Amazon EKS vs Google Kubernetes Engine
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Amazon EKS and Google Kubernetes Engine built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose Amazon EKS if…
A cluster that has to sit inside AWS — IAM on the cluster, VPC networking, EC2 or Fargate nodes — with a 99.95% control-plane SLA measured in five-minute intervals rather than described in prose.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Google Kubernetes Engine if…
One cluster, free. The $74.40 monthly credit is exactly the cluster fee for one Autopilot or zonal Standard cluster refunded, and Autopilot bills the Pods you ask for rather than the nodes you guessed at.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- Amazon EKS: You run many small clusters. $0.10 an hour is about $73 a year each before a node exists, and it becomes $0.60 an hour the moment you fall behind on Kubernetes versions — DigitalOcean charges nothing for the control plane at all.
- Google Kubernetes Engine: You need the SLA the free cluster does not get. Zonal Standard clusters — the shape the credit covers — carry 99.5% against 99.95% for regional and Autopilot, and the credits apply to no other SKU and do not roll over.
4 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Amazon EKS 0
Google Kubernetes Engine 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Amazon EKS | Google Kubernetes Engine |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $0.10 per cluster per hour on standard Kubernetes version support — roughly $73 a year before any node runs. Extended version support, for clusters kept on an older Kubernetes release, is $0.60 per cluster per hour. | $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments. |
| Pricing model | Per cluster per hour for the control plane, with the rate rising sixfold if you stay on an unsupported Kubernetes version. Nodes, EKS Auto Mode, add-on capabilities and hybrid nodes are each metered separately on top. | A flat per-cluster fee regardless of mode, plus compute — which is where Autopilot and Standard actually differ, Autopilot billing the Pods you request and Standard the nodes you run. |
| Infrastructure | ||
| Autoscaling | Supported | Supported — Autopilot bills the Pods you request rather than the nodes you run |
| Uptime SLA | 99.95% monthly for the Kubernetes endpoint of a Standard Control Plane cluster, measured in five-minute intervals. | 99.95% for the control plane of Autopilot and regional Standard clusters; 99.5% for zonal Standard clusters. Autopilot Pods spread across multiple zones carry 99.9%. |
Where they differ.
Free tier
- Amazon EKS
- No
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- Yes
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon EKS Pricing ↗
“You pay $0.10 per hour for each Amazon EKS cluster that you create.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- GKE pricing ↗
“Free tier The GKE free tier provides $74.40 in monthly credits per billing account, which is equivalent to one free Autopilot or zonal Standard cluster per month.”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Entry paid plan
- Amazon EKS
- $0.10 per cluster per hour on standard Kubernetes version support — roughly $73 a year before any node runs. Extended version support, for clusters kept on an older Kubernetes release, is $0.60 per cluster per hour.
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon EKS Pricing ↗
“Kubernetes Version Support Tier Pricing Standard Kubernetes version support $0.10 per cluster per hour Extended Kubernetes version support $0.60 per cluster per hour”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- GKE pricing ↗
“Cluster management fee A flat cluster management fee of $0.10 per cluster per hour (charged in 1 second increments) applies to all G”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Pricing model
- Amazon EKS
- Per cluster per hour for the control plane, with the rate rising sixfold if you stay on an unsupported Kubernetes version. Nodes, EKS Auto Mode, add-on capabilities and hybrid nodes are each metered separately on top.
- Google Kubernetes Engine
- A flat per-cluster fee regardless of mode, plus compute — which is where Autopilot and Standard actually differ, Autopilot billing the Pods you request and Standard the nodes you run.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon EKS Pricing ↗
“You pay $0.10 per hour for each Amazon EKS cluster that you create. You can use a single EKS cluster to run multi”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
- GKE pricing ↗
“This page explains pricing for compute resources, cluster operation mode, cluster management fees, and applicable ingress fees in Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE).”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
Uptime SLA
99.95% monthly for the Kubernetes endpoint of a Standard Control Plane cluster, measured in five-minute intervals.
99.95% for the control plane of Autopilot and regional Standard clusters; 99.5% for zonal Standard clusters. Autopilot Pods spread across multiple zones carry 99.9%.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon EKS Service Level Agreement ↗
“AWS will use commercially reasonable efforts to make the Kubernetes endpoint for an Amazon EKS Cluster with the Standard Control Plane available with a Monthly Uptime Percentage of at least 99.95% during any monthly billing cycle, measured in 5-minute intervals”
Read 2026-09-15 · official site
- GKE pricing ↗
“99.95% for the control plane of Autopilot clusters and regional Standard clusters. 99.5% for the control plane of zona”
Read 2026-09-15 · official pricing
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Amazon EKS or Google Kubernetes Engine?
Amazon EKS: $0.10 per cluster per hour on standard Kubernetes version support — roughly $73 a year before any node runs. Extended version support, for clusters kept on an older Kubernetes release, is $0.60 per cluster per hour.
Google Kubernetes Engine: $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments.
Free tier: Amazon EKS or Google Kubernetes Engine?
Amazon EKS: No
Google Kubernetes Engine: Yes
Should I choose Amazon EKS or Google Kubernetes Engine?
Pick Amazon EKS if A cluster that has to sit inside AWS — IAM on the cluster, VPC networking, EC2 or Fargate nodes — with a 99.95% control-plane SLA measured in five-minute intervals rather than described in prose.
Pick Google Kubernetes Engine if One cluster, free. The $74.40 monthly credit is exactly the cluster fee for one Autopilot or zonal Standard cluster refunded, and Autopilot bills the Pods you ask for rather than the nodes you guessed at.