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Alibaba Cloud vs Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Alibaba Cloud logo

Alibaba Cloud

Cloud

Asia's leading cloud computing provider

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Lambda (AWS Serverless) logo

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Cloud

Run code without thinking about servers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Alibaba Cloud technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included; Lambda (AWS Serverless) billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does
  • They diverge on capability: Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service.
  • Prices and features above were last checked on 30 August 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Alibaba Cloud and Lambda (AWS Serverless) actually diverge.

Attributes where Alibaba Cloud and Lambda (AWS Serverless) differ
AttributeAlibaba CloudLambda (AWS Serverless)
PlatformsLinux, Windows, Api, CliWeb, Api
Founded20092014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Alibaba Cloud

  • Elastic Compute Service
  • Object Storage Service
  • RDS Database
  • MaxCompute
  • Function Compute
  • CDN
  • Load Balancer
  • Terraform

Only in Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Function-as-a-Service
  • Event-driven execution
  • Auto-scaling
  • Pay-per-use
  • Multiple languages
  • Concurrency limits
  • Dead Letter Queues
  • Environment variables

Both cover

  • API Gateway
  • Cloud deployment

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Alibaba Cloud

  • Cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in China and Asia Pacificnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitmentnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloadsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • CDN and data transfer packages for content deliverynot Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Event-driven functions without managing serversnot Alibaba Cloud
  • API backends behind API Gatewaynot Alibaba Cloud
  • Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot Alibaba Cloud
  • Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot Alibaba Cloud
  • Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