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Do you need Kubernetes? Docker, Azure App Service or AKS

Kubernetes has become the default answer to "how should we host this?". It is a great platform, and it is also a lot of moving parts. The right choice depends on your team, your traffic and how much downtime you can afford.

Step 1: containerise, whatever you choose

Packaging your app in Docker is almost always worth it. The same image runs on a laptop, in staging and in production, which removes a whole class of "works here, broken there" problems. It also keeps every option below open.

Option A: one server with Docker Compose

  • Fits: websites, internal tools, early-stage products, predictable traffic.
  • Pros: simple, cheap, easy to understand.
  • Cons: the server is a single point of failure, and scaling means a bigger server.
  • Make it solid with: automated deploys, monitoring, and backups copied off the server.

Option B: a managed platform (Azure App Service, Container Apps)

  • Fits: most business applications and SaaS products in their growth phase.
  • Pros: the cloud provider handles servers, patching, SSL and scaling. Deployment slots allow zero-downtime releases.
  • Cons: less control, and costs can creep up without attention.

Option C: Kubernetes (Azure Kubernetes Service)

  • Fits: many services, multiple teams, high availability requirements, or traffic that varies a lot.
  • Pros: self-healing, rolling updates, fine-grained scaling and a huge ecosystem.
  • Cons: real operational complexity. Someone needs to own the cluster: upgrades, security, networking and costs.

How we decide

Ask three questions:

  1. How bad is an hour of downtime? Annoying: option A. Expensive: B or C.
  2. How many services do you run? One or two: A or B. Five or more, with separate teams: C becomes worth it.
  3. Who will maintain it? If nobody on your side knows Kubernetes and you do not want a managed service partner, choose B.

A good path for most companies

Start with Docker and option A or B, with proper CI/CD and monitoring from day one. Move to Kubernetes when you actually feel the limits. Because everything is already containerised, that move is a project of weeks, not a rewrite.

Running into limits with your current setup? Book a free intro call and we will look at it together.