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Google Kubernetes Engine vs. IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service vs. Linux Containers LXD

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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Google Kubernetes Engine

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AGoogle Kubernetes Engine supplies containerized application management powered by Kubernetes which includes Google Cloud services including load balancing, automatic scaling and upgrade, and other Google Cloud services.

    $0.04

    vCPU-hr Autopilot Mode

    IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service

    Score8 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service is a managed Kubernetes offering, delivering user tools and built-in security for rapid delivery of applications that users can bind to cloud services related to IBM Watson®, IoT, DevOps and data analytics. As a certified K8s provider, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service provides intelligent scheduling, self-healing, horizontal scaling, service discovery and load balancing, automated rollouts and rollbacks, and secret and configuration management. The Kubernetes…N/A

    LXD

    Score9.9 out of 10
    N/ALXD is a system container and virtual machine manager. It offers a unified user experience around full Linux systems running inside containers or virtual machines. LXD is image based and provides images for a wide number of Linux distributions. It supports various use cases, with support for different storage backends and network types and the option to install on hardware ranging from an individual laptop or cloud instance to a full server rack. LXD is written in Go. It is free software…N/A
    Pricing
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Editions & Modules
    Autopilot Mode - 3 year commitment price (USD)
    $0
    GKE Autopilot Ephemeral Storage Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - 1 year commitment price (USD)
    $0.0000438
    GKE Autopilot Ephemeral Storage Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Regular Price
    $0.0000548
    GKE Autopilot Ephemeral Storage Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Spot Price
    $0.0000548
    GKE Autopilot Ephemeral Storage Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Spot Price
    $0.0014767
    GKE Autopilot Pod Memory Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - 3 year commitment price (USD)
    $0
    GKE Autopilot Pod Memory Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - 1 year commitment price (USD)
    $0.0039380
    GKE Autopilot Pod Memory Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Regular Price
    $0.0049225
    GKE Autopilot Price GB-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Spot Price
    $0.0133
    GKE Autopilot vCPU Price vCPU-hr
    Autopilot Mode - 3 year commitment price (USD)
    $0.02
    GKE Autopilot vCPU Price vCPU-hr
    Autopilot Mode - 1 year commitment price (USD)
    $0.0356000
    GKE Autopilot vCPU Price vCPU-hr
    Autopilot Mode - Regular Price
    $0.0445
    vCPU Price vCPU-hr
    Standard Mode
    $0.10
    per hour
    Cluster Management
    $0.10
    per cluster per hour
    Cluster Management
    $74.40 monthly credit
    per month per hour
    Standard Mode - Free Version
    Free
    per hour
    No answers on this topic
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Free Trial
    YesNoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoYesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Considered Multiple Products
    Google
    No answer on this topic
    IBM
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    Kubernetes was original formed by Google. We had a lot of compute in Google Cloud Platform and used to use their managed Kubernetes service Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) and it performed quite well. I think both products are solid, but I lean toward GKE. However, I would opt …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    We already used other products of IBM Cloud, so we did some research to compare Kubernetes providers. We came to the conclusion that the IBM Kubernetes service is the best after the Google Kubernetes Engine.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    OpenShift is AMAZING and the integration with IBM cloud is unique. OpenShift is more powerful than IBM Kubernetes for production workloads.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    I say IKS still has a more to work, while it benefits in being an early adopter like GKE, most of these services are easier to work on when it comes to web management, something the IKS lacks and needs to improve since its release because of how well-established the management …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    IBM works well with handling large scale legacy applications. In view of the same, I trust IBM innovation and knowledge around handling enterprise applications well.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    I only started using it because of the always free tier and you probably should consider enhancing the always free tier of Kubernetes (such as enabling load balancer or increasing worker node specs) to attract customers just to land on IBM cloud as their intention to play/learn …
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    We did not select IBM Cloud Kubernetes over the others. Our objectives are to support each cloud vendor and be professional with our expertise and advice. IBM Cloud is a major enterprise vendor that we must support for our business.
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    It's User friendly and simple to create CI CD jobs
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    The GUI is better. The platform is designed to create a good user experience and easily deploy simple applications. You do not need prior knowledge of Kubernetes!
    Incentivized
    Chose IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    We are already using Bluemix for other deployments, so it was easy to incorporate Cloud Kubernetes service into our app. Cloud Foundry does not have the CPU options that we needed.
