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What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes is a hosting & deployment tool. Kubernetes (K8s) is an open source container orchestration platform for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It is a CNCF graduated project based on Google's 15 years of production experience. Key capabilities: Container orchestration, Auto-scaling, Service discovery, Load balancing, Self-healing. Kubernetes is free to use with no paid tier. Buyers most often compare Kubernetes against Docker, OpenShift, Nomad.

TL;DR - Kubernetes

  • The industry standard for container orchestration at scale
  • Declarative configuration with automatic healing and scaling
  • Massive ecosystem of tools, operators, and integrations
Pricing: Free forever
Best for: Individuals & startups
4.6/5 across review platforms

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Industry standard
  • Highly scalable
  • Open source

Cons

  • Complex setup
  • Steep learning curve

Ratings Across the Web

4.6(153 reviews)

Ratings aggregated from independent review platforms. Learn more

Key Features

Container orchestrationAuto-scalingService discoveryLoad balancingSelf-healingSecret managementStorage orchestrationBatch execution

Pricing Plans

Open Source

$0

  • Container orchestration
  • Automated rollouts/rollbacks
  • Service discovery & load balancing
  • Storage orchestration
  • Self-healing
  • Horizontal pod autoscaling
  • CNCF graduated project
  • MIT license

AWS EKS

$0.10

  • Managed control plane
  • Auto-scaling node groups
  • Fargate serverless pods
  • EKS Anywhere (on-premises)
  • Extended version support available

Google GKE

$0.10

  • Managed control plane
  • Autopilot mode (fully managed nodes)
  • One free zonal cluster
  • Multi-cluster mesh
  • GKE Enterprise available

Azure AKS

$0

  • Free control plane (Free tier)
  • Standard tier at $0.10/cluster/hr
  • Premium tier for mission-critical
  • Azure Arc integration
  • Virtual nodes with ACI
Kubernetes (K8s) is an open source container orchestration platform for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It is a CNCF graduated project based on Google's 15 years of production experience.

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Kubernetes FAQ

What is Kubernetes?

Kubernetes (K8s) is an open source platform for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It groups containers into logical units for easy management.

Is Kubernetes free?

Yes, Kubernetes is free and open source under the CNCF. However, running Kubernetes requires infrastructure. Managed services like AWS EKS, Google GKE, and Azure AKS have their own pricing.

What is container orchestration?

Container orchestration automates the deployment, management, scaling, and networking of containers. Kubernetes handles scheduling, load balancing, health checks, and automatic restarts.

What is the difference between Docker and Kubernetes?

Docker is for building and running containers on a single host. Kubernetes orchestrates containers across multiple hosts, handling scaling, networking, and high availability for production workloads.

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