AWS Copilot vs Helm: What are the differences?

Introduction

AWS Copilot and Helm are both tools used for managing and deploying containerized applications on Kubernetes. While they share similar goals, there are several key differences between the two.

1. CLI Experience: AWS Copilot provides a simplified CLI experience specifically designed for developers working within the AWS ecosystem. It abstracts away many of the complexities of Kubernetes and streamlines the deployment process through simple commands such as "copilot init" and "copilot deploy". On the other hand, Helm is a more general-purpose package manager for Kubernetes, offering a broader range of features and flexibility but requiring a steeper learning curve.

2. Built-in Deployment Patterns: AWS Copilot includes predefined deployment patterns, such as "request-driven web services" and "backend services". These patterns encapsulate best practices and automate the creation of necessary resources, making it easier for developers to get started and follow recommended architectural patterns. Helm, on the other hand, does not provide built-in deployment patterns and requires manual configuration and customization for each application.

3. Integration with AWS Resources: AWS Copilot has deep integration with various AWS services. It can automatically provision and manage related AWS resources, such as Amazon ECS clusters, Application Load Balancers, and Amazon RDS databases, based on the requirements of a given application. This integration simplifies the deployment process and ensures consistent configuration. Helm is not specifically designed for AWS and does not provide direct integration with AWS resources, requiring additional manual configuration.

4. Code-centric Approach: AWS Copilot focuses on a code-centric approach, where the application's code repository serves as the source of truth for deployment configuration. Developers can define application infrastructure using a "copilot.yml" file in their code repository, allowing for version-controlled, reproducible deployments. Helm, on the other hand, uses separate configuration files called "charts" that describe the desired state of the application's deployment.

5. Ease of Use: AWS Copilot aims to provide a simplified and opinionated experience for deploying containerized applications. It offers a faster learning curve and reduces the need for manual intervention by automatically handling many aspects of the deployment process. Helm, with its broader feature set and flexibility, requires more manual configuration and customization, making it suitable for advanced users who require fine-grained control over their deployments.

6. Community Support and Ecosystem: Helm has a larger and more mature community compared to AWS Copilot. This translates into a wider range of available charts and plugins, as well as more extensive documentation and community support. AWS Copilot, being a relative newcomer, is still growing its community and ecosystem.

In Summary, AWS Copilot provides a simplified CLI experience, includes built-in deployment patterns, offers deep integration with AWS resources, follows a code-centric approach, aims for ease of use, and is still in the process of building its community and ecosystem. Helm, on the other hand, offers a more feature-rich and flexible package manager for Kubernetes with a larger and more mature community.