ECS vs EKS vs Fargate: what do they mean?
Options
- ECS is the AWS orchestrator, EKS is managed Kubernetes, Fargate is serverless (Correct option)
- They are identical services that AWS sells under three names
- EKS is a database service; ECS is object storage; Fargate is a CDN
- Fargate is a Lambda alternative that is used only for databases
Answer
ECS: AWS's own container orchestrator. EKS: managed Kubernetes. Fargate: serverless compute for containers, usable with ECS or EKS so you do not manage nodes
Why
All three run containers on AWS.
- ECS (Elastic Container Service): simpler, AWS-specific orchestrator.
- EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service): managed Kubernetes control plane; portable skills across clouds.
- Fargate: the "serverless" launch type: you define CPU/memory per task or Pod, AWS provides the machines.
Azure equivalents: AKS (Kubernetes), Azure Container Apps and Azure Container Instances (serverless containers).
Remember
ECS = AWS orchestrator, EKS = Kubernetes, Fargate = no nodes to manage.