# Google Kubernetes Engine vs Azure Kubernetes Service

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/google-gke-vs-azure-aks/

Every value below is read from Google Kubernetes Engine's and Azure Kubernetes Service's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Google Kubernetes Engine | Azure Kubernetes Service |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments. | Not readable. The page names three tiers — Free with no SLA, Standard with one, Premium for long-term version support — and prints no figure against any of them in text, the same way Azure's SLA pages and Amazon's OpenSearch OCU rate do not. |
| Pricing model | 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. | Tiered by what the control plane promises rather than by capacity: Free has no SLA, Standard has one and raises the node limit to 5,000, Premium buys long-term support for older Kubernetes versions. Nodes are billed as ordinary Azure compute underneath. |
| Autoscaling | Supported — Autopilot bills the Pods you request rather than the nodes you run | Supported — Standard tier raises the node limit to 5,000; Free does not say |
| Uptime SLA | 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%. | None on the Free tier, stated in those words. Standard adds a financially backed API server uptime SLA and a pod readiness SLA; no percentage is printed on the pricing page. |

## Where they differ

### Entry paid plan

- Google Kubernetes Engine: $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments. ([source](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/pricing))
- Azure Kubernetes Service: Not readable. The page names three tiers — Free with no SLA, Standard with one, Premium for long-term version support — and prints no figure against any of them in text, the same way Azure's SLA pages and Amazon's OpenSearch OCU rate do not. ([source](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/kubernetes-service/))

### Pricing model

- 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. ([source](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/pricing))
- Azure Kubernetes Service: Tiered by what the control plane promises rather than by capacity: Free has no SLA, Standard has one and raises the node limit to 5,000, Premium buys long-term support for older Kubernetes versions. Nodes are billed as ordinary Azure compute underneath. ([source](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/kubernetes-service/))

### Uptime SLA

- Google Kubernetes Engine: 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%. ([source](https://cloud.google.com/kubernetes-engine/pricing))
- Azure Kubernetes Service: None on the Free tier, stated in those words. Standard adds a financially backed API server uptime SLA and a pod readiness SLA; no percentage is printed on the pricing page. ([source](https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/pricing/details/kubernetes-service/))

## Which should you choose?

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.

Pick Azure Kubernetes Service if Starting without paying for a control plane at all: the Free tier costs nothing and you pay only for nodes, which is the cheapest way into managed Kubernetes on a hyperscaler.

Consider something else: 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.

Consider something else: Azure Kubernetes Service — You want to know what production costs. The Free tier has no SLA in Azure's own words, Standard buys one, and the page prints no figure for either — the tier names render and the prices are filled in by an API after load.

## Documented by only one

- What the free plan includes: Google Kubernetes Engine: $74.40 a month in credits per billing account — the cluster fee for one Autopilot or zonal Standard cluster, refunded. The credits apply to no other SKU and do not roll over.
- Containers: Azure Kubernetes Service: Supported

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Google Kubernetes Engine or Azure Kubernetes Service?**

Google Kubernetes Engine: $0.10 per cluster per hour, flat across both Autopilot and Standard modes and charged in one-second increments.
Azure Kubernetes Service: Not readable. The page names three tiers — Free with no SLA, Standard with one, Premium for long-term version support — and prints no figure against any of them in text, the same way Azure's SLA pages and Amazon's OpenSearch OCU rate do not.

**Should I choose Google Kubernetes Engine or Azure Kubernetes Service?**

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.
Pick Azure Kubernetes Service if Starting without paying for a control plane at all: the Free tier costs nothing and you pay only for nodes, which is the cheapest way into managed Kubernetes on a hyperscaler.