DevZero vs Kubernetes VPA

Feature Comparison

Automatic language detection

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroTen runtimes

The node agent detects JVM, Node.js, .NET, Go, Rust, GraalVM native image, Python, Ruby, Deno and Bun in every container with no workload changes. Low-privilege installs turn it off.

Network tracing (eBPF)

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroOpt-in eBPF

Collects pod-to-pod network flows with netfilter by default. An eBPF collector mode is available as an opt-in setting.

Application health profiling

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Tracks OOM kills, crash loops, CPU throttling and container startup lifecycle events for each workload.

Node group profiling for shapes and sizes

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Analyzes each node group and the workloads on it, then suggests node policy changes to requirements, capacity type, zones, limits and disruption settings.

Node group consolidation opportunities

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroCompaction

Previews underused nodes whose pods fit elsewhere in their node group and drains them on demand or by policy. Also flags duplicate and overlapping node policies.

Workload cost

Cost attribution

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Splits node prices into CPU, memory and GPU unit costs and attributes them to each workload.

Network cost

Cost attribution

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Prices network traffic by type, including cross-AZ, cross-region, internet egress and NAT paths, estimated at cloud list rates.

Workload storage cost

Cost attribution

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Calculates persistent volume claim storage cost for each workload.

Savings Plan, RI and CUD awareness

Cost attribution

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroBilling export

Reads AWS, GCP and Azure billing exports to show commitment coverage and utilization and to price nodes at commitment-adjusted cost. It does not buy or manage commitments.

Flexible instance shapes in node groups

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Node policies select instances by category, family, size and capacity type, so one policy spans many shapes.

Spot-to-spot consolidation

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Installs Karpenter with spot-to-spot consolidation turned on for AWS, Azure, GCP and OCI, with a per-cluster toggle in Karpenter settings.

Manage existing Karpenter

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Mirrors existing Karpenter NodePools as read-only cluster-managed policies, and a migration wizard moves them under DevZero management.

Static capacity

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Supports fixed-size NodePools through spec.replicas on AWS, Azure and GCP once you turn on the Static capacity setting. OCI is not supported.

Live migration of running pods

Reliability

Kubernetes VPANot offered

VPA resizes pods by recreating them or in place and never moves a running process between nodes.

DevZeroWithin one cluster

Checkpoints a running container with CRIU and restores it on the replacement pod with its in-memory state. Opt-in per policy, on labelled nodes in the same cluster.

Alerts on restarts, OOM kills and throttling

Reliability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroIncluded

Alerts on application restarts, out-of-memory kills and CPU throttling, delivered by email or by webhook to Slack, Microsoft Teams, Discord or your own endpoint.

Workload profiling

Observability

Kubernetes VPAUsage history

The recommender builds CPU and memory usage history per container from Metrics Server, optionally seeded from Prometheus as a history provider. It profiles nothing beyond resource usage.

DevZeroIncluded

Builds a usage profile per workload from collected CPU, memory and runtime data and uses it to drive rightsizing recommendations.

API latency, throughput and error detection

Observability

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroOpt-in

Records inbound request rate, errors and latency per container from socket probes in the network monitor. Off by default; enable it with the containerRedMetrics Helm value.

Horizontal pod autoscaling

Workload autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered

VPA changes pod resources only; replica counts are handled by the separate Kubernetes HorizontalPodAutoscaler.

DevZeroVia KEDA

Horizontal scaling runs through KEDA ScaledObjects rendered from the workload rule. KEDA is an opt-in install, off by default, and DevZero creates no native HPA.

Coexists with HPA, VPA and KEDA

Workload autoscaling

Kubernetes VPADifferent metrics only

Must not run with HPA on the same CPU or memory metric. The docs allow memory-only VPA beside a CPU-based HPA, or HPA on custom metrics.

