AKS, ACA, and ACI: Container Hosting Update

• As Microsoft’s container hosting services mature, new features add security, management, and add-on capabilities.
• However, the services target different use cases, ranging from simple container hosting for smaller applications to managed Kubernetes for at-scale applications.
• Different deployment, capability, and pricing models in each suggest that customers should carefully examine which suits the needs of their applications best before choosing.

Container-based applications can offer advantages in scalability, portability, and performance over those deployed in VMs or installed on the device. Azure’s managed container hosting services, in turn, can simplify management and deployment of container-based applications. Azure’s flagship hosting service for managed Kubernetes platform is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), but the company also offers Azure Container Instances (ACI) and Azure Container Apps (ACA). Each of the three services targets different use cases, so customers should consider the applications needed for scale, add-ons, configuration and management controls, costs, and other factors to choose the hosting service most suited to that application. For a summary of differences between the services, see the chart “Comparing Azure Container Hosting Choices.”