I agree — Docker Compose is more than enough in most cases. At work, the only reason we migrated to Kubernetes was to enable zero-downtime deployments (blue/green).
That said, to be honest, I don’t find Kubernetes complex — but that might be because I’ve been using it for quite some time.
The problem is not to use it but to maintain it, keeping a baremetal k8 cluster updated takes a lot of effort, reason why most people recommend to use a managed one. It is like the entry pill to the cloud lock-in.
That said, to be honest, I don’t find Kubernetes complex — but that might be because I’ve been using it for quite some time.