Amazon EKS
Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is the managed Kubernetes service from AWS. AWS operates the Kubernetes control plane, you focus on your containerised applications.
What is Amazon EKS?
Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) is AWS’s managed Kubernetes service. Kubernetes is the leading platform for container orchestration – that is, for automatically distributing, scaling and monitoring many containers across multiple servers. However, operating the Kubernetes control plane is demanding and requires specialist knowledge.
This is exactly where EKS comes in: AWS operates the control plane with high availability and maintains it, taking care of updates and security patches. Your team only needs to manage the worker nodes and your own applications. This makes Kubernetes viable even for medium-sized businesses that do not have a dedicated platform team.
How does EKS work?
An EKS cluster consists of two parts:
- Control Plane: Managed by AWS, distributed across multiple Availability Zones and automatically scaled. This is where the Kubernetes API server and the scheduler run.
- Worker nodes: The EC2 instances or Fargate capacities on which your containers actually run. You manage these yourself – for example, via Managed Node Groups, which AWS supports with updates.
Applications are executed as pods on the worker nodes. You use deployments, services and ingress rules to control how the application scales and is accessible from the outside.
EKS with EC2 or Fargate?
You have two options for the worker nodes. With classic EC2 nodes, you have full control and can use Spot Instances to save costs. With AWS Fargate, node management is completely eliminated – AWS provides the computing capacity per pod. Many setups combine both: predictable base load on EC2, short-lived or fluctuating workloads on Fargate.
Benefits of EKS for SMEs
- Reduced operational overhead: the complex control plane is operated by AWS.
- Standard-compliant Kubernetes: EKS uses unmodified upstream Kubernetes – no vendor lock-in at API level.
- Deep AWS integration: IAM-based permissions, load balancers and CloudWatch monitoring work seamlessly together.
- Automatic scaling: Cluster Autoscaler and Horizontal Pod Autoscaler adjust capacity and the number of pods to the load.
When is EKS worth it?
EKS is worth it if you run multiple containerised applications, want to introduce GitOps workflows, or need a portable platform that isn’t completely tied to a single provider. For a single, simple application, leaner services such as Amazon ECS or Fargate are often the more cost-effective choice. A thorough assessment of the specific use case prevents unnecessary complexity.
Frequently asked questions about Amazon EKS
AWS charges a fee of around USD 0.10 per hour per EKS cluster, i.e. around USD 73 per month for the Control Plane. Added to this are the costs for worker nodes (EC2 or Fargate), networking and storage. A typical production cluster in the SME sector costs a total of USD 500 to 2,000 per month.
EKS runs standards-compliant Kubernetes and is suitable for complex, portable setups. ECS is the simpler, AWS-specific container orchestration with fewer concepts and less familiarisation effort. ECS is suitable for manageable container applications, EKS for multi-layered platforms.
Not necessarily. EKS takes the most demanding part - operating the control plane - off your hands. However, basic Kubernetes knowledge is still necessary. Many medium-sized companies work with an external partner in the initial phase and build up internal expertise in parallel.
No at API level: EKS uses unchanged upstream Kubernetes, meaning that deployments can generally be transferred to other Kubernetes platforms. Lock-in is caused more by deeply integrated AWS-specific components such as load balancers or IAM connections - this can be limited by conscious architectural decisions.
Related terms
Last updated: May 2026