Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service
Managed Kubernetes
AWS operates the Kubernetes control plane; you run pods on EC2 or Fargate.
- Cost$$$ High
- Difficulty●●●●●
- Costs money when idle?Yes
- Managed by AWS
- In examsSAA · DVA · SOA
Think of it asLike renting a Kubernetes control station that's already staffed; you only look after the train cars.
Where does EKS fit?
A real example, step by step
- The company runs Kubernetes in its data center and wants to move to AWS without rewriting its configuration.
- You create an EKS cluster; AWS runs the control plane across multiple AZs and upgrades Kubernetes versions.
- You add a managed node group of EC2 instances, then apply your existing YAML files with kubectl.
- Pods that need to read S3 get their own IAM permissions per pod instead of sharing the whole node's permissions.
- Some irregular jobs move to Fargate so you don't keep machines running idle.
When to use it
✓ Use it when
Already using Kubernetes, need the K8s ecosystem, running multi-cloud/hybrid.
✗ Avoid it when
Small apps, team without K8s experience → ECS.
Common uses
- Teams already on Kubernetes that need the Helm and operator ecosystem
- Internal platform shared by many teams
- Multi-cloud or hybrid workloads
EKS, ECS or Fargate?
| EKS |  ECS |  Fargate | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | Standard Kubernetes managed by AWS | AWS's container orchestrator | Serverless compute for containers |
| Portability | Easy: standard Kubernetes | Hard: AWS only | Used with ECS or EKS |
| Separate fee | Hourly control plane fee | None | vCPU and memory |
| Best for | Teams already on Kubernetes | Teams that want simplicity | Not managing nodes |
What does it cost?
- Pricing model: ~$0.10/hour per cluster (~$73/month) + EC2 or Fargate to run pods. Clusters on a Kubernetes version past standard support move to Extended Support pricing (~$0.60/hour).
- Free tier: None.
Not upgrading Kubernetes versions in time → Extended Support fees 6× higher; creating many small clusters; forgotten load balancers auto-created by Services of type LoadBalancer.
Mentions of “already using Kubernetes”, “open-source Kubernetes tools” or “migrating a K8s cluster from on-premises” → EKS. No mention of Kubernetes and minimal operations wanted → ECS on Fargate.
Frequently asked questions
How is EKS different from installing Kubernetes on EC2 yourself?
With EKS, AWS manages the control plane (API server, etcd) across multiple AZs and handles version upgrades. Installing it yourself on EC2 means operating, backing up and upgrading the whole cluster on your own.
How does EKS run worker nodes?
There are three options: managed node groups (AWS creates and updates the EC2 instances for you), self-managed nodes (you manage the EC2 instances), and Fargate (each pod runs in isolation with no nodes to manage). You can mix them in one cluster.
How is EKS priced?
Each cluster has an hourly control plane fee, plus the cost of the nodes (EC2 or Fargate), load balancers and storage. Clusters on old Kubernetes versions that are past standard support are charged a higher rate.
What do AWS exams ask about EKS?
When to choose EKS over ECS (the team already uses Kubernetes or is migrating from on-premises), granting IAM permissions to pods, and running pods on Fargate to avoid managing nodes.