Kubernetes support ends, Amazon charges six times the price

The container platform Kubernetes 1.34 loses project support on 27 October 2026. Amazon EKS keeps it in Standard Support until December and enables the paid extension by default; operators must disable it to avoid the charge. Microsoft ends support for the same version in Azure in November.

Key takeaways

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What is Extended Support? A paid continuation of Kubernetes version support in Amazon EKS after the standard period ends. The cluster price jumps to six times the original rate.

1.34 receives only critical security fixes

Kubernetes version 1.34 entered maintenance mode on 27 August 2026. Minor versions like 1.34 bundle numerous new features and are maintained as a whole. During this phase, the project will only address critical security vulnerabilities. No functional changes or regular bug fixes will be applied. For existing workloads, this means no immediate impact; clusters continue operating as before.

On 27 October 2026, the maintenance phase will fully conclude. The most recent patch, 1.34.11, was released on 11 August 2026. While 1.34 remains listed in the project’s release notes until its end date, no further corrections will be issued afterward.

Separately, the project released version 1.37 on 26 August 2026, marking the shift in development focus. Self-managed cluster operators must plan their own migration. In managed cloud services, however, version maintenance is handled by the provider, allowing the same version to run longer without user intervention.

Amazon extends EKS 1.34 support and bills for the extension

Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) will support version 1.34 in Standard Support until 2 December 2026. Alongside, versions 1.36 and 1.35 are available, while 1.33, 1.32, and 1.31 are already in paid extended support. This extended phase is called Extended Support and is billed separately. Billing starts on the scheduled date without action by the operator.

Without explicit deactivation, Amazon automatically extends maintenance and charges six times the regular cluster price. The surcharges apply to every cluster that the platform team does not explicitly exclude from the extension, regardless of whether workloads on 1.34 are still running.

The Extended phase for 1.34 runs until 2 December 2027. Billing is per cluster per hour, so the surcharge grows with each month of extension. The long timeline eases upgrade planning, but cost decisions start at the deadline. This deadline is set by Amazon. By then, the Kubernetes project will have ended maintenance of 1.34 more than a year earlier.

Azure ends support on the last day of the month

Microsoft Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) released version 1.34 in general availability in November 2025. Support for this version ends on 30 November 2026. With this, Microsoft’s timeline for 1.34 is later than the Kubernetes project’s but earlier than Amazon’s. For users on Azure, the upgrade decision comes at a time when the project no longer maintains 1.34.

AKS teams schedule their version transitions on a different timeline than EKS operators, even though both use the same upstream release. For operators managing multiple versions or clouds, there’s no unified deadline. The following table compares the end dates for each version:

Version 1.31 reveals what happens at the end of paid extension

With version 1.31, it becomes clear what happens once the paid extension period ends. Extended Support for 1.31 expires on 26 November 2026. After that, Amazon automatically upgrades affected clusters to the oldest version still in the Extended Support phase. A return to the original version is not provided for.

The shutdown has two consequences. If you disable the paid extension for a cluster, you accept the automatic upgrade sooner. The ongoing surcharges cease in this case, but the forced version change happens earlier. Amazon selects the target version according to its own support portfolio. The applications running in the cluster do not determine that choice.

Who provides fixes when the project ends?

Between the project’s end date and the EKS release window, Amazon officially designates 1.34 as the standard, but the project no longer maintains it. Security patches for this version come exclusively from Amazon or Microsoft during this period.

Frequently Asked Questions

Image source: AI-generated (September 2026)

Translated from the German original using artificial intelligence. The German version is authoritative.