Cluster cost
Kubernetes cost calculator
A Kubernetes price starts with the minimum safe topology, not the cheapest node. The cluster can be managed while workload, policy, upgrade, and node economics remain yours.
Your cluster
Turn on JavaScript to change these numbers. The result below is for the default inputs: 3 workers · 2 vCPU and 4 GB each · any control plane, free or paid · 0 load balancers · no persistent volume · 0 GB egress. A copied cluster link also needs JavaScript.
| Rank | Provider | Workers | Control plane | Load balancers | Volume | Egress | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Civo Medium | $65.18 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $0.00 | $65.18 |
1 provider that cannot run this cluster
These providers sell managed Kubernetes, but none of their plans fits the cluster above, so they have no row in the table. Each one is listed with the reason.
- Akamai Cloud (Linode) LKE high-availability control plane: this is a Kubernetes control-plane component, not a runnable worker plan
How this tool works
Your cluster
Price the cluster, not one node
Rank every managed Kubernetes plan with worker sizing, control plane, networking, persistent volume, and egress included. Unknown prices stay visible and cannot win, and the providers that cannot run this cluster are named below the table rather than dropped.
The bill
- Workers
- Medium x 3 = $65.18
- Control plane
- Provider states the control plane is free = $0.00
- Load balancers
- No load balancer selected = $0.00
- Persistent volume
- Inside provider-included storage = $0.00
- Egress
- No egress charge in this scenario = $0.00
- Total
- workers + control plane + load balancers + volume + egress = $65.18
No provider publishes every price this cluster needs, so there is no bill to show. The table above says which price is missing for each.
Each line uses the provider's published price. If one price is missing, the total shows as unknown.
Answer for your inputs
Civo Medium is the only provider with a complete known total at $65.18 per month. Its control-plane fee is $0.00.
Set to: 3 workers · 2 vCPU and 4 GB each · any control plane, free or paid · 0 load balancers · no persistent volume · 0 GB egress
Where your responsibility starts
VPS
| Hardware | Provider |
|---|---|
| Virtual machine | Provider |
| Operating system | Your team |
| Container runtime | Your team |
| Your app | Your team |
| Your data | Your team |
PaaS
| Hardware | Provider |
|---|---|
| Virtual machine | Provider |
| Operating system | Provider |
| Container runtime | Provider |
| Your app | Your team |
| Your data | Your team |
Managed Kubernetes
| Hardware | Provider |
|---|---|
| Virtual machine | Provider |
| Operating system | Your team |
| Container runtime | Your team |
| Your app | Your team |
| Your data | Your team |
Bare metal
| Hardware | Provider |
|---|---|
| Virtual machine | Your team |
| Operating system | Your team |
| Container runtime | Your team |
| Your app | Your team |
| Your data | Your team |
Compare the options
Compare the options that fit this decision
| Layer | Start with | Check before production |
|---|---|---|
| Control plane | The provider's own published control-plane fee, zero only where the provider states it | Is a high-availability control plane required? |
| Worker | Worker nodes at the size you set, priced from each provider's own page | How many nodes and zones survive a failure? |
| Operations | No operations labor line item | Who owns upgrades, policy, capacity, and incidents? |
What changes the answer
What changes the answer
- 01Set the failure boundary before node count.
- 02Separate control-plane price from worker price.
- 03Add persistent volumes, load balancers, logs, and transfer.
- 04Compare cluster labor with the managed application platform it replaces.
Bill and sources
Every line below is computed from the controls above, so the address bar, this panel and the ranking always show the same result.
Civo Medium is the only provider with a complete known total at $65.18 per month. Its control-plane fee is $0.00.
Formula
Monthly cluster bill = control plane + worker nodes + volumes + load balancers + transfer. Optional and separate, never ranked: observability spend and cluster operations time at your own team rate.
Assumptions
- Set to: 3 workers · 2 vCPU and 4 GB each · any control plane, free or paid · 0 load balancers · no persistent volume · 0 GB egress
- The control-plane fee each provider publishes
- Worker nodes at the count and size the controls above are set to
- Cluster operations time excluded from every figure shown
Explicit unknowns
- Required availability topology
- Log volume
- On-call and upgrade labor
Sources and freshness
- Civo pricing checked
- DigitalOcean Kubernetes pricing checked