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# AWS CloudFormation vs Kubernetes Comparison - What are their main differences?

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AWS CloudFormationKubernetes[+ Add Product](#)

Pricing

**AWS CloudFormation**
No pricing available

**Kubernetes**
No pricing available

**Pricing Insights**
from reviews

Time to Implement

**AWS CloudFormation**
2 monthsFaster

Based on 9 responses

**Kubernetes**
3 months

Based on 22 responses

Return on Investment

**AWS CloudFormation**
11 months4 months sooner

Based on 8 responses

**Kubernetes**
15 months

Based on 16 responses

Perceived Cost

**AWS CloudFormation**
$$$$$

**Kubernetes**
$$$$$

Average Discount

**AWS CloudFormation**
11%

**Kubernetes**
12%1% more

**Pros & Cons**
from reviews

**AWS CloudFormation**
[
Automation Efficiency (7)
](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900404&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Infrastructure Automation (7)
](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900480&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Template Complexity (6)
](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900443&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Learning Difficulty (4)
](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1900019&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)

**Kubernetes**
[
Auto-scaling (6)
](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1836378&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Auto-Scaling (5)
](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1836066&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Learning Curve (9)
](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1836347&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)[
Difficult Learning (7)
](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews?filters%5Bsentiment_snippet%5D=1835689&qs=pros-and-cons#reviews)

Integrations

**AWS CloudFormation**
[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_b3390b4cc3d92e87d570895f7358c003/amazon-aurora.jpg "Product Avatar Image")

Amazon Aurora

](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-aurora/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_60aac666d195c0d09550cae54c454856/amazon-documentdb.jpg "Product Avatar Image")

Amazon DocumentDB

](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-documentdb/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_764bdd3b0bc81b470d93f18d12c826d2/amazon-web-services-aws-amazon-dynamodb.png "Product Avatar Image")

Amazon DynamoDB

](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-web-services-aws-amazon-dynamodb/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_cacdec8b8edeace9b3c89e0c2cded695/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs.jpg "Product Avatar Image")

Amazon Elastic Container...

](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs/reviews)[
View all
](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/integrations)

**Kubernetes**
[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_6f7467a9095411d659210c508d7bb82a/amazon-elastic-kubernetes-service-amazon-eks.jpg "Product Avatar Image")

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes...

](https://www.g2.com/products/amazon-elastic-kubernetes-service-amazon-eks/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_5ef078d7e2f128d165c94b1859097bbf/argo-cd.png "Product Avatar Image")

Argo.io

](https://www.g2.com/products/argo-cd/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_2ac0e7b10e1efb64107026cb2b241d53/azure-pipelines.jpg "Product Avatar Image")

Azure Pipelines

](https://www.g2.com/products/azure-pipelines/reviews)[

 ![Product Avatar Image](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/large_detail/large_detail_dd1391a4645e8459903fe21583c920c8/docker-hub.png "Product Avatar Image")

Docker hub

](https://www.g2.com/products/docker-hub/reviews)[
View all
](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/integrations)

**Ratings**
from reviews

Meets Requirements

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.7

8.7158

**Kubernetes**

9.2

9.2132

Ease of Use

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.0

8.0160

**Kubernetes**

7.9

7.9140

Ease of Setup

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.3

8.395

**Kubernetes**

7.4

7.494

Ease of Admin

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.3

8.378

**Kubernetes**

8.1

8.172

Quality of Support

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.6

8.6152

**Kubernetes**

8.5

8.5114

Has the product been a good partner in doing business?

**AWS CloudFormation**

8.7

8.773

**Kubernetes**

8.9

8.958

Product Direction (% positive)

**AWS CloudFormation**

9.3

9.3156

**Kubernetes**

9.7

9.7127

**Features**
ratings from reviews

Cloud Infrastructure Automation[Hide 11 FeaturesShow 11 Features](javascript:void(0);)

8.7

86

Not enough data

Administration 

Administration Console

8.8(won by default)

72

Not enough data

Task Management

8.8(won by default)

65

Not enough data

Dashboards and Visualizations

8.6(won by default)

70

Not enough data

Access Control

9.0(won by default)

71

Not enough data

Automation

Test Automation

8.3(won by default)

63

Not enough data

Intelligent Automation

8.4(won by default)

63

Not enough data

Release Automation

8.5(won by default)

65

Not enough data

Automated Provisioning

8.9(won by default)

68

Not enough data

IT Management

Workflow Management

8.5(won by default)

68

Not enough data

Infrastructure Management

9.1(won by default)

72

Not enough data

IT Discovery

8.4(won by default)

63

Not enough data

Container Management[Hide 10 FeaturesShow 10 Features](javascript:void(0);)

Not enough data

9.0

78

Management

Access Control

Not enough data

8.9(won by default)

