Kubernetes 1.31 clusters are auto-upgraded after November 26, 2026; 1.34 leaves standard support on December 2. Every EKS date from now to the end of 2027, what happens on each, and an upgrade routine that fits in a sprint.
Each Kubernetes minor version gets 14 months of standard support on EKS from its EKS release, then 12 months of extended support at $0.60 per cluster-hour instead of $0.10. At the end of extended support EKS upgrades the control plane automatically, at a time it does not announce, and only the control plane: managed node groups and self-managed nodes stay where they were, and add-ons are yours to update.
From the Amazon EKS Kubernetes release calendar, October 2026. Billing for extended support starts at the beginning of the day standard support ends, UTC.
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Check removed and deprecated APIs for the target version against what is deployed — EKS upgrade insights flags them per cluster.
Update add-ons and Helm charts to versions that support the target, in a non-production cluster first.
Upgrade the control plane. EKS lets you roll back within seven days of an in-place upgrade if something you missed breaks.
Roll nodes: Auto Mode updates its own; managed node groups and self-managed nodes need an explicit update; Fargate pods need a restart to pick up the new kubelet.
Repeat every four months, one version at a time. Skipping a cycle is how teams end up two versions behind and in extended support.
aws eks describe-cluster-versions returns every version's support dates, which makes a scheduled check — open a ticket ninety days before any cluster's end of standard support — about twenty lines of code.
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EKS 1.31 Is Auto-Upgraded After November 26, 2026, and 1.34 Starts Costing Six Times More on December 2
Kubernetes 1.31 on EKS reaches the end of extended support on November 26, 2026; after that AWS upgrades the control plane on its own schedule, with no notice and no rollback. Version 1.34 leaves standard support on December 2, when the control plane goes from $0.10 to $0.60 an hour. What happens, what doesn't, and what to do this month.
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As of October 25, 2026. Provided as is, for general information, and accurate to the best of our knowledge on the date shown. Not legal, compliance, tax, financial or other professional advice. Prices, limits and vendor services change; check current vendor documentation before relying on anything here. Terms of use.