Managed Kubernetes platforms
Asked as “managed Kubernetes platform”, and as “hosted Kubernetes service”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 65 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, fourteen models each.
Standing · first-choice share
43%
Clear leader
43Google Kubernetes Engine15Amazon EKS14DigitalOcean Kubernetes28others
43% of first choices, clear leader.
Since September 2026▲+3Since September 2026: 39% → 42%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Google Kubernetes Engine held the lead, +3 points on 39%, inside the 11-point floor.
By buyer segment
The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.
Small business
DigitalOcean Kubernetes55%Clear leader▲+15Since September 2026: 39% → 54%, +15 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →Mid-market
Google Kubernetes Engine43%Clear leader▲+3Since September 2026: 39% → 42%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.This pageEnterpriseGoogle Kubernetes Engine31%Contested▼−3Since September 2026: 33% → 30%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →
DigitalOcean Kubernetes55%Clear leader▲+15Since September 2026: 39% → 54%, +15 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →Mid-marketGoogle Kubernetes Engine43%Clear leader▲+3Since September 2026: 39% → 42%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.This pageEnterpriseGoogle Kubernetes Engine31%Contested▼−3Since September 2026: 33% → 30%, −3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.Standing →The standing
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all fourteen models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01Google Kubernetes Engine Lab in the set43%15%75endorsed leader▲+3Since September 2026: 39% → 42%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.39% → 42%
Google Kubernetes Engine Lab in the set43%15%75endorsed leader▲+3Since September 2026: 39% → 42%, +3 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.39% → 42%02
Amazon EKS15%32%71criticized challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 6% → 18%, +12 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 18%
Amazon EKS15%32%71criticized challenger▲+12Since September 2026: 6% → 18%, +12 points. Past the 11-point floor: movement. Read over the models both editions asked.6% → 18%03DigitalOcean Kubernetes14%21%47accepted challenger▼−9Since September 2026: 22% → 12%, −9 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.22% → 12%
DigitalOcean Kubernetes14%21%47accepted challenger▼−9Since September 2026: 22% → 12%, −9 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.22% → 12%04
Azure Kubernetes Service12%17%71accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 8% → 12%, +4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.8% → 12%
Azure Kubernetes Service12%17%71accepted challenger▲+4Since September 2026: 8% → 12%, +4 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.8% → 12%05
Civo Kubernetes9%12%16accepted challenger▲+1Since September 2026: 10% → 11%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 11%
Civo Kubernetes9%12%16accepted challenger▲+1Since September 2026: 10% → 11%, +1 point. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 11%06
Linode Kubernetes Engine3%32%22criticized challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 10% → 2%, −8 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 2%
Linode Kubernetes Engine3%32%22criticized challenger▼−8Since September 2026: 10% → 2%, −8 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.10% → 2%Show the four products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
10
VMware Tanzu0%25%16criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
VMware Tanzu0%25%16criticized challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%09
Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes0%21%14accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes0%21%14accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%07
Red Hat OpenShift0%21%33accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%
Red Hat OpenShift0%21%33accepted challenger=heldSince September 2026: 0% → 0%, ±0 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.0% → 0%08
Rancher0%14%21accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%
Rancher0%14%21accepted challenger▼−2Since September 2026: 2% → 0%, −2 points. Inside the 11-point floor: within noise. Read over the models both editions asked.2% → 0%The floor is 11 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one is noise, and both are shown. Movement is read over the twelve models both editions asked; GPT-6 Luna, Muse Glimmer 30B joined this edition and are in the standing but not yet in the comparison. How the floor is measured
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Google Kubernetes Engine is made by Google, whose model Gemini 3.5 Flash is in the set. On the four share prompts that model made it the first choice three times of 4; the other thirteen models twenty-five times of 52. Lab treatment is defined on the method page; the row is marked, not excluded.
Head to head
All fifteen head-to-head pages: the top six products, each against each
Google Kubernetes Engine vs Civo KubernetesGoogle Kubernetes Engine vs Linode Kubernetes EngineAmazon EKS vs DigitalOcean KubernetesAmazon EKS vs Azure Kubernetes ServiceAmazon EKS vs Civo KubernetesAmazon EKS vs Linode Kubernetes EngineDigitalOcean Kubernetes vs Azure Kubernetes ServiceDigitalOcean Kubernetes vs Civo KubernetesDigitalOcean Kubernetes vs Linode Kubernetes EngineAzure Kubernetes Service vs Civo KubernetesAzure Kubernetes Service vs Linode Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetes vs Linode Kubernetes Engine
Recommended versus criticized
Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.
Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01020304050607080910Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative60%
Key
01Google Kubernetes Engine43%
Google Kubernetes Engine43%02Amazon EKS15%
Amazon EKS15%03DigitalOcean Kubernetes14%
DigitalOcean Kubernetes14%04Azure Kubernetes Service12%
Azure Kubernetes Service12%05Civo Kubernetes9%
Civo Kubernetes9%06Linode Kubernetes Engine3%
Linode Kubernetes Engine3%07Red Hat OpenShift0%
Red Hat OpenShift0%08Rancher0%
Rancher0%09Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes0%
Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes0%10VMware Tanzu0%
VMware Tanzu0%What they warned about
Four of fourteen models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Mistral Small, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX, MiniMax M2.5 and Muse Glimmer 30B changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Amazon EKS32%
23 of 71 labels negative · 14 of 14 models · 4 hard negative
“Avoid EKS / AKS / GKE if you need low operational overhead on a tight budget or want maximum portability.” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
DigitalOcean Kubernetes21%
10 of 47 labels negative · 10 of 14 models · 3 hard negative
“Platforms to Avoid or Use with Caution ### 1. **DigitalOcean Kubernetes** - **Main concerns:** No enterprise-grade SLA” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
Azure Kubernetes Service17%
12 of 71 labels negative · 10 of 14 models · 2 hard negative
“Avoid EKS / AKS / GKE if you need low operational overhead on a tight budget or want maximum portability.” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
Google Kubernetes Engine15%
11 of 75 labels negative · 9 of 14 models · 3 hard negative
“Avoid EKS / AKS / GKE if you need low operational overhead on a tight budget or want maximum portability.” Muse Glimmer 30B, negative prompt
What they cite
Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: fourteen of the fourteen in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.
Sites the answers cite
78 of 84 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 14 of 14 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 1042 links across 217 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. 84 of the 252 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category; the method page measures whether that reading tilts an answer.
vendor site · Rackspace37 answers · 40 citations · 12 models
vendor site · DigitalOcean31 answers · 59 citations · 11 models
29 answers · 50 citations · 12 models
29 answers · 31 citations · 9 models
vendor site · Northflank28 answers · 33 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Portainer27 answers · 38 citations · 12 models
vendor site · Railway27 answers · 27 citations · 11 models
25 answers · 43 citations · 10 models
25 answers · 29 citations · 10 models
vendor site · Mirantis19 answers · 25 citations · 6 models
vendor site · Qovery18 answers · 18 citations · 10 models
13 answers · 13 citations · 9 models
Pages the answers cite
The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.
35 answers · 12 models
27 answers · 11 models
27 answers · 12 models
25 answers · 8 models
23 answers · 12 models
20 answers · 9 models
19 answers · 10 models
17 answers · 8 models
16 answers · 6 models
15 answers · 7 models
Search against answers
Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best managed kubernetes platform”, “managed kubernetes platform”, “managed kubernetes platforms”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
| Company and products | Share | Own site cited | Name searches, Google | AI search demand, est. | Organic visits | Paid search a month, est. | Google ads, last 30 days | Best Google position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Kubernetes Engine cloud.google.com | 43% | 194 | 2,400 | 15 | 7,405,347 | 4 | ||
| Amazon parent site Amazon EKS 15% | 15% | 200 | 151,000,000 | 1,380,939 | ||||
| DigitalOcean digitalocean.com DigitalOcean Kubernetes 14% | 14% | 114 | 74,000 | 942 | 637,494 company | $82 | 40 | 5 |
| Azure azure.microsoft.com Azure Kubernetes Service 12%, Microsoft Azure 2% | 14% | 188 | 301,000 | 47,904 | 1,848,766 | $6,123 | ||
| Civo Kubernetes civo.com | 9% | 40 | 20 | 1 | 4,772 | |||
| Linode linode.com Linode Kubernetes Engine 3% | 3% | 61 | 30 | 1 | 15,263 company | 76 | ||
| OVHcloud ovhcloud.com | 2% | 23 | 9,900 | 149 | 355,207 | $549 | 38 | 6 |
| Red Hat OpenShift redhat.com | 0% | 98 | 2,900 | 89 | 1,347,338 | $281 | 117 | |
| Rancher rancher.com | 0% | 57 | 12,100 | 30,642 | 11,297 | |||
| Oracle parent site Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes 0% | 0% | 22 | 450,000 | 66,611 |
Google's top ten for the three searches hold 19 sites; 5 of them are among the sites the models cited here (digitalocean.com, medium.com, mirantis.com, portainer.io, spot.rackspace.com). The first result for “best managed kubernetes platform” is cycle.io.
