Kubernetes uses etcd for service discovery. It isn't that Nomad does things differently or less simply, it is just that they are more explicit about it.
The real difference is that Kubernetes has a wide array of cloud hosts that hide the complexity from users, whereas Nomad can realistically be self hosted
I'm not saying that Kubernetes isn't complex, I'm saying it's a fallacy to claim that the Hashicorp stack in any way manages to be less complex in practice. All of these moving parts are unavoidable if you want to run software at scale, Kubernetes is just way better engineered than the Hashicorp stack, if only for not depending on dockerd.
Kubernetes uses etcd for service discovery. It isn't that Nomad does things differently or less simply, it is just that they are more explicit about it.
The real difference is that Kubernetes has a wide array of cloud hosts that hide the complexity from users, whereas Nomad can realistically be self hosted