🚀 Managed Kubernetes Cost Report

10 → 200 WordPress Sites in India | January 2025

📊 Executive Summary

  • Best value in India: Akamai (Linode) Mumbai and DigitalOcean BLR1
  • Lowest raw compute: Hetzner (Singapore) - 1,500km from Chennai
  • Enterprise features: AWS/GCP/Azure at 2-3× cost premium
  • Free control planes: Akamai, DigitalOcean, Azure (Free tier)

💰 Cost Comparison at Different Scales

Starting Small: 10 WordPress Sites

Akamai (Linode) BEST VALUE

$51
• Workers: $36 (3×$12 - 2GB)
• Load Balancer: $10
• Storage: $5
• Control Plane: FREE
$51

Hetzner CHEAPEST

$36
• Workers: $26 (3×$8.50)
• Load Balancer: $7
• Storage: $3
• Note: Singapore region
$36

DigitalOcean SIMPLE

$89
• Workers: $72 (3×$24)
• Load Balancer: $12
• Spaces: $5
• Control Plane: FREE
$89

Azure

$142
• Workers: $114 (3×$38)
• Load Balancer: $18
• Storage: $10
• Control Plane: FREE
$142

AWS ENTERPRISE

$213
• Workers: $105 (3×$35)
• Load Balancer: $25
• Storage: $10
• EKS Control: $73
$213

GCP ENTERPRISE

$223
• Workers: $118 (3×$39)
• Load Balancer: $22
• Storage: $10
• GKE Control: $73

⚙️ Worker Node Technical Specifications

Standardizing on ~2 vCPU / 4GB RAM class instances for production workloads.

AWS Mumbai $30.37/mo

t3.medium

• CPU: 2 vCPUs (Intel Xeon Platinum 8000 up to 3.1 GHz)
• RAM: 4 GiB
• Network: Up to 5 Gbps (EBS: 2,085 Mbps)
• Burstable: Yes (20% baseline, credits-based)

GCP Mumbai $39.42/mo

e2-standard-2

• CPU: 2 vCPUs (Intel/AMD Variable)
• RAM: 8 GiB +4GB BONUS
• Network: 4 Gbps egress
• Performance: Sustained (Non-burstable)

Azure Central India $37.96/mo

Standard B2s

• CPU: 2 vCPUs (Intel Xeon / AMD EPYC)
• RAM: 4 GiB
• Network: Moderate
• Burstable: Yes (60% baseline)

DigitalOcean BLR1 $24.00/mo

Basic Regular

• CPU: 2 vCPUs (Dedicated Intel Xeon)
• RAM: 4 GiB
• Storage: 80 GB SSD
• Transfer: 4 TB Outbound

Akamai Mumbai $24.00/mo

Shared 4GB

• CPU: 2 vCPUs (AMD EPYC or Intel)
• RAM: 4 GiB
• Storage: 80 GB SSD
• Transfer: 4 TB

Hetzner SG 🥇 $10.79/mo

CPX21

• CPU: 3 vCPUs +1 CORE BONUS
• RAM: 4 GiB
• Storage: 80 GB SSD
• Transfer: 20 TB

📦 WordPress Resource Profiles & Node Capacity

Minimal Pod (Dev/Test)

Small site with minimal traffic

  • CPU: 100m req / 500m lim
  • RAM: 256 MiB req / 512 MiB lim
  • Max: ~450 MiB peak

Standard Pod (Prod)

Active production site

  • CPU: 250m req / 1000m lim
  • RAM: 512 MiB req / 1 GiB lim
  • Max: ~900 MiB peak

Intensive (WooCommerce)

E-commerce / High traffic

  • CPU: 500m req / 2000m lim
  • RAM: 1 GiB req / 2 GiB lim
  • Max: ~1.8 GiB peak

🧮 Capacity Math (Per 2vCPU / 4GB Node)

Accounting for ~15% CPU and ~20% RAM system overhead.

DigitalOcean / Akamai / Azure 2vCPU/4GB Node:
├─ Usable CPU: 1.7 vCPUs (2 - 15% System overhead Environment)
├─ Usable Memory: 3.2 GiB (4 - 20% Kubelet/OS Reserved)
├─ Max Minimal Pods: 17 pods (limited by CPU: 1.7 / 0.1)
├─ Max Standard Pods: 6 pods (limited by CPU: 1.7 / 0.25)
├─ Max Intensive Pods: 3 pods (limited by CPU: 1.7 / 0.5)
└─ Recommended Standard: 4-5 pods (providing 20% headroom buffer)
GCP e2-standard-2 (2vCPU / 8GB Node):
├─ Usable CPU: 1.7 vCPUs
├─ Usable Memory: 6.4 GiB (8 - 20% Reserved)
├─ Max Minimal Pods: 17 pods (limited by CPU)
├─ Max Standard Pods: 6 pods (limited by CPU)
├─ Max Intensive Pods: 3 pods (limited by CPU)
└─ Advantage: Higher RAM allows for much larger DB/Redis caches on same node

📊 Workload Distribution (50 Sites Scenario)

Provider Nodes Sites/Node CPU/Site RAM/Site Avg. Utilization
AWS (t3.medium) 5 10 sites 170m 340 MiB ~85% (Aggressive)
DigitalOcean 8 6-7 sites 240m 480 MiB ~70% (Balanced)
Hetzner SG (CPX21) 5 10 sites 255m 640 MiB ~65% (High Headroom)
GCP (e2-std-2) 8 6-7 sites 210m 800 MiB ~60% (Memory Safe)

⚡ Scaling Efficiency & Performance Metrics

Cost Efficiency

Cost per vCPU/mo:
• Hetzner: $3.60 WINNER
• DO/Akamai: $12.00
• AWS: $15.18
• GCP: $19.71

