The whole business model of cloud providers is to charge a premium for their ecosystem and to create lock-in by making everything interdependent. A Kubernetes deployment could cost 100k/yr a similar cloud deployment would be ~1m/yr.

> Does it really make sense to use Kubernetes in 2026? Especially in the cloud?

I can't tell if your comment is a joke or not.

No, I’m not joking. To me, it seems pointless to keep using this tool, as it only serves to complicate the architecture. It might make sense for on-premise data centers, but in the cloud—despite the vendor lock-in, it’s still more cost-effective than adding layer after layer of extra complexity.

It’s a joke whether or not it’s intended as one.

That in itself is an answer :D

It's not a black and white question. For you it doesn't make sense, for others it makes tons of sense.