Deploy and scale containers on managed Kubernetes
Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) simplifies the deployment, management, and operations of Kubernetes as a fully managed Kubernetes container orchestrator service.
Start using the Free tier. Get free cluster management, and pay for only the virtual machines, and associated storage and networking resources consumed.
For your at- scale, mission- critical and production workloads, simply upgrade to the Standard tier to get a guaranteed SLA, scalable Kubernetes control plane and higher node limit per cluster.
AKS Free tier makes it easy to get started with a managed Kubernetes container orchestrator service in the most efficient and cost-effective way.
Explore pricing options
Apply filters to customise pricing options to your needs.
Prices are estimates only and are not intended as actual price quotes. Actual pricing may vary depending on the type of agreement entered with Microsoft, date of purchase, and the currency exchange rate. Prices are calculated based on US dollars and converted using Thomson Reuters benchmark rates refreshed on the first day of each calendar month. Sign in to the Azure pricing calculator to see pricing based on your current programme/offer with Microsoft. Contact an Azure sales specialist for more information on pricing or to request a price quote. For more information on Azure pricing see frequently asked questions.
US government entities are eligible to purchase Azure Government services from a licensing solution provider with no upfront financial commitment, or directly through a pay-as-you-go online subscription.
Important—The price in R$ is merely a reference; this is an international transaction and the final price is subject to exchange rates and the inclusion of IOF taxes. An eNF will not be issued.
US government entities are eligible to purchase Azure Government services from a licensing solution provider with no upfront financial commitment, or directly through a pay-as-you-go online subscription.
Important—The price in R$ is merely a reference; this is an international transaction and the final price is subject to exchange rates and the inclusion of IOF taxes. An eNF will not be issued.
AKS pricing tier comparison
| Free tier |
Standard tier
$- per cluster per hour |
|
|---|---|---|
| Recommended for | Learning, exploration, experimenting | All mission critical, at scale or production workloads |
| Pricing for nodes | Only pay for what you use | Only pay for what you use |
| Cluster management | Free | 1 Uptime SLA Hour |
| Service Level Agreement (SLA) | N/A | Financially backed API server uptime SLA |
| Kubernetes Control Plane | No Autoscaling Smaller control plane limits |
API Server Autoscaling Larger control plane limits |
| AKS Cluster Node limit | 1,000 (not recommended at more than 10 node scale) | 5,000 |
Pricing for nodes - only pay for what you use
To estimate the cost of the required resources, please see the Azure Kubernetes Service calculator.
Cost savings options catered to your workload needs.
| 1-year reserved | 3-year reserved | Spot |
|---|---|---|
| More predictable pricing, monthly payment options, and prioritised compute capacity. Recommended for steady-state usage. | If you expect to have instances running continuously, you can achieve higher savings by committing to a longer term. | Take advantage of Azure unused capacity at a significant cost savings. Best suited for workloads that can tolerate temporary disruptions e.g. batch processing. Machine learning |
| Savings for Virtual Machines Linux DSv2 1-year reserved compared to Pay-as-you-go | Savings for Virtual Machines Linux DSv2 3-year reserved compared to Pay-as-you-go | Savings for Virtual Machines Linux DSv2 Spot compared to Pay-as-you-go |
| 48% savings | 65% savings | 90% savings |
Option to add Uptime SLA
Financially-backed service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees an uptime of 99.95% for the Kubernetes API server for clusters that use Azure Availability Zone and 99.9% for clusters that do not use Azure Availability Zone.
| Metre | Price |
|---|---|
| Uptime SLA | $- per cluster per hour |
IP address options
Every Azure Cloud service containing one or more Azure Virtual Machines is automatically assigned a free dynamic virtual IP (VIP) address. For an additional charge, you can also get:
- Instance-level public IP addresses – A dynamic public IP address (PIP) that is assigned to a virtual machine for direct access.
- Reserved IP addresses - A public IP address that can be reserved and used as a VIP address.
- Load-balanced IP addresses – Additional load-balanced VIP addresses that can be assigned to an Azure Cloud Service containing one or more Azure Virtual Machines.
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Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)
Learn more about Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) features and capabilities.
Pricing calculator
Estimate your expected monthly costs for using any combination of Azure products.
SLA
Review the Service Level Agreement for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS).
Documentation
Review technical tutorials, videos and more Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) resources.
Frequently asked questions
-
Uptime for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is highly important to Azure and we have an internal goal to keep the monthly uptime percentage above 99.5% for the Kubernetes API server on the Free plan. The Kubernetes control plane load is a function of the workloads running on the cluster and the scale of the cluster. Free tier AKS clusters are not meant to run at scale (>10 nodes) or support workloads that require high availability. Standard tier provides a financially-backed service level agreement (SLA) that guarantees a higher-Kubernetes API server SLA as listed in the Standard tier SLA section and is strongly recommended for all production and at-scale deployments.
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Standard tier SLA covers the availability of the Kubernetes API server, which is the entry point for Kubernetes management operations (deploy, scale, update, etc.). Agent nodes availability (covered by the existing VM SLA) covers availability of the compute instances where applications run.
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