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Amazon EKS vs Docker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Oct 13, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

ROI

Sentiment score
8.0
Amazon EKS offers cost benefits, simplifying management with ROI, zero downtime, and effective resource allocation despite some GKE transitions.
Sentiment score
8.0
Docker offers cost savings by enhancing efficiency, reducing complexity, and enabling faster deployment with consistent environments and smaller hardware.
We have cost explorer available, and a bill forecast based on usage allows us to determine whether resources are underutilized or overutilized.
It's a fast deployment, with very good documentation, and it's really helpful.
 

Customer Service

Sentiment score
7.4
Amazon EKS customer service is praised for responsiveness and effectiveness, with premium subscribers receiving superior support and documentation sought-after.
Sentiment score
4.1
Docker's customer service is praised for documentation, though many use community resources; support averages 7-8/10 in ratings.
We have a paid subscription that provides priority support.
Amazon's technical support is quite good, especially for those who purchase support services.
Having to know what questions to ask is essential.
 

Scalability Issues

Sentiment score
8.2
Amazon EKS is highly scalable, seamlessly handling thousands of users, making it widely adopted despite minor scaling issues.
Sentiment score
7.5
Docker efficiently scales applications, especially with Kubernetes and Terraform, despite limitations in disk space and local machine scalability.
The ability to scale based on requirements by deploying additional containers is a strong point for Kubernetes.
This allows us to scale our applications or APIs as needed, offering reliability through the automation of scaling processes.
It can scale very well according to needs, and it doesn't have any issues with scalability.
Previously, only one or two applications could run on a server, but now it can handle hundreds of applications, scaling up or down as needed.
 

Stability Issues

Sentiment score
8.3
Amazon EKS is highly stable and reliable, with effective support resolving occasional network and storage issues quickly.
Sentiment score
7.9
Docker is highly regarded for stability and reliability, despite minor issues with Windows compatibility and occasional resource concerns.
Amazon EKS is very stable, and when properly configured, I rate it ten out of ten.
Amazon EKS is stable.
 

Room For Improvement

Amazon EKS requires enhancements in stability, UI, customer support, security, monitoring, integration, pricing, and management within AWS.
Docker needs improvements in stability, security, documentation, user interface, pricing, and support to enhance adoption and usability.
Simplifying these will enable more people, not just those with strong foundational knowledge, to work effectively with these services.
Amazon EKS can be improved by having the maintenance of Kubernetes versions managed better, as everything is handled by the Kubernetes team and possibly a separate team at AWS.
Adding logging would be a valuable improvement.
Docker is a time-tested, proven solution with industry-wide applications.
In terms of communication between services, perhaps the configuration within networks between containers could be improved.
 

Setup Cost

Amazon EKS offers pay-as-you-go pricing, seen as competitive for enterprises but potentially costly for startups.
Docker's open-source version is free, but licensing for Enterprise users starts at $24 per user monthly, prompting alternatives.
The pricing structure is beneficial for large companies who pay for what they use, but it is not affordable for startups.
Now, it stands at six or seven due to optimizing our workload.
That's the only reason that we're using it continuously because otherwise, we would have moved somewhere else.
I consider Docker's pricing to be affordable.
 

Valuable Features

Amazon EKS simplifies Kubernetes deployment with autoscaling, integration with AWS, serverless operations, and enhanced productivity through tool integration.
Docker's key benefits are security, ease of use, portability, quick deployment, and efficient resource management with extensive features and documentation.
The most beneficial aspect of Amazon EKS is that it helps manage the Kubernetes master node, so I don't need to maintain the master node, including tasks like upgrading.
The main benefits that I received from using Amazon EKS are that it is a managed cluster and offers simplicity.
By default, if you just install Amazon EKS, you can deploy your application, but to have it enterprise-ready, you have to configure a number of other things that will boost productivity.
It allows the software to run on various machines without compatibility issues, saving a lot of time.
The most valuable feature is the simple containerization.
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EKS
Ranking in Container Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.3
Number of Reviews
53
Ranking in other categories
Container Security (19th)
Docker
Ranking in Container Management
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Development Platforms (1st), Software Supply Chain Security (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Container Management category, the mindshare of Amazon EKS is 11.8%, down from 13.8% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Docker is 2.6%, down from 3.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Container Management
 

Featured Reviews

Rock Wang - PeerSpot reviewer
Managing complex environments effortlessly while focusing on growth
The most beneficial aspect of Amazon EKS is that it helps manage the Kubernetes master node, so I don't need to maintain the master node, including tasks like upgrading. This allows me to focus on business code. If using services like Fargate, I only need to maintain my workload, simply uploading code that will be deployed to the Kubernetes cluster. This is especially beneficial for startup companies that lack the technical resources to manage the Kubernetes cluster. Furthermore, Amazon EKS allows me to utilize Kubernetes cluster-level expansion. If there’s insufficient resource on a machine, the cluster can automatically expand to add new nodes.
Gur Sannikov - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers reliability and helps to save on costs
In terms of the impact of container orchestration, I would say that though my company does not currently use a lot of containers, we plan to move to containers. I recommend others to just use the internet than ChatGPT since mostly all issues are already known and very easy to deal with so it is better to use the knowledge from the industry. In terms of the use of Docker for AI projects or workflows, I would say that my company deploys AI applications on Docker, like any other application and pipeline. The tools or practices that have proven to be the most beneficial for our company's AI initiatives are agnostic to Docker. There is nothing special in Docker, and our company just uses it to deploy applications. The value derived from the use of the product revolves around the scalability and the reliability it offers. The product helps with the cost-savings part since it saves time and money linked with the amount of engineers required to spend time on operations. I rate the solution a nine out of ten.
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
11%
Manufacturing Company
7%
Insurance Company
7%
Computer Software Company
15%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
Government
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon EKS?
The product's most valuable features are scalability, observability, and performance.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EKS?
We are making a significant effort to transform our usage of Amazon EKS, which was previously rated as eight or nine in terms of cost. Now, it stands at six or seven due to optimizing our workload.
What needs improvement with Amazon EKS?
I am not the right person to ask what could be improved in Amazon EKS to make this tool better for the next release. A continuation of the managed pieces would be beneficial because there is no int...
What do you like most about Docker?
We are using Docker to host applications.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Docker?
Regarding the cost, Mirantis Container Cloud is cheaper than other solutions like Red Hat. The license costs around 10,000 Indian rupees per year.
What needs improvement with Docker?
Mirantis Container Cloud should have AI integration tools, which are not available right now. These tools should assist in app scalability and deployment error handling.
 

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

GoDaddy, Pearson, FICO, Intuit, Verizon, Honeywell, Logicworks, RetailMeNot, LogMeIn, Conde Nast, mercari, Trainline, Axway
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon EKS vs. Docker and other solutions. Updated: June 2025.
860,592 professionals have used our research since 2012.