    Incentivized
    Open Source
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    100%
    Would buy again
    7 Answers
    96%
    Would buy again
    27 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    6 Answers
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    25 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    7 Answers
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    28 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    7 Answers
    100%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    19 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    6 Answers
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    26 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Container Management
    Comparison of Container Management features of Google Kubernetes Engine and IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service and Linux Containers LXD
    Feature
    Google Kubernetes Engine
    8.6
    1 Ratings
    5% above category average
    IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
    8.1
    20 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Linux Containers LXD
    -
    Ratings
    Security and Isolation7.01 Ratings8.120 Ratings00 Ratings
    Container Orchestration10.01 Ratings8.520 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cluster Management10.01 Ratings7.820 Ratings00 Ratings
    Storage Management8.01 Ratings8.020 Ratings00 Ratings
    Resource Allocation and Optimization9.01 Ratings8.020 Ratings00 Ratings
    Discovery Tools6.01 Ratings7.819 Ratings00 Ratings
    Update Rollouts and Rollbacks10.01 Ratings7.720 Ratings00 Ratings
    Self-Healing and Recovery9.01 Ratings8.418 Ratings00 Ratings
    Analytics, Monitoring, and Logging8.01 Ratings8.220 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Small Businesses
    Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
    Score8 out of 10
    Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
    Score8 out of 10
    Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
    Score8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Amazon Elastic Container Service (Amazon ECS)
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    SUSE Rancher
    Score9.4 out of 10
    SUSE Rancher
    Score9.4 out of 10
    SUSE Rancher
    Score9.4 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.0
    (8 ratings)
    8.0
    (86 ratings)
    6.4
    (2 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.9
    (16 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Usability
    8.0
    (4 ratings)
    8.7
    (16 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Availability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    9.0
    (5 ratings)
    7.7
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Online Training
    -
    (0 ratings)
    8.7
    (15 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    -
    (0 ratings)
    7.6
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    1.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Google Kubernetes EngineIBM Cloud Kubernetes ServiceLXD
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Google
    If your application is complex, if it's planet-scale, or if you need autoscaling, then Kubernetes is best suited. If your application is straightforward, you can opt for App Engine or Cloud Run. In many cases, you can prefer to run the cloud on GKE. But once you deploy on Kubernetes, you get the flexibility to try different things. But if you don't seek flexibility, it's not an option for you.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service also stands out in environments where the workloads vary continuously and require befitting scale. The product excels particularly in microservices structures, wherein the companies would harness the capacity for container orchestration and automated scaling. Still, it may face the challenges due to monolith applications that have not been originally developed for using container technology.
    Read full review
    Open Source
    Linux Containers LXD works very well when you, as a software developer using Linux, need to spin up a development environment to build and work on a specific piece of software. For example, you need to build some software that is tested and developed target Ubuntu 18.04. You're able to quickly create a container for Ubuntu 18.04 and log into it to run commands and build your software. This is easier to do than setting a virtual machine - e.g - via Virtual Box, but is a lot clunkier than doing it via Docker containers which give you a much more flexible configuration of the environment and are easier to start, stop, connect and share with other developers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Google
    • Engine upgrade rollout strategy - well documented and configurable
    • Integration with other Google Cloud services like the Compute Engine, SaaS databases, and some cloud networking like Cloud Armor
    • Graphical interface for a lot of operations - either for a quick peek/overview or actual work done by administrators and/or developers (via the Google Cloud Console, for example)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • IBM has a strong focus on serverless and Kubernetes. This shows in the platform. Deploying containers to Kubernetes was very easy.
    • Deploying a Kubernetes cluster through the GUI is very easy and quick. On top of that, IBM Cloud offers a single node cluster for Free.
    • Container Registry is a very good product for managing container images. Integration with Kubernetes was seemless.
    • Portability. To transition from Google Cloud Kubernetes to IBM Cloud Kubernetes took almost no effort. We mostly use the CLI and the standard tools such as kubectl were present.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • GIT repositories.
    • Authentication servers.
    • Application instances.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Google
    • Support of IPv6.
    • Better GitOps.
    • A "serverless" Kubernetes so we can install Google config connector will be really awesome.