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.ShowHide
How they answered
Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHideModelDirect“What is the best managed Kubernetes platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which hosted Kubernetes service would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top managed Kubernetes platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best managed Kubernetes platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating a managed Kubernetes platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which managed Kubernetes platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Amazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineChangedGoogle Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean Kubernetesno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, EKS Fargate, Google Kubernetes Engine, Mirantis Kubernetes Engine, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShift
Two alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes EngineThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesSix alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Civo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShiftTwo alternatives
Linode Kubernetes Engine, Vultr Kubernetes EngineGPT-5.4 miniAmazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineChangedno first choiceGoogle Kubernetes Engineagainst: Amazon EKSno first choicenothing named
Two alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes ServiceFive alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftOne alternative
Azure Kubernetes ServiceGemini 3.5 FlashGoogle Kubernetes EngineAmazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineChangedGoogle Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes ServiceGoogle Kubernetes Engineagainst: Amazon EKS, Civo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean LKE, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, VMware Tanzu
Three alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesOne alternative
Azure Kubernetes ServiceFive alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Red Hat OpenShiftFour alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes Engine, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Vultr Kubernetes EngineThree alternatives
AWS EKS Auto Mode, Azure Kubernetes Service, NorthflankPerplexity SonarGoogle Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineHeldno first choiceDigitalOcean Kubernetesagainst: CAST AIno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine
Three alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, Northflank, Red Hat OpenShiftFour alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftEight alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Mirantis Kubernetes Engine, Northflank, Platform9 Managed Kubernetes, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShiftThree alternatives
Civo Kubernetes, Hetzner, OVHcloudThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineGrok 4.1 FastGoogle Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineHeldGoogle Kubernetes EngineDigitalOcean Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engineno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes Engine, Linode Kubernetes Engine
Five alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DOKS, RKE2, RancherThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode VK8sThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesThree alternatives
Civo Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Vultr Kubernetes EngineThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineMistral SmallAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineAmazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineChangedno first choiceAzure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetesno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes Engine, Platform9 Managed Kubernetes, Rafay, Rancher, Spectro Cloud, UpCloud Managed Kubernetes
Three alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShiftTwo alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesSix alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Platform9 Managed Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift, VMware TanzuThree alternatives
Google Kubernetes Engine, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Rackspace SpotDeepSeek V4 FlashGoogle Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineHeldGoogle Kubernetes EngineDigitalOcean Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engineno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Scaleway Kapsule, Vultr Kubernetes Engine
Three alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesThree alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesFour alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftFour alternatives
Civo Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Vultr Kubernetes EngineFive alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShiftLlama 4 MaverickLinode Kubernetes Engineno first choiceChangedOracle Container Engine for KubernetesOVHcloudno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure, GCloud
Two alternatives
Northflank, Platform9 Managed KubernetesFour alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Red Hat OpenShiftTwo alternatives
Linode Kubernetes Engine, NorthflankQwen 3.7 FlashMicrosoft AzureAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineChangedagainst: Red Hat OpenShiftGoogle Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes Engineagainst: Red Hat OpenShiftagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Heroku, IBM, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Five alternatives
Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Cloud, Linode Kubernetes Engine, RancherOne alternative
DigitalOcean KubernetesFour alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftThree alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes EngineTwo alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes ServiceKimi K2Azure Kubernetes Serviceagainst: Amazon EKSGoogle Kubernetes EngineChangedGoogle Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKSAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engineagainst: Azure Kubernetes Service, Civo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShift, VMware Tanzu, Vultr Kubernetes Engine
Two alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes EngineTwo alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes ServiceSix alternatives
