Containers & Serverless: AWS to Azure service map
29 AWS → Azure mappings: 11 direct, 17 partial, 1 with no equivalent.
Kubernetes, container platforms and registries, serverless functions (including Lambda's newest features), workflows, and the event, queue, and API services that connect them. AWS mapped to Azure, verified against official docs.
Kubernetes(8)
Managed Kubernetes Direct match
The Azure equivalent of Amazon EKS is Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS). Both are conformant managed Kubernetes services where the provider runs the control plane and you choose how nodes are managed.
Fully managed Kubernetes nodes ("autopilot" mode) Direct match
Amazon EKS Auto Mode maps to AKS Automatic. Both run Karpenter-based node provisioning and preconfigure networking, storage, and security, while still exposing the full Kubernetes API.
Kubernetes version support windows Direct match
EKS standard plus extended support maps to AKS community support plus Long Term Support (LTS). Both give about two years per minor version if you pay for the extension.
Pod-level cloud identity Direct match
EKS Pod Identity (and IAM Roles for Service Accounts) maps to Microsoft Entra Workload ID for AKS. Both exchange a Kubernetes service account token for short-lived cloud credentials.
Managed Kubernetes on-premises and at the edge Partial match
Amazon EKS Hybrid Nodes and EKS Anywhere map to AKS Hybrid and Edge (AKS enabled by Azure Arc). Azure manages on-premises clusters through Arc, while AWS either keeps the control plane in the Region (Hybrid Nodes) or leaves the cluster fully customer-managed (EKS Anywhere).
Managed GitOps and platform add-ons for Kubernetes Partial match
Amazon EKS Capabilities (managed Argo CD, ACK, and kro) map partly to AKS GitOps extensions (Flux v2 and Argo CD). AWS runs these components outside your cluster, while Azure installs them as managed cluster extensions.
Managed Red Hat OpenShift Direct match
Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS (ROSA) maps to Azure Red Hat OpenShift (ARO). Both are jointly supported by Red Hat and the cloud provider and billed on the cloud bill.
Service mesh Partial match
AWS App Mesh was retired on Sep 30, 2026, and AWS points ECS users to ECS Service Connect (and VPC Lattice for cross-service networking). On Azure, the supported mesh is the Istio-based add-on for AKS. The Open Service Mesh add-on loses support on Sep 30, 2027.
Container platforms & registries(4)
Provider-native container orchestrator Partial match
Amazon ECS maps most closely to Azure Container Apps. Both hide Kubernetes and run services with scaling, revisions, and load balancing. ECS gives more infrastructure control (EC2 capacity, task placement, managed instances), while Container Apps is more opinionated and serverless-first.
Serverless container compute Partial match
AWS Fargate maps to Azure Container Instances (single container groups and AKS virtual nodes) and to Azure Container Apps' Consumption profile. Fargate is a compute engine for ECS and EKS, while ACI is a standalone service.
Simplest way to run a containerized web app Partial match
On AWS this is now Amazon ECS Express Mode, since App Runner is closed to new customers. On Azure, the equivalent is Azure Container Apps (or App Service for containers).
Container registry Direct match
Amazon ECR maps to Azure Container Registry (ACR). Both are private OCI registries with vulnerability scanning, replication, and upstream caching.
Serverless functions(7)
Serverless functions (FaaS) Direct match
The Azure equivalent of AWS Lambda is Azure Functions. Both run event-triggered code on managed infrastructure, but Azure Functions has several hosting plans, and its declarative bindings have no counterpart on Lambda.
Cold-start mitigation for functions Partial match
Lambda provisioned concurrency and SnapStart map to always-ready instances in Azure Functions (Flex Consumption and Premium plans). Azure has no snapshot-restore equivalent of SnapStart.
Shared function dependencies (layers) No equivalent
Azure Functions has no equivalent of Lambda layers. On Azure, dependencies are packaged with each function app, or you use a custom container image to share a base layer.
Built-in HTTPS endpoint for a function Direct match
Lambda function URLs map to the HTTP trigger in Azure Functions. Both give a function its own HTTPS endpoint with built-in auth options.
Serverless hosting for port-listening web apps Partial match
AWS Lambda Web Functions (launched Oct 2026) map partly to Azure Container Apps and Azure App Service. Azure has no function-branded equivalent; the nearest serverless option is Container Apps with scale to zero.
Functions on dedicated or reserved instances Partial match
Lambda Managed Instances map to the Azure Functions Premium and Dedicated (App Service) plans. On both, functions run on provider-managed instances you pay for continuously, but only AWS lets you pick EC2 instance types and apply EC2 commitments.
Isolated sandboxes for untrusted or AI-generated code Partial match
AWS Lambda MicroVMs map to Azure Container Apps dynamic sessions. Both provide VM-grade isolation (Firecracker on AWS, Hyper-V on Azure) for running untrusted code, but they differ in lifecycle and state.
Workflows & orchestration(3)
Visual workflow orchestration Partial match
AWS Step Functions maps to Azure Logic Apps for visual, service-integration workflows. Code-first orchestration is in the separate Durable Functions row.
Durable workflows written as code Direct match
Lambda durable functions map to Azure Durable Functions (with the Durable Task Scheduler backend). Both checkpoint progress and replay code to resume after failures or long waits.
Serverless scheduler Partial match
Amazon EventBridge Scheduler has no single-service Azure equivalent. On Azure, schedules are built with the Functions timer trigger, Logic Apps recurrence or schedule triggers, or Container Apps scheduled jobs.
Events, queues & pub/sub(4)
Event bus and event routing Partial match
Amazon EventBridge maps to Azure Event Grid. Both are serverless event routers with filtering and native cloud-service events, but they differ in schema, delivery modes, and extras such as archive and replay (EventBridge) or MQTT (Event Grid).
Message queues Direct match
Amazon SQS maps to Azure Service Bus queues (feature parity, including FIFO via sessions) or Azure Queue Storage (simple, cheap queues).
Pub/sub fan-out and notifications Partial match
Amazon SNS maps to Azure Service Bus topics (durable fan-out to subscriptions) and Azure Event Grid (push to webhooks and services). For SMS, email, and mobile push, Azure uses Azure Communication Services and Notification Hubs, which aren't mapped here.
Managed open-source message brokers (ActiveMQ, RabbitMQ) Partial match
Azure has no managed ActiveMQ or RabbitMQ service like Amazon MQ. The nearest first-party target is Azure Service Bus Premium (AMQP 1.0 and JMS 2.0); otherwise use Marketplace or self-managed brokers.
APIs & web front ends(3)
Managed API gateway Partial match
Amazon API Gateway maps to Azure API Management. API Management is a fuller API management platform (developer portal, products, policies across many backends). API Gateway is a serverless front door that is especially tight with Lambda.
Managed GraphQL and real-time pub/sub APIs Partial match
AWS AppSync maps to two Azure services. API Management covers GraphQL (pass-through or synthetic GraphQL with resolvers), and Azure Web PubSub covers real-time WebSocket pub/sub (like AppSync Events).
Static and SSR web hosting with Git CI/CD Direct match
AWS Amplify Hosting maps to Azure Static Web Apps. Both build from Git, host on a global edge network, and create preview environments for pull requests.