DevZeroDefers to them

Detects existing autoscalers automatically. An actuating VPA stands DevZero down. With an HPA it skips replica scaling, keeps vertical sizing, and offers an optional clamp against triggering scale-out.

Language-aware autoscaling

Workload autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroJVM only

Raises the CPU request of detected Java containers to a startup floor, 75m by default, and can tune JVM heap flags when the heap rule is on. No other runtime has its own rule.

Workload profile-based autoscaling

Workload autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroBehavior-based sizing

The sizing engine adapts percentile targets and headroom to each workload's observed CPU and memory behavior. No rule triggers scaling from a stored profile.

Savings plan aware node choice

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered

VPA provisions no nodes and has no pricing or commitment input.

DevZeroEstimates only

Savings estimates flag the share of billed node hours under a reservation or savings plan. It does not buy commitments or steer nodes onto them.

Workload profile-based node scaling

Cluster autoscaling

Kubernetes VPANot offered
DevZeroSuggestions only

Node policy suggestions read workload profiles, such as spot suitability and startup time, to propose spot capacity and grace periods. You apply them; no rule scales nodes on profiles.

Checks before a change is applied

Reliability

Kubernetes VPAOff mode

Update mode Off writes recommendations to the VPA object status without applying them, so teams can review them first. No other pre-apply check is documented.

DevZeroOpt-in, Pro

Live migration checks workload kind, image coherence and node readiness first, and skips the workload without changes if a check fails. Live migration is opt-in per policy and part of Pro.

Last updated

Pricing Compared

VPA is free; DevZero is billed per CPU with a free plan.

Kubernetes VPA

Freeopen source

  • Software. No license fee
  • Nodes. You pay for the capacity
  • Your time. Installing and tuning the controllers

Free to download; your team runs it.

$5per CPU per month

  • Free. $0 for monitoring on unlimited clusters
  • Pro. $5 per CPU per month, billed monthly
  • No annual commitment

Billed monthly on consumption. The more you save on compute, the less you pay DevZero.

Start free

Teams Already Running DevZero

Published results from customers who run DevZero in production.

How DevZero Works With VPA

DevZero reads your VPA objects and steps aside where one is acting.

  1. 1Install

    Add DevZero to the Cluster

    Install the operator next to your VPA. It reads VPA objects and changes nothing.

  2. 2Observe

    Compare the Recommendations

    DevZero previews each change. Workloads a VPA actively manages show as paused.

  3. 3Take over

    Set the VPA to Off

    Set updateMode to Off where you want DevZero to apply sizing.

  4. 4Keep

    Keep the VPA and HPA

    An Off-mode VPA keeps publishing recommendations. Your HPA keeps replicas.

DevZero vs Kubernetes VPA: FAQ

No. In any VPA mode other than Off, DevZero pauses its CPU and memory sizing for that workload. A VPA in Off mode only publishes recommendations, and DevZero sizes as usual.

In Recreate mode, yes. InPlaceOrRecreate resizes in place on Kubernetes 1.33+ and evicts only if that fails. DevZero also resizes in place and falls back to a rolling restart.

Not on the same CPU or memory metric, per VPA's docs. DevZero leaves an existing HPA in charge of replicas and keeps sizing requests.

No. VPA manages CPU and memory. DevZero recommends a GPU request, but it does not partition or share GPUs.

VPA is free; you cover node capacity and the work of running it. DevZero Free is $0 for monitoring, and Pro is $5 per CPU per month.

What our Customers say

Databahn logo

“We were essentially able to reduce the cost of that cluster by about 75%. On AWS, DevZero demonstrated they could achieve significantly higher savings than we initially thought possible.”

Mihir Nair

Mihir Nair

Head of Architecture, Databahn

See your own numbers first

In a demo you can

  • Use your own data

    See your cluster costs and recommendations in the dashboard.

  • Compare side by side

    Check DevZero's results against your current tool.

  • Plan the switch

    Move one namespace at a time, and keep the rest where it is.