Akamai Linode Kubernetes Engine, Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftThree alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Vultr Kubernetes EngineTwo alternatives
Rancher, Red Hat OpenShiftGLM 4.7 FlashXGoogle Kubernetes EngineAmazon EKSChangedno first choiceCivo Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Rackspace Spotno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engine, VMware Tanzu
Four alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Rackspace SpotThree alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes EngineTwo alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Vultr Kubernetes EngineSix alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engine, Rancher, Red Hat OpenShift, VMware TanzuMiniMax M2.5Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engineagainst: Amazon EKSAmazon EKS, Google Kubernetes EngineChangedAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineCivo Kubernetes, DigitalOcean Kubernetesagainst: Amazon EKS, Linode Kubernetes EngineAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes Engineagainst: Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, IBMCloud, OVHcloud, Red Hat OpenShift
Two alternatives
Platform9 Managed Kubernetes, RancherTwo alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesTwo alternatives
Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftTwo alternatives
Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineOne alternative
Red Hat OpenShiftGPT-6 LunaGoogle Kubernetes EngineGoogle Kubernetes EngineHeldAmazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineDigitalOcean Kubernetesno first choiceagainst: AKS Free tier, Amazon EKS, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes Engine
Two alternatives
AKS Automatic, Amazon EKS Auto ModeTwo alternatives
AKS Automatic, Amazon EKSThree alternatives
DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShiftOne alternative
Google Kubernetes EngineMuse Glimmer 30BGoogle Kubernetes EngineAzure Kubernetes Service, Google Kubernetes EngineChangedAmazon Elastic Kubernetes Service - EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service - AKS, Google Kubernetes Engine - GKEDigitalOcean Kubernetes, Linode Kubernetes Engineagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Serviceno first choiceagainst: Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean Kubernetes, Google Kubernetes Engine, Linode Kubernetes Engine, Red Hat OpenShift, VMware Tanzu
Three alternatives
Amazon EKS, Azure Kubernetes Service, DigitalOcean KubernetesTwo alternatives
Akamai Linode Kubernetes Engine, Amazon EKSTwo alternatives
Google Kubernetes Engine, UpCloud Managed KubernetesBold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against
The record
One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Eighty-four rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
| Prompt | Model | Version string | Time (UTC) | Searched | Sources | Latency |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct recommendation | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:29 | no | 0 | 5 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 08:30 | yes | 3 | 4 s |
| Direct recommendation | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 12:52 | yes | 10 | 27 s |
| Direct recommendation | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 10:29 | yes | 20 | 3 s |
| Direct recommendation | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 13:05 | yes | 24 | 9 s |
| Direct recommendation | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:52 | yes | 13 | 6 s |
| Direct recommendation | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 09:18 | yes | 23 | 21 s |
| Direct recommendation | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 13:01 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Direct recommendation | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:00 | yes | 5 | 41 s |
| Direct recommendation | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 12:17 | yes | 24 | 22 s |
| Direct recommendation | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 10:55 | yes | 15 | 86 s |
| Direct recommendation | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 11:16 | yes | 15 | 31 s |
| Direct recommendation | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 13:13 | yes | 3 | 12 s |
| Direct recommendation | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 09:37 | yes | 21 | 26 s |
| Paraphrase | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:49 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:53 | yes | 2 | 5 s |
| Paraphrase | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:28 | yes | 9 | 23 s |
| Paraphrase | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 07:51 | yes | 19 | 3 s |
| Paraphrase | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 12:16 | yes | 24 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 13:53 | yes | 9 | 8 s |
| Paraphrase | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 12:01 | yes | 22 | 42 s |
| Paraphrase | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 12:50 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Paraphrase | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 08:22 | yes | 10 | 41 s |
| Paraphrase | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 13:11 | yes | 10 | 18 s |
| Paraphrase | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 11:57 | yes | 15 | 17 s |
| Paraphrase | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 07:39 | yes | 5 | 15 s |
| Paraphrase | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 11:26 | yes | 4 | 11 s |
| Paraphrase | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 12:04 | yes | 15 | 24 s |
| Comparative | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 11:16 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 08:38 | yes | 9 | 9 s |
| Comparative | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 08:30 | yes | 13 | 29 s |
| Comparative | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 08:40 | yes | 20 | 4 s |
| Comparative | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:25 | yes | 22 | 10 s |
| Comparative | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 08:15 | yes | 14 | 8 s |
| Comparative | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 12:11 | yes | 25 | 51 s |
| Comparative | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 13:06 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Comparative | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 07:44 | yes | 5 | 24 s |
