OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE) Calculator
Size an OKE node pool against pod CPU, memory and the 110-pods-per-node ceiling, then price basic against enhanced clusters.
About OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE) Calculator
Node count is decided by whichever of three limits bites first: aggregate CPU requests, aggregate memory requests, or the hard ceiling of 110 pods per node. The system reservation matters because kubelet, the CNI and daemon sets consume capacity on every node before a single workload pod is scheduled. Clusters full of tiny pods hit the 110-pod ceiling long before they run out of CPU, which means you pay for idle cores unless you use smaller nodes — and knowing which constraint binds tells you whether to change node shape or pod requests. The basic cluster control plane is free, so the enhanced tier only makes sense when you need its extra features. Confirm the cluster and compute rates in the Oracle Cloud cost estimator for your region.
Formula
OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE)
nodes = max(ceil(total pod OCPU ÷ usable OCPU per node), ceil(total pod memory ÷ usable memory per node), ceil(pods ÷ 110)), where usable capacity is the node size less the system reservation.
- 110
- Maximum pods Kubernetes will schedule on a single node
- system reservation
- Share of each node held back for kubelet, CNI and daemon sets
- usable OCPU
- Node OCPUs left for workload pods after the reservation
Worked example
With the default values below, OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE) Calculator returns Worker Nodes Required of 30. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.
Inputs used
- Pods to runaccepts 1–100,000 pods
- 400 pods
- OCPU request per podaccepts 0.01–64 OCPU
- 0.25 OCPU
- Memory request per podaccepts 0.1–512 GB
- 1.5 GB
- OCPUs per worker nodeaccepts 1–128 OCPU
- 4 OCPU
- Memory per worker nodeaccepts 1–1,024 GB
- 64 GB
- Pod ceiling per nodeaccepts 1–110 pods
- 110 pods
- Capacity reserved for system componentsaccepts 0–50 %
- 15 %
- Cluster typeone of Basic cluster (free control plane), Enhanced cluster (per cluster-hour)
- Enhanced cluster (per cluster-hour)
- Enhanced cluster price per houraccepts 0–10 USD/hour
- 0.1 USD/hour
- Price per OCPU-houraccepts 0–50 USD/OCPU-hour
- 0.025 USD/OCPU-hour
- Price per GB-hour of memoryaccepts 0–5 USD/GB-hour
- 0.0015 USD/GB-hour
- Billed hours per monthaccepts 1–744 hours
- 744 hours
Results
- Worker Nodes Required
- 30
- Limiting Factor
- OCPU requests are the binding limit
- Monthly Cost
- $4,449.12
- Worker Node Charge
- $4,374.72
- Control Plane Charge
- $74.40
- Pods Landing per Node
- 13.3
- OCPU Utilisation
- 83.3%
- Cost per Pod
- $11.12
Step by step
- 1Values used
- 2OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE)
- 3Worker Nodes Required= 30
- 4Limiting Factor= OCPU requests are the binding limit
- 5Monthly Cost= 4,449.12
- 6Worker Node Charge= 4,374.72
- 7Control Plane Charge= 74.40
- 8Pods Landing per Node= 13.3
Assumptions and limits
- The result is derived only from the 12 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
- In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
- Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE) calculated?
nodes = max(ceil(total pod OCPU ÷ usable OCPU per node), ceil(total pod memory ÷ usable memory per node), ceil(pods ÷ 110)), where usable capacity is the node size less the system reservation. Node count is decided by whichever of three limits bites first: aggregate CPU requests, aggregate memory requests, or the hard ceiling of 110 pods per node. The system reservation matters because kubelet, the CNI and daemon sets consume capacity on every node before a single workload pod is scheduled.
Why does OCI Kubernetes Engine (OKE) matter?
Clusters full of tiny pods hit the 110-pod ceiling long before they run out of CPU, which means you pay for idle cores unless you use smaller nodes — and knowing which constraint binds tells you whether to change node shape or pod requests. The basic cluster control plane is free, so the enhanced tier only makes sense when you need its extra features. Confirm the cluster and compute rates in the Oracle Cloud cost estimator for your region.
What values do I need to enter?
This calculator takes 12 inputs: Pods to run, OCPU request per pod, Memory request per pod, OCPUs per worker node, Memory per worker node, Pod ceiling per node, Capacity reserved for system components, Cluster type, Enhanced cluster price per hour, Price per OCPU-hour, Price per GB-hour of memory, Billed hours per month. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.