Kubernetes Practical By Samson Tanimawo, PhD Published Apr 15, 2026 4 min read

VPA vs HPA: When Each

Vertical and horizontal autoscaling. Different problems.

HPA

Adds replicas. Stateless workloads.

Scales out; preserves cost control.

VPA

Adjusts requests/limits. Single-replica workloads.

Tight resource fit; less waste.

Hybrid

VPA for resource sizing; HPA for replica count.

Both together for full coverage.