AWS EKS Pricing (2026)
Managed Kubernetes services handle the control plane, upgrades, and scaling of Kubernetes clusters. Focus on deploying your containers while the provider manages the underlying infrastructure. EKS charges $0.10/hr for the control plane; Fargate integration available for serverless pods. Starting from $0.0283/hr ($20.64/mo) for Compute.
Key Features
- ✓Fully managed control plane with automatic upgrades
- ✓Integration with cloud IAM, networking, and storage
- ✓Node auto-scaling and auto-repair
- ✓Support for GPU and ARM-based node pools
- ✓Multi-cluster management and service mesh options
Common Use Cases
Microservices Platform
Run complex microservice architectures with service discovery, load balancing, and rolling deployments.
CI/CD Pipelines
Build and deploy applications using Kubernetes-native CI/CD workflows.
ML Training
Schedule distributed ML training jobs across GPU node pools with auto-scaling.
On-Demand Pricing
Pay-as-you-go pricing with no upfront commitment. You are billed per hour of usage and can start or stop at any time. Hourly rates start at $0.0283/hr ($20.64/mo) for Compute.
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo |
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| Compute | - | - |
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| Compute | $0.9884 | $721.55 |
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| Compute | $0.5346 | $390.29 |
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| Compute | $3.2007 | $2,336.53 |
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| Compute | $0.0283 | $20.64 |
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| Compute | $0.3318 | $242.20 |
Reserved Instance & Savings Plans Pricing
Commit to 1 or 3 years for lower hourly rates.
| Instance | Price/hr | Price/mo | 1yr RI/hr | 3yr RI/hr |
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| Compute | - | - | - | - |
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| Compute | $0.9884 | $721.55 | - | - |
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| Compute | $0.5346 | $390.29 | - | - |
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| Compute | $3.2007 | $2,336.53 | - | - |
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| Compute | $0.0283 | $20.64 | - | - |
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| Compute | $0.3318 | $242.20 | - | - |
How EKS Pricing Works
On-Demand
Pay per hour with no long-term commitment. Ideal for variable workloads and development environments.
Reserved / Committed Use
Commit to 1 or 3 years for significant discounts.
Spot / Preemptible
Use spare capacity at steep discounts. Best for fault-tolerant, batch, and stateless workloads.
Pricing Insights
Amazon EKS offers 16 pricing tiers from $0.0283/hr to $3.20/hr in the US East region.
Compare tiers by specs and price to find the best fit for your workload.
By Instance Family
- ●Compute: 16 tiers, $0.0283/hr – $3.20/hr
Cost Optimization Tips
- ✓With 16 available tiers, right-sizing your instance to match actual usage is key to cost optimization.
Monthly Cost Examples
AWS EKS Free Tier
Free limit: $0 for first cluster (trial)
Frequently Asked Questions
What is AWS EKS?
AWS EKS is a cloud service offered by Amazon Web Services. It provides various configurations (100 pricing tiers available) with pay-as-you-go and committed-use pricing options.
How much does AWS EKS cost per month?
Prices range from $20.64/month for Compute to $2,336.53/month for Compute on On-Demand pricing in us-east-1.
Does AWS EKS have a free tier?
AWS offers various free tier options. Check the official AWS pricing page for the most current free tier details for EKS.
How many AWS EKS pricing tiers are available?
There are 100 pricing tiers available for AWS EKS. These range from entry-level configurations to high-performance options for enterprise workloads.
What pricing models does AWS EKS offer?
AWS EKS offers On-Demand (pay-per-hour, no commitment), Reserved/Committed Use (1-3 year commitments for significant discounts), and in some cases Spot/Preemptible pricing for interruptible workloads at the lowest cost.
What are the cost differences between managed Kubernetes and serverless containers?
Managed Kubernetes (EKS, AKS, GKE) charges a cluster management fee plus worker node costs, giving you full control over resource allocation. Serverless containers (Fargate, Cloud Run, Container Apps) charge per vCPU-second and GB-second with no cluster fee, making them cheaper for variable workloads but more expensive at sustained high utilization.