In an EKS vs AKS vs GKE cost comparison, the headline is that the control plane fee is the smallest part of the bill and the worker nodes are almost everything. All three services charge for the compute, storage, and networking your nodes consume the same way the underlying cloud does, so the real cost difference comes from each provider's instance prices, discount instruments, and how efficiently their autoscaling packs your pods. Picking the cheapest managed Kubernetes is far less important than running whichever one you choose efficiently.
This comparison is part of our Kubernetes and container cost cluster. For the full picture, start with our complete guide to Kubernetes cost optimization, the pillar this piece links up to. Whichever platform you land on, the savings come from the work in rightsizing requests and limits.
The control plane fee is the small part
Each provider treats the managed control plane differently. Historically GKE and EKS have charged a per-cluster hourly management fee while AKS has offered a free standard tier with a paid uptime SLA tier, though all three have adjusted these terms over time. Either way, the control plane fee is a fixed cost per cluster measured in tens of dollars a month, which is trivial next to a node fleet measured in thousands. Do not let the management fee drive the platform choice; verify each provider's current control plane pricing before you model it, because these terms change.
Node pricing is where the money is
The worker nodes are billed as ordinary virtual machines on each cloud, so the comparison becomes a comparison of EC2, Azure VM, and Compute Engine pricing for the families you run. Prices differ by region, family, and generation, and each provider has cheaper and more expensive niches, so there is no universal winner. What moves the bill far more than the list-price difference between providers is how full your nodes run, which is a function of rightsizing and packing rather than which logo is on the invoice.
Comparing clouds for a Kubernetes migration?
Our cost audit models your actual workloads against EKS, AKS, and GKE pricing, including discounts and Spot, and projects the monthly bill on each. On the performance model, you pay only from realized savings. No savings, no fee.
Book a cloud cost audit →Discounts and commitments differ
Each cloud has its own way to discount steady node capacity: AWS through Savings Plans and Reserved Instances, Azure through Reserved Instances and savings plans, and Google through committed use discounts and sustained use discounts. The depth and flexibility vary, and the right instrument depends on how predictable your baseline is. Applying these to a cluster takes care, because nodes are dynamic; the mechanics are in how to use commitments with Kubernetes. Spot and preemptible capacity layer on top for interruptible work and often deliver the deepest discount of all.
Autoscaling and packing efficiency
The three services differ in their default autoscaling stories. GKE offers Autopilot, a node-abstracted mode billed per pod resource request, alongside standard node-managed clusters; EKS pairs with Cluster Autoscaler or Karpenter; AKS uses Cluster Autoscaler with its own node-provisioning options. The efficiency of these matters more than sticker price, because a tighter packer means fewer nodes for the same work. The autoscaler trade-offs are in Cluster Autoscaler vs Karpenter for cost.
| Dimension | EKS (AWS) | AKS (Azure) | GKE (Google) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Control plane fee | Per-cluster hourly | Free tier plus paid SLA | Per-cluster hourly |
| Node billing | EC2 pricing | Azure VM pricing | Compute Engine pricing |
| Commitment discount | Savings Plans, RIs | RIs, savings plans | CUDs, sustained use |
| Interruptible | Spot | Spot | Spot, preemptible |
| Serverless mode | Fargate | Node pools, ACI | Autopilot |
Pricing models, control plane fees, and product names above reflect each provider as of May 2026 and change frequently. Verify the current pricing pages for EKS, AKS, and GKE before modeling a migration, as terms and discounts are revised regularly.
The Kubernetes Cost Optimization Handbook includes the cross-cloud cost model and the discount comparison behind this article. It is the downloadable companion.
The short version
EKS, AKS, and GKE price the control plane differently but it is the small part; the bill is the worker nodes, billed as ordinary VMs on each cloud. The real cost difference comes from node prices, discount instruments, and packing efficiency, not from which managed service you pick. Run whichever you choose efficiently and the platform choice barely shows on the invoice. When you want the three modeled against your actual workloads, that is what our rightsizing and waste elimination service delivers.