Compare the EKS compute options: managed node groups, self-managed nodes, Fargate, Karpenter and EKS Auto Mode.

Summary

Managed node groups are EC2 Auto Scaling groups that EKS provisions and updates for you; self-managed nodes give full control of the AMI and bootstrap; Fargate runs each pod on its own AWS-managed micro-VM with no nodes to manage; Karpenter provisions right-sized EC2 instances directly from pending pods; EKS Auto Mode has AWS operate node provisioning (built on Karpenter), core add-ons and node security updates.

Longer Answer

• Managed node groups: good default; rolling updates of AMIs; limited instance flexibility per group.
• Self-managed: custom AMIs or special needs; most operational work.
• Fargate: no node management, per-pod isolation and billing; no DaemonSets, privileged pods, GPUs or EBS volumes (EFS works); slower pod start; often costlier at steady scale.
• Karpenter: fast scaling, many instance types, spot and consolidation; you operate Karpenter.
• Auto Mode: least node operations; AWS manages capacity, networking, storage and load-balancer components for you, for an extra management fee per instance.

Many clusters mix options: a small managed node group for system components and Karpenter for workloads, or Auto Mode for teams that want minimal operations.

Key Points

• Managed node groups: sensible default.
• Fargate: no nodes, with limitations.
• Karpenter: flexible, fast, cost-efficient.
• Auto Mode: AWS operates nodes and core add-ons.