Difference between AWS ECS and AWS EKS

ECS (Elastic Container Service) and EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) are both container orchestration services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS). However, there are some key differences between the two:

  • Platform: ECS is a proprietary AWS service that is designed to work with Amazon's container management system, while EKS is a fully managed Kubernetes service that allows you to run Kubernetes clusters on AWS.

  • Control plane: In ECS, AWS provides and manages the control plane, which is responsible for scheduling and scaling container instances. In EKS, AWS manages the Kubernetes control plane, but you are responsible for managing the worker nodes that run your containers.

  • Compatibility: ECS is designed to work well with other AWS services, such as EC2, ELB, and IAM, but may not be as compatible with non-AWS services. EKS, on the other hand, is built on top of Kubernetes, which is an open-source platform that is widely supported by many cloud providers and vendors.

  • Complexity: While ECS is generally considered easier to set up and manage than Kubernetes, EKS offers a more powerful and flexible platform that can be customized to meet specific needs.