| Comparative | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 12:14 | yes | 20 | 29 s |
| Comparative | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 13:46 | yes | 25 | 43 s |
| Comparative | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 12:51 | yes | 10 | 22 s |
| Comparative | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 11:17 | yes | 7 | 17 s |
| Comparative | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 11:30 | yes | 15 | 33 s |
| Budget constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 10:28 | yes | 9 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 07:46 | yes | 3 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 13:29 | yes | 16 | 25 s |
| Budget constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 07:43 | yes | 20 | 2 s |
| Budget constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:07 | yes | 23 | 7 s |
| Budget constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 09:58 | yes | 12 | 6 s |
| Budget constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 09:13 | yes | 23 | 24 s |
| Budget constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 11:09 | yes | 5 | 1 s |
| Budget constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 07:55 | yes | 5 | 21 s |
| Budget constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 13:20 | yes | 15 | 21 s |
| Budget constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 07:37 | yes | 23 | 108 s |
| Budget constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 09:06 | yes | 9 | 30 s |
| Budget constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 09:14 | yes | 3 | 9 s |
| Budget constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 07:39 | yes | 14 | 17 s |
| Scale constrained | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 09:59 | no | 0 | 7 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 10:35 | no | 0 | 6 s |
| Scale constrained | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:15 | yes | 9 | 27 s |
| Scale constrained | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 09:23 | yes | 23 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 11:16 | yes | 17 | 11 s |
| Scale constrained | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 12:53 | no | 0 | 8 s |
| Scale constrained | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 08:38 | yes | 22 | 56 s |
| Scale constrained | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 12:48 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Scale constrained | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 09:29 | no | 0 | 32 s |
| Scale constrained | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 07:40 | yes | 14 | 21 s |
| Scale constrained | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 13:00 | yes | 25 | 41 s |
| Scale constrained | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 11:22 | yes | 5 | 21 s |
| Scale constrained | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 08:03 | yes | 2 | 32 s |
| Scale constrained | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 08:29 | yes | 15 | 18 s |
| Negative framing | Claude Haiku 4.5 | claude-haiku-4-5-20251001 | 2026-10-01 09:47 | yes | 18 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-5.4 mini | gpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-17 | 2026-10-01 09:03 | yes | 5 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Gemini 3.5 Flash | gemini-3.5-flash | 2026-10-01 09:20 | yes | 10 | 27 s |
| Negative framing | Perplexity Sonar | sonar | 2026-10-01 12:19 | yes | 19 | 5 s |
| Negative framing | Grok 4.1 Fast | spacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex | 2026-10-01 13:15 | yes | 24 | 11 s |
| Negative framing | Mistral Small | mistral/mistral-small via mistral | 2026-10-01 11:13 | yes | 5 | 4 s |
| Negative framing | DeepSeek V4 Flash | deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra | 2026-10-01 10:55 | yes | 25 | 45 s |
| Negative framing | Llama 4 Maverick | meta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock | 2026-10-01 09:18 | yes | 5 | 2 s |
| Negative framing | Qwen 3.7 Flash | alibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba | 2026-10-01 12:54 | no | 0 | 38 s |
| Negative framing | Kimi K2 | moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita | 2026-10-01 08:23 | yes | 25 | 24 s |
| Negative framing | GLM 4.7 FlashX | zai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai | 2026-10-01 12:33 | yes | 10 | 51 s |
| Negative framing | MiniMax M2.5 | minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax | 2026-10-01 12:53 | yes | 23 | 29 s |
| Negative framing | GPT-6 Luna | gpt-6-luna | 2026-10-01 12:03 | yes | 4 | 21 s |
| Negative framing | Muse Glimmer 30B | meta/muse-glimmer-30b via togetherai | 2026-10-01 08:38 | yes | 14 | 22 s |
Normalization in this category
Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.
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Category-scoped readings
AWS read as Amazon EKS
Amazon Web Services (EKS) read as Amazon EKS
Civo read as Civo Kubernetes
DigitalOcean read as DigitalOcean Kubernetes
DigitalOcean (DOKS) read as DigitalOcean Kubernetes
DigitalOcean Kubernetes – DOKS read as DigitalOcean Kubernetes
DigitalOcean's DOKS (DigitalOcean Kubernetes) read as DigitalOcean Kubernetes
IBM Kubernetes Service read as IBM Cloud Kubernetes Service
Linode read as Linode Kubernetes Engine
Linode (Akamai) read as Linode Kubernetes Engine
Linode (now Akamai) read as Linode Kubernetes Engine
Linode/Akamai read as Linode Kubernetes Engine
Mirantis read as Mirantis Kubernetes Engine
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure read as Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) read as Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) Kubernetes Engine (OKE) read as Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OKE) read as Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Oracle Kubernetes Engine (OKE) read as Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes
Platform9 read as Platform9 Managed Kubernetes
Scaleway read as Scaleway Kapsule
UpCloud read as UpCloud Managed Kubernetes
Vultr read as Vultr Kubernetes Engine
Unresolved, counted raw
AKS Free tier
AWS EKS Auto Mode
Amazon EKS Auto Mode
Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service - EKS
DOKS (DigitalOcean Kubernetes)
DigitalOcean LKE
GCloud
Google Kubernetes Engine - GKE
IBMCloud
Linode VK8s
Redhat OpenShift
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.