Comparing prices across every provider we track...
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Linode Kubernetes Engine (LKE) · $300/mo
Linode LKE Enterprise at $300/mo is a premium offering with strong SLAs and dedicated control planes, but several competitors offer materially cheaper cluster management for comparable or better uptime guarantees. IONOS and Kamatera undercut significantly on base pricing, while Azure, Google Cloud, and Oracle provide enterprise-grade alternatives at similar or lower all-in costs when worker nodes are factored in.
IONOS charges only for worker node RAM ($1.94/GB/mo) with free control plane, eliminating the $300/mo cluster fee entirely and offering 99.99% SLA.
Caveat: Pricing is highly variable by workload size; outbound bandwidth is expensive ($0.036/GB tier 1) and contract renewal pricing can spike 2-6x after promo periods.
| Provider | Plan | Price | Specs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IONOS | Managed Kubernetes · K8s RAM - per GB | $1.94/mo | Worker node RAM, control plane free | Visit |
| DigitalOcean | Kubernetes · NVIDIA H100 GPU node | $3.39/mo | 80 GB GPU RAM, 240 GiB Droplet RAM, 20 vCPUs (billed hourly, shown as monthly-equivalent placeholder) | Visit |
| Kamatera | Managed Kubernetes · Worker node = Type A Cloud VM (min) | $4/mo |
Kamatera's minimum worker node starts at $4/mo with no published separate control-plane fee, and bandwidth overages are only $0.01/GB, undercutting Linode's $0.005-0.015/GB structure.
Caveat: Control-plane pricing is unspecified or bundled; Windows/SQL licensing and burstable CPU overages ($0.041/hr) are hidden at checkout; SLA is only 99.95%.
Azure AKS Standard at $73/mo ($0.10/hr capped) is 75% cheaper than Linode's $300/mo cluster fee and includes 99.95% SLA with up to 5,000 nodes and API autoscaling.
Caveat: Worker node VMs, Premium SSD/Ultra Disk IOPS, and bandwidth overages (tiered after 100 GB free) are billed separately; Windows Server carries license surcharges.
GKE's flat $73/mo cluster fee ($0.10/hr capped) matches Azure's savings versus Linode and offers 99.99% SLA with sustained-use and committed-use discount opportunities.
Caveat: Worker node compute, custom machine type 5% premium, network egress (200 GiB free then per-GB), and Cloud SQL HA doubling are separate line items; easy to miss discounts.
Oracle OKE Enhanced at $74.40/mo ($0.10/hr capped) saves 75% on cluster fees versus Linode and includes financially-backed 99.95% SLA with virtual nodes and workload identity.
Caveat: Worker nodes, Block Volume performance (VPU), and Archive Storage retrieval fees are billed separately; early deletion penalties apply to cold storage tiers.
Before you switch
| No separate K8s pricing published. Worker nodes are billed at standard Cloud VM rates by CPU type; this row mirrors the Type A minimum (1 vCPU/1GB) as the cheapest possible worker node. No control-plane fee found -- likely bundled or unspecified. |
| Visit |
| OVHcloud | Managed Rancher Service · OVHcloud Edition | $5.55/mo | Per vCPU/hour across all schedulable worker node vCPUs in downstream clusters. 20 vCPU minimum billed. | Visit |
| Microsoft Azure | Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) · Standard tier | $73/mo | SLA-backed control plane: 99.95% with availability zones, 99.9% without. Up to 5,000 nodes/cluster, API server autoscaling. Recommended for all production workloads. | Visit |
| Google Cloud | Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) · Cluster management fee | $73/mo | Flat fee per cluster regardless of mode/size/topology, billed per second | Visit |
| Oracle Cloud Infrastructure | Container Engine for Kubernetes (OKE) · Enhanced Cluster | $74.4/mo | $0.10/hour per cluster, capped at $74.40/month; financially-backed uptime SLA; advanced features (virtual nodes, workload identity). Worker nodes billed separately. | Visit |
| Fly.io | Fly Kubernetes (FKS) · FKS control plane | $75/mo | Per-cluster control plane fee. Node Machines and attached Volumes billed separately at standard Machines/Volumes rates. Single-source figure, not independently re-verified. | Visit |
| Scaleway | Kubernetes Kapsule · Dedicated Control Plane 4GB | $80/mo | Dedicated control plane, 4 GB RAM | Visit |
IONOS
Kamatera
View Linode (Akamai)'s plan
Microsoft Azure
Google Cloud
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure