Karpenter 1.0 is the speedy barista of Kubernetes. It whips up nodes on demand, slashing AWS EC2 costs by 30-50%. Why? Real-time scaling magic, Spot instance wizardry, and APIs that won't stab you in the back. Sure, Cluster Autoscaler has an extensive resume of compatibility and control, but it's like molasses in a snowstorm. It can't match Karpenter's zippy maneuvers in AWS terrain; though let's just say it's still earning stripes for its multi-cloud game.