72

Network Isolation

Not enough data

Feature Not Available

File Isolation

Not enough data

Feature Not Available

Organization

Packaging 

Not enough data

9.1(won by default)

66

Container Networking

Not enough data

9.1(won by default)

72

Orchestration

Not enough data

9.6(won by default)

75

Development

Developer Toolkit

Not enough data

8.7(won by default)

54

Architecture

Not enough data

9.1(won by default)

71

Datacenter

Not enough data

9.0(won by default)

55

Virtualization

Not enough data

9.1(won by default)

58

User Insights

Reviewers' Company Size

[![AWS CloudFormation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1534868801/aws-aws-cloudformation.svg "AWS CloudFormation")](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews)

AWS CloudFormation

Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)

16.5%

Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)

40.4%

Enterprise(\> 1000 emp.)

43.1%

[![Kubernetes](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_da16878589afcd15c61bcb8a7b6b66a7/kubernetes.png "Kubernetes")](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews)

Kubernetes

Small-Business(50 or fewer emp.)

28.6%

Mid-Market(51-1000 emp.)

33.1%

Enterprise(\> 1000 emp.)

38.3%

Small-Business

(50 or fewer emp.)

16.5%

28.6%

Mid-Market

(51-1000 emp.)

40.4%

33.1%

Enterprise

(\> 1000 emp.)

43.1%

38.3%

Reviewers' Industry

[![AWS CloudFormation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1534868801/aws-aws-cloudformation.svg "AWS CloudFormation")](https://www.g2.com/products/aws-aws-cloudformation/reviews)
AWS CloudFormation

Information Technology and Services

26.7%

Computer Software

24.6%

Computer & Network Security

4.8%

Financial Services

4.3%

Hospital & Health Care

2.7%

Other

36.9%

[![Kubernetes](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_da16878589afcd15c61bcb8a7b6b66a7/kubernetes.png "Kubernetes")](https://www.g2.com/products/kubernetes/reviews)
Kubernetes

Computer Software

32.7%

Information Technology and Services

21.6%

Telecommunications

9.2%

Financial Services

5.2%

Banking

3.3%

Other

28.1%

Alternatives

**AWS CloudFormation Alternatives**

 ![Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_7b1e34d1cfcc265beee0d9b4290461fa/red-hat-ansible-automation-platform.jpg "Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform")

[
Red Hat Ansible Automation...
](/products/red-hat-ansible-automation-platform/reviews)

 ![Google Cloud Deployment Manager](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_9a5bc6fc788116d8da297be6121a60c9/google-cloud-deployment-manager.jpg "Google Cloud Deployment Manager")

[
Google Cloud Deployment...
](/products/google-cloud-deployment-manager/reviews)

 ![Azure Automation](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_f176b4154a751d10150daa67a57b7dc5/azure-automation.jpg "Azure Automation")

[
Azure Automation
](/products/azure-automation/reviews)

 ![Progress Chef](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/ecf6115c87d793bce9c4ac58796134b6/progress-chef.svg "Progress Chef")

[
Progress Chef
](/products/progress-chef/reviews)

**Kubernetes Alternatives**

 ![Red Hat OpenShift](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/image/thumb_square/thumb_square_2ec0fb3d6001279948ececb9e055314c/red-hat-red-hat-openshift.jpg "Red Hat OpenShift")

[
Red Hat OpenShift
](/products/red-hat-red-hat-openshift/reviews)

 ![Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (formerly Docker Enterprise)](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/d0d1b4a9e07f24fe48007af62a2bc9ba/mirantis-kubernetes-engine-formerly-docker-enterprise.svg "Mirantis Kubernetes Engine (formerly Docker Enterprise)")

[
Mirantis
](/products/mirantis-kubernetes-engine-formerly-docker-enterprise/reviews)

 ![Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/1533073803/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs.svg "Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)")

[
Amazon Elastic Container...
](/products/amazon-elastic-container-service-amazon-ecs/reviews)

 ![Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)](https://images.g2crowd.com/uploads/product/hd_favicon/3120927c33ef160c81c91f1ae0aa7571/google-kubernetes-engine-gke.svg "Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE)")

[
Kubernetes Engine
](/products/google-kubernetes-engine-gke/reviews)

## AWS CloudFormation vs Kubernetes

When assessing the two solutions, reviewers found AWS CloudFormation easier to use, set up, and administer. However, reviewers preferred doing business with Kubernetes overall.

- Reviewers felt that Kubernetes meets the needs of their business better than AWS CloudFormation.
- When comparing quality of ongoing product support, reviewers felt that AWS CloudFormation is the preferred option.
- For feature updates and roadmaps, our reviewers preferred the direction of Kubernetes over AWS CloudFormation.