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
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Pay as you go
Pay for compute capacity by the second, with no long-term commitments or upfront payments. Increase or decrease consumption on demand.
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Azure savings plan for compute
Save money across select compute services globally by committing to spend a fixed hourly amount for 1 or 3 years, unlocking lower prices until you reach your hourly commitment. Suited for dynamic workloads while accommodating for planned or unplanned changes.
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Reservations
Receive a discount on Azure services by purchasing a reservation, which is a one-year or three-year agreement to use a specific instance of a service.
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Spot
Buy unused Azure compute capacity at deep discounts to run interruptible workloads.
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 London closing spot rates that are captured in the two business days prior to the last business day of the previous month end. If the two business days prior to the end of the month autumn on a bank holiday in major markets, the rate setting day is generally the day immediately preceding the two business days. This rate applies to all transactions during the forthcoming 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. See frequently asked questions about Azure pricing.
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 |
Premium tier
$- per cluster per hour |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Recommended for | Learning, exploration, experimenting | All mission critical, at scale or production workloads | All mission critical, at scale or production workloads requiring 2 years of support |
| Pricing for nodes | Only pay for what you use | Only pay for what you use | Only pay for what you use |
| Cluster management | Free | 1 Uptime SLA Hour | 1 Premium Support Hour |
| Service Level Agreement (SLA) | N/A | Financially backed API server uptime SLA | Financially backed API server uptime SLA |
| Long Term Support | Community support | Community support | Microsoft maintenance past community support |
| Kubernetes Control Plane | No Autoscaling Smaller control plane limits |
API Server Autoscaling Larger 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 | 5,000 |
Long Term Support
AKS Long Term Support can be applied to an LTS-capable Kubernetes version to provide extended support from Microsoft for a period of 2 years. Kubernetes minor versions are maintained by the open source community for 1 year – with LTS, Microsoft will maintain the applicable version of Kubernetes for a year past the community.
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 |
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.
Azure pricing and purchasing options
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Explore your optionsAdditional resources
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
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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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