Azure Kubernetes Service vs MicroK8s
Azure Kubernetes Service
azure.microsoft.comMicroK8s
canonical.comSide by side
| Figure | Azure Kubernetes Service | MicroK8s |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | Free | $2.08/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | — |
| Web | Yes | — |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | — | Yes |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 3 | 7 |
| Spec score · Container Orchestration Software | 6.9 (#19) | 8.3 (#6) |
Plans
Azure Kubernetes Service
- FreeFree
- StandardPriced on request
- PremiumPriced on request
MicroK8s
- MicroK8sFree
- Ubuntu Pro PersonalFree
- Ubuntu Pro Workstation$25 a year
- Ubuntu Pro with 24/7 Enterprise support — Workstation$300 a year
- Ubuntu Pro Server with unlimited VMs$500 a year
- Ubuntu Pro with 24/7 Enterprise support — Server$1,775 a year
- Ubuntu Pro with 24/7 Enterprise support — Server full support$3,400 a year
In their own words
Azure Kubernetes Service
Azure Kubernetes Service has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
MicroK8s
MicroK8s is a lightweight Kubernetes distribution that can run on a single node or scale to a high-availability production cluster. It is positioned for developer workstations, production, public clouds, edge deployments, IoT and embedded software-vendor platforms. The self-hosted distribution supports Linux, macOS and Windows, and packages upstream Kubernetes services in a minimal CNCF-certified distribution. Three or more nodes enable Dqlite-backed high availability and automatic recovery after a node failure. Strict confinement restricts workloads to explicitly granted files, system resources and hardware. Cluster API can automate cluster creation and lifecycle management through YAML manifests, including rolling HA upgrades. GPU workloads can use the NVIDIA GPU Operator, including NVIDIA Multi-Instance GPU. Official and community addons provide services such as DNS, certificate management, Prometheus, Istio and dashboards. Security updates apply automatically by default, with rollback on failure, and Kubernetes upgrades can be done with one command. MicroK8s has no license fees. Ubuntu Pro subscriptions are also listed, including $25 a year for a workstation subscription and $500 a year for a server subscription with unlimited VMs.