RAM Value

Cost per GiB RAM/mo:
• Hetzner: $2.70 WINNER
• GCP: $4.93
• DO/Akamai: $6.00
• AWS: $7.59

Perf Considerations

• Burstable (AWS/Azure): Risk of CPU throttling after credits expire
• Dedicated (DO/GCP): Consistent performance 24/7
• Single-thread: GCP C3/DO Premium Intel usually lead

Full Scale: 200 WordPress Sites

Provider Control Plane Workers (12×) Load Balancer Storage Total/Month
Hetzner (SG) 🥇 $0 $102 $8 $12 ~$122
Akamai (Linode) 🥈 $0 $144 $10 $15 $169
DigitalOcean $0 $288 $12 $15 $315
Azure $0 $456 $25 $30 $511
AWS $73 $420 $35 $30 $558
GCP $73 $468 $30 $30 $601

🎯 3-Year TCO Projection

Linear growth from 10 → 200 sites over 36 months

Provider Year 1 Avg Year 2 Avg Year 3 Avg 3-Year Total Savings vs AWS
Hetzner $42 $78 $115 $2,820 $11,040 (80%)
Akamai (Linode) $65 $105 $155 $3,900 $9,960 (72%)
DigitalOcean $115 $195 $295 $7,260 $6,600 (48%)
Azure $185 $315 $485 $11,820 $2,040 (15%)
AWS $255 $375 $535 $13,860 —
GCP $270 $410 $585 $15,540 -$1,680

🏆 Recommendations by Use Case

🥇 Best Overall Value (India): Akamai Mumbai

★★★★★

Cost: $51 → $169 | Region: India ✓

Why: Most reliable low-cost provider in India, free control plane, Akamai global backbone

Ideal for: Startups, SMBs, cost-conscious projects in India

🥈 Best Managed Experience (India): DigitalOcean BLR1

★★★★★

Cost: $89 → $315 | Region: India ✓

Why: Simple pricing, excellent docs, generous bandwidth pooling

Ideal for: Teams wanting simplicity without sacrificing managed K8s

🥉 Best Absolute Price: Hetzner Singapore

★★★★★

Cost: $36 → $122 | Region: Singapore ⚠️

Why: Exceptional price/performance, 80% cheaper than AWS over 3 years

Ideal for: Technical teams comfortable with DIY, latency acceptable

🏢 Best for Enterprise (India): Azure Central India

★★★★☆

Cost: $142 → $511 | Region: India ✓

Why: Free control plane, comprehensive compliance, hybrid capabilities

Ideal for: Enterprises with existing Azure commitments, compliance needs

⚠️ When to Choose AWS/GCP

★★★☆☆

AWS: Deep ecosystem integration, advanced EKS features, Aurora/RDS needed

GCP: GKE Autopilot, BigQuery integration, Google Cloud AI/ML services

Trade-off: Pay 2-3× more for comprehensive cloud platform capabilities

📈 Cost Progression (10 to 200 Sites)

Provider 10 Sites 50 Sites 100 Sites 200 Sites Cost at 200 Sites
Akamai Mumbai $51 $105 $135 $169 $0.84/site
DigitalOcean BLR1 $89 $185 $245 $315 $1.57/site
Hetzner (SG) $36 $75 $95 $122 $0.61/site*
AWS (Mumbai) $213 $355 $455 $558 $2.79/site
GCP (Mumbai) $223 $415 $505 $601 $3.00/site

*Hetzner not in India. All prices are monthly estimates including control plane, nodes, and basic networking.

💡 Key Takeaways

⚖️ Final Verdict: Choosing the Right Provider for India

Selecting the right provider depends on your team's technical expertise, latency requirements, and budget. Below is a comprehensive comparison of the three leading value-focused providers.

Factor Hetzner Akamai (Linode) DigitalOcean
Cost (200 sites) 🥇 ~$122 🥈 $169 🥉 $315
India Region ❌ (Singapore) ✅ Mumbai ✅ Bengaluru
Managed K8s ❌ DIY Required ✅ LKE (Managed) ✅ DOKS (Managed)
Documentation ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
User Experience ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Ecosystem ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Managed Services ⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Support Quality ⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

🇩🇪 Hetzner Trade-offs

• Location: Higher latency for India (~60-100ms) via Singapore.
• Complexity: No managed K8s; manual cluster setup and maintenance required.
• Support: Smaller English community; primarily German-focused business hours.

🚀 Akamai (Linode) Trade-offs

• UX: More utilitarian, utilitarian interface with a steeper learning curve.
• Services: Limited managed database options (MySQL/PG only).
• Storage: Object storage is less feature-rich compared to DO Spaces.

🌊 DigitalOcean Trade-offs

• Cost: Nearly 2× the cost of Akamai/Linode at scale ($315 vs $169).
• Bandwidth: $0.01/GB egress is higher than Akamai's aggressive pricing.
• Premium: You pay a "convenience tax" for the superior UI and docs.

📍 Decision Guide for WordPress in India

  • ✅ Choose Akamai (Linode) if: You want the best balance of local India latency (Mumbai) and lowest managed K8s cost. Ideal if budget is the primary driver but you still want a managed service.
  • ✅ Choose DigitalOcean if: You prioritize developer velocity, superior documentation, and a robust managed service ecosystem. Best for teams with junior devs or those who value time-to-market over raw infrastructure cost.
  • ✅ Choose Hetzner if: You are a DevOps expert, have no issue managing K8s manually, and Singapore latency is acceptable for your users. This offers the absolute maximum compute value.

The ~$146/month difference between Akamai and DigitalOcean represents a choice between infrastructure savings vs. platform convenience.