Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon EKS VS AWS Fargate

Compare Amazon EKS VS AWS Fargate and see what are their differences

Amazon EKS logo Amazon EKS

Amazon EKS makes it easy for you to run Kubernetes on AWS without needing to install and operate your own Kubernetes clusters.

AWS Fargate logo AWS Fargate

AWS Fargate is a compute engine for Amazon ECS and EKS that allows you to run containers without having to manage servers or clusters.
  • Amazon EKS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-30
  • AWS Fargate Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-29

Amazon EKS features and specs

  • Managed Service
    Amazon EKS is a managed Kubernetes service, which means AWS handles the control plane, saving time and operational overhead.
  • Scalability
    EKS integrates with AWS's scaling tools such as Auto Scaling groups, allowing for seamless scaling of applications.
  • Security
    Offers integration with AWS IAM for authentication and supports network policies and encryption for securing applications.
  • AWS Ecosystem Integration
    Deeply integrated with other AWS services like VPC, IAM, CloudWatch, and more, providing a streamlined experience.
  • Community and Ecosystem Support
    Being a Kubernetes service, it benefits from the extensive Kubernetes ecosystem and community support for tools and extensions.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon EKS

  • Cost
    While EKS simplifies management, it comes with additional costs over using self-managed Kubernetes clusters.
  • Complexity
    EKS, like Kubernetes itself, can be complex to manage and configure, needing skilled personnel to handle deployments.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Reliance on AWS services can make it hard to migrate to another cloud provider or an on-premises solution if needed.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    Organizations new to Kubernetes might find the learning curve steep when adopting EKS, requiring significant training and adjustment.
  • Regional Availability
    EKS might not be available in all AWS regions, limiting deployment flexibility for global applications.

AWS Fargate features and specs

  • Simplified Management
    AWS Fargate eliminates the need to provision, configure, and scale clusters of virtual machines, simplifying container management and reducing operational overhead.
  • Scalability
    Fargate automatically scales compute capacity to match the resource requirements of your application, ensuring performance and cost-efficiency.
  • Isolation
    Each Fargate task runs in its own environment, providing better security through enhanced isolation between tasks compared to shared environments.
  • Cost Efficiency
    Fargate allows you to pay only for the resources you actually use, such as vCPU and memory, which can be more cost-effective for unpredictable workloads.
  • Integration
    Fargate integrates seamlessly with other AWS services like Amazon ECS, ECR, IAM, and CloudWatch, providing a cohesive ecosystem for building and deploying applications.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Fargate

  • Higher Cost for Persistent Workloads
    While Fargate can be cost-efficient for variable workloads, it may become more expensive compared to EC2 for long-running, persistent workloads due to its pricing model.
  • Configuration Limitations
    Fargate may have limitations on the customization and configuration options available, which can be restrictive for certain use cases requiring highly specialized setups.
  • Cold Start Latency
    Fargate can experience cold start latency, where newly instantiated containers take a few seconds or longer to become operational, which can be a drawback for latency-sensitive applications.
  • Limited to AWS Ecosystem
    Fargate is tied to AWS's ecosystem, potentially causing vendor lock-in and limiting flexibility if you need to transition to a multi-cloud or hybrid environment.
  • Learning Curve
    For teams not familiar with the AWS ecosystem, there can be a learning curve associated with leveraging Fargate and its integrations effectively.

Amazon EKS videos

Amazon EKS Architecture Introduction

More videos:

  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2018: [REPEAT 1] Deep Dive on Amazon EKS (CON361-R1)
  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2020: Looking at Amazon EKS through a networking lens
  • Review - Amazon EKS Roadmap - Nathan Taber
  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2023 - The future of Amazon EKS (CON203)
  • Review - Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes (Amazon EKS)

AWS Fargate videos

Deep Dive into AWS Fargate

More videos:

  • Tutorial - AWS Fargate Tutorial | AWS Tutorial For Beginners | AWS Certification Training | Edureka
  • Review - AWS Fargate - Running Dockerized Apps

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon EKS and AWS Fargate)
Cloud Computing
57 57%
43% 43
Developer Tools
48 48%
52% 52
Cloud Hosting
52 52%
48% 48
DevOps Tools
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon EKS and AWS Fargate

Amazon EKS Reviews

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AWS Fargate Reviews

Top 12 Kubernetes Alternatives to Choose From in 2023
For Container-as-a-Service (CaaS) Kubernetes alternatives, AWS Fargate is a great option. It is well-known for simplifying container management and deployment on AWS.
Source: humalect.com
Top 10 Best Container Software in 2022
Using AWS Fargate, you now don’t need to provision, configure, and scale cluster virtual machines to execute containers. This, in turn, eliminates the requirement to select server types, determine at what time to scale your clusters or optimize cluster packing.

Social recommendations and mentions

Amazon EKS might be a bit more popular than AWS Fargate. We know about 70 links to it since March 2021 and only 50 links to AWS Fargate. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon EKS mentions (70)

  • Vector: A lightweight tool for collecting EKS application logs with long-term storage capabilities
    In this article, we present an architecture that demonstrates how to collect application logs from Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) via Vector, store them in Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for long-term retention, and finally query these logs using AWS Glue and Amazon Athena. - Source: dev.to / 4 days ago
  • Comparing the Top 10 Managed Kubernetes Providers (2025 Edition)
    Amazon EKS Deep AWS integration (just bring your patience). - Source: dev.to / 17 days ago
  • Top 8 Docker Alternatives to Consider in 2025
    AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) provide managed container orchestration platforms integrated with AWS infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Securing Applications Using Keycloak's Helm Chart
    Kubernetes cluster: You need a running Kubernetes cluster that supports persistent volumes. You can use a local cluster, like kind or Minikube, or a cloud-based solution, like GKE%20orEKS or EKS. The cluster should expose ports 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS) for external access. Persistent storage should be configured to retain Keycloak data (e.g., user credentials, sessions) across restarts. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • HardenEKS: The Easy Way to keep your AWS EKS clusters secure and compliant
    HardenEKS is a potent Python-based Command Line Interface (CLI), capable of systematically assessing whether Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) clusters comply with the strict guidelines laid out in the AWS EKS Best Practices Guide (EBPG). This comprehensive guide covers six fundamental pillars of best practices for Amazon EKS clusters:. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
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AWS Fargate mentions (50)

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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon EKS and AWS Fargate, you can also consider the following products

Google Kubernetes Engine - Google Kubernetes Engine is a powerful cluster manager and orchestration system for running your Docker containers. Set up a cluster in minutes.

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

Azure Container Service - Azure Container Service is a solution that optimizes the configuration of popular open-source tools and technologies specifically for Azure, it provides an open solution that offers portability for both users containers and users application configu…

Amazon ECS - Amazon EC2 Container Service is a highly scalable, high-performance​ container management service that supports Docker containers.

AWS Lambda - Automatic, event-driven compute service

Amazon EC2 - Amazon Web Services offers reliable, scalable, and inexpensive cloud computing services. Free to join, pay only for what you use.