AWS EKS Pricing Details for Container Orchestration on AWS

Kubernetes is the orchestration platform of choice for modern containerized applications—with over 85% of enterprise development shops running it in production in 2025. AWS’s managed offering, Amazon EKS, gives you Kubernetes without the pain of provisioning and maintaining control planes. But that convenience comes with a fragmented pricing model that can surprise the unprepared.

In 2025, it's not uncommon for DevOps teams to start an EKS project thinking “it's just $0.10/hour,” only to find their monthly cloud bill bloated by worker nodes, storage, networking, Fargate, load balancers, and data egress costs—all hidden in plain sight. That’s why understanding AWS EKS pricing is essential—especially if you’re responsible for hosting reliability, budgeting, and performance for containerized workloads.

In this knowledge-based blog, we’ll:

Break down the core cost components

Walk through practical pricing examples

Share optimization tactics

Highlight how providers like Cyfuture Cloud may offer more budget-friendly Kubernetes hosting

Core Components of AWS EKS Pricing

AWS EKS pricing breaks down into several distinct parts:

1. Control Plane Fee

You pay $0.10/hour per cluster (~₹8/hr), regardless of usage or nodes

If you're running a Kubernetes version in extended support, it jumps to $0.60/hr

Average effective cost for older clusters is ~$0.33/hr per cluster .

2. Worker Nodes (EC2)

You’re billed separately for the EC2 instances hosting your pods: vCPU, RAM, and inclusion of On-Demand, Spot, or Reserved rates

Example: small dev clusters using t3.medium cost ~₹8,000–₹10,000/month per instance.

3. AWS Fargate

Billed by vCPU-second and GB-second once your container starts running, rounded to the nearest second, with a one-minute minimum

4. Storage (EBS/EFS)

EC2 volumes (e.g., 100 GB gp3) cost ~$10/month, plus snapshot and I/O charges

5. Networking

Load balancers like ALB/NLB: ~$0.0225/hr plus ~$0.008/LCU-hr

Data egress: ₹0.8–₹7/GB depending on regional cross-AZ or internet usage

Pricing in Practice: Example Scenarios

Example 1: Small Dev Cluster (Stay-on EC2)

Control Plane (1 cluster): 730 hr × $0.10 = $73

2 × t3.medium EC2 nodes: ~$100

100 GB EBS: ~$10

1 ALB: ~$16
≈ $199/month

Example 2: Batch jobs on Fargate

2 vCPU + 4 GB memory for 30 mins/day

vCPU seconds: ~$0.1457 + Memory seconds: ~$0.0319 = $0.18/day, or $5.40/month

Example 3: Hybrid 3-cluster Deployment

For multiple teams:

3 clusters × $73 = $219

Worker nodes variable

Total thus could start at $2–3k/month

Cost Optimization Strategies

Optimize control plane version
Stay on supported Kubernetes (<14 months) to avoid $0.60/hr surcharge

Choose cost-effective worker nodes
Use spot/reserved EC2 for savings, or Fargate if workloads are bursty.

Rightsize storage volumes
Avoid over-provisioning EBS. Clean up unused snapshots .

Manage load balancer use
Consolidate ingress routes to reduce ALB count and LCU fees

Minimize cross-AZ/Internet traffic
Structure services to reduce unwanted data transfer.

Use auto scaling & spot instances
Combine cluster auto-scaling with spot pricing for up to 70% savings

Leverage cost-monitoring tools
Tools like Kubecost or AWS Cost Explorer help pinpoint waste

Alternatives & When to Choose Them

EKS Anywhere / Outposts: Ideal for hybrid setups but with custom hardware cost

DIY Kubernetes (kOps): Saves $36/month per cluster but requires deep configuration and maintenance—better for internal experimentation

DigitalOcean / Cyfuture Cloud: Offer managed Kubernetes with flat monthly fees and no control plane surcharge—great fit for Indian SMBs.

Why Cyfuture Cloud Makes a Strong Case

For Indian businesses, local managed Kubernetes can be a better fit than AWS:

No control plane fee: Flat pricing includes API server & maestro management

Predictable INR billing and GST-inclusive plans

Simple worker-node configuration, with autoscaling and load balancing options

Local support, compliance, and low latency—ideal for production-grade deployments

Conclusion: Tame the EKS Bill Before It Tames You

EKS offers powerful orchestration convenience, but its pricing model—spanning $0.10/hr cluster fee, EC2, Fargate, storage, networking, and egress—demands vigilance. When not managed carefully, even small clusters can balloon in cost.

But with the right strategies—staying on supported Kubernetes versions, rightsizing resources, smart use of spot/reserved instances, autoscaling, and monitoring—you can run efficient container infrastructure.

For teams seeking simplicity, cost transparency, and local support, Cyfuture Cloud's Kubernetes hosting offers a compelling alternative. Either way, understanding AWS EKS pricing empowers you to build robust, scalable, and predictable cloud environments.