    • Container-native load balancers do not support internal TCP/UDP load balancers or network load balancers.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • I constantly get this error even when everything is well configured prefect.exceptions.AuthorizationError: [{'path': ['auth_info'], 'message': 'AuthenticationError: Forbidden', 'extensions': {'code': 'UNAUTHENTICATED'}}]
    • Then sometimes the error disapear without changine anything, happened twice to me. Should there be an issue with the authentication service? Please let's improve or let users know why this may be happening.
    • Improve the UX in the browse console when removing many images at once
    • UX on the process of installing KeyCloack operator
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • Ease of use.
    • Copying containers from one machine to another.
    • Creation of containers with config files similar to Docker.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    We have our application running on a CentOS compartment on IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service. We have been utilizing the help since IBM Cloud initially dispatched. We liked the adaptability and versatility that IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service give us. Since we are tiny, the Kubernetes administration is just utilized at present inside my venture bunch.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Usability
    Google
    • Google Kubernetes Engine has a good UI and documentation that facilitates setup and helps get projects moving along quickly
    • Its built-in logging integrations with StackDriver make it easier to monitor the application and log issues quickly
    • Automated orchestration, deployment, and scaling of nodes and networking are all easily configurable with yaml files
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    We actually haven't had any real problems in our clusters recently and the results we have gotten from adopting IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service have been beyond even our greatest expectations. The community has helped optimize the use of the system and make it relatively simpler to use.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Reliability and Availability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    IBM's cloud is almost infallible.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    IBM's cloud has a site in my conuntry (MEXICO) so the network latency was almost 0
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Google
    Very good Kubernetes distribution with a reasonable total price. Integration with storage and load balancer for ingress and services speed up every process deployment.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    The self-guided support was solid, and there are plenty of online videos to guide first time users, but I think one area of improvement is a faster way to transfer a large quantity of files from our local machine to the cloud for storage (Aspera)
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    Online training is really an important resource for using these tools. IBM's help center is rich in useful information and tips. Also, external guides and tutorials are available (e.g. on youtube), but I followed only IBM ones and I had no difficulties.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    Ease of use. Very intuitive. We have been looking for a product that allows us to orchestrate our docker containers in a way where it allows us to effectively scale our applications to production. It also provides us a way of monitoring all our infrastructure in a very clear concise way.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Google
    GKE spins up new nodes a LOT faster than AKS. GKE's auto scaler runs a lot smoother than AKS. GKE has a lot more Kubernetes features baked in natively.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    We mainly selected [IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service] because IBM fabric blockchain service is mostly compatible with it. To have all the infrastructure in a single cloud to get the best output we selected the [IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service].
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    Linux Containers LXD feels like a more primitive version of docker, docker-compose and similar projects from the docker ecosystem. The Dockerfile and docker-compose.yml methods of specifying a container setup, as well as the network and file configurations afforded by Docker make working with containers much easier and more reproducible than with Linux Containers LXD.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Scalability
    Google
    No answers on this topic
    IBM
    IBM's CKS does not offers automatic autoscaling nor vertical scaling (automatic). Other services like Google Kubernetes Engine scales up and down very well
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    Google
    • When issues came up, we reached out to some folks at GCP and they seemed to be very prompt and attentive to our needs. They were always willing to help and provide additional details or recommendations or links to resources. This kind of support is very helpful as it allows us to navigate GKE with more confidence.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    No answers on this topic
    Open Source
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Google
    • Reduced cloud computing costs.
    • Easier management of applications.
    • Extra time investment to learn how to setup applications in Google versus Amazon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    IBM
    • Increased development speed and agility allows to build features faster and more economically.
    • Improved resource utilization helps keep applications running very efficiently, which saves on cloud service expenses.
    • Scalability and resilience allows for scaling up or down based on demand, which keeps applications running efficiently and more economically.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Open Source
    • Save workload.
    • Save time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
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