Azure Container Services Compared

Azure Container Apps introduces a new container hosting option. The chart compares Azure Container Instances, Azure Container Apps (ACA), and Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). ACA is presently in preview, and it is expected that features already in Azure Container Instances will shortly be available in ACA.

 

Azure Kubernetes Service, Azure’s flagship Kubernetes platform, provides maximum flexibility over configuration and control plane using the kubectl utility, the Azure CLI, and the Azure portal. Azure Container Services and ACA provide container support as a serverless service, abstracting away the underlying platform and potentially reducing operational overhead.

 

ACA does not currently support service meshes like Open Service Mesh (OSM) or Istio, although much of service mesh functionality is covered by integrations with KEDA, DAPR, and Envoy. However, applications requiring specific service mesh functionality (for example, circuit breakers for throttling network traffic) should consider using AKS.