[imtringued]

Kubernetes is a full time job. If you want to capture 90% of the benefits of containerization without wasting too much time on a complex solution then simply restrict yourself to only use docker with bash scripts and maybe a load balancer if you really want to have HA.

I've found nomad to have a lower complexity than kubernetes but if you cannot directly integrate service discovery into your application then you will need to use a service mesh which is an all or nothing thing but using something like traefik's support for consul means you will have to use regular service discovery alongside the service mesh. It's not a huge burden but there should be a better way.