---
title: "Discussion on \"Swapping Go for Rust: 10x Cheaper K8s Ingress\" | Hashnode"
description: "Discussion on \"Swapping Go for Rust: 10x Cheaper K8s Ingress\". How a $4,200 AWS bill forced a startup to dump Go-based ingress for Rust—and slashed infrastructure costs by 90%."
url: "https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323"
---

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# [Swapping Go for Rust: 10x Cheaper K8s Ingress](https://blog.ahmershah.dev/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress?utm_source=hashnode&utm_medium=feed)

How a $4,200 AWS bill forced a startup to dump Go-based ingress for Rust—and slashed infrastructure costs by 90%.

May 19 · 12 min read · blog.ahmershah.dev  
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## Written by

[Syed Ahmer Shah](https://hashnode.com/@syedahmershah)

@syedahmershah · Hyderabad, Pakistan

  
[View profile](https://hashnode.com/@syedahmershah)

Hey, I’m Syed Ahmer Shah — a full-stack dev & software engineering student building cool stuff. I write about web dev and the lessons I learn along the way.

I’m Syed Ahmer Shah — a full-stack developer and Software Engineering student focused on building, learning, and understanding how software comes together. I share what I learn through technical writing, development notes, and project case studies, covering code, AI, problem-solving, challenges, and the developer journey.

## Responses 20

Markdown supported · ⌘↵ to post

[Tahir](https://hashnode.com/@syedarhamshah)

[May 24](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a1334d1551486ce6c1e4fc3)

Dropping the cluster requirement from multiple hefty nodes down to a single small instance is a masterclass in infrastructure cost optimization. It is refreshing to see an optimization post that focuses heavily on the actual engineering ROI—balancing 3 weeks of developer time against a dramatic drop in a recurring cloud bill makes the transition completely justified.

[Tahir](https://hashnode.com/@syedarhamshah)

[May 24](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a1334cb551486ce6c1e4d19)

This highlights a great architectural pattern. Using Go for the orchestration control plane where development velocity matters, but swapping the high-frequency data plane over to Rust is the sweet spot for cloud infrastructure. The drop in memory footprint without garbage collection pauses perfectly illustrates why the data plane substrate is moving toward compile-time memory management.

[Taha Hussain](https://hashnode.com/@syedtahashah)

[May 21](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0f4f57d8e265f60d467d87)

Getting good experience by reading your blog😊

[Syed Ahmer Shah](https://hashnode.com/@syedahmershah)

[May 24](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0f4f57d8e265f60d467d87#reply-6a132db9551486ce6c1b4c6d)

Glad to hear you found the breakdown useful. Stripping away the theoretical arguments and focusing on the actual infrastructure metrics was the goal. Thanks for taking the time to read through it.

[Merzan](https://hashnode.com/@syedfarzeen)

[May 19](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0caab2883727741181fc56)

How did the team find the learning curve going from Go to Rust?

[Syed Ahmer Shah](https://hashnode.com/@syedahmershah)

[May 20](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0caab2883727741181fc56#reply-6a0d86c3e5259a493e99bc40)

Many people get caught up trying to build a massive application right away, completely overlooking the value of simple automation. Breaking a problem down line by line for a real-world use case forces you to actually think like a developer instead of just copying code. That is excellent advice for anyone trying to move forward.

[Sahil](https://hashnode.com/@farzeen)

[May 19](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0ca9ae8837277411814ead)

Were there any specific Rust libraries (like Axum or Tokio) that made building the new ingress easier, or did you write a lot of the low-level networking from scratch?

[Syed Ahmer Shah](https://hashnode.com/@syedahmershah)

[May 20](https://hashnode.com/posts/swapping-go-for-rust-10x-cheaper-k8s-ingress/6a0c9ba28837277411785323/comment/6a0ca9ae8837277411814ead#reply-6a0d86c7e5259a493e99c1a2)

Focusing on a small, annoying problem is the perfect way to break the cycle. You are exactly right about the confidence boost that comes from fixing an error completely on your own. I appreciate you sharing that insight.