I also use Kubernetes at work and somewhat agree with your point, but there are a few downsides. The method I explain in this post takes 5 minutes to set up in

I also use Kubernetes at work and somewhat agree with your point, but there are a few downsides. The method I explain in this post takes 5 minutes to set up in any VPS, 1 minute if you have a template to copy-paste. You can maybe do the same using k3s, but I still think there's more complexity involved. This method also builds the Docker containers in the same VPS, so you don't need a container registry or a build server. I came up with this way of doing things because I was already doing all that by hand. Then I learned about git hooks and custom remotes and I thought it was a handy way to automate it without crossing the k8s line. I personally find it a lot simpler. If you remove the comments and wrap a couple of things in bash functions it's quite straightforward.