ACI | AKS | |
Description | Run containers without managing servers. | Orchestrate and manage multiple container images and applications. |
Deployment | For event-driven applications, quickly deploy from your container development pipelines, run data processing, and build jobs. | Uses clusters and pods to scale and deploy applications. |
Web Apps (Monolithic) | Yes | Yes |
N-Tier Apps (Services) | Yes | Yes |
Cloud-Native (Microservices) | Yes | Yes, recommended for Linux containers |
Batch/Jobs (Background tasks) | Yes | Yes |
Use cases |
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Major Difference | You should use AKS if you need full container orchestration, such as service discovery across multiple containers, automatic scaling, and coordinated application upgrades. |
Sources:
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/container-instances/container-instances-overview
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/aks/intro-kubernetes
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/architecture/modernize-with-azure-containers/