKE Autopilot |
| AWS-centric architecture | AWS EKS |
Model your specific cluster configuration in TCOIQ's Inventory Builder to get an accurate monthly and annual Kubernetes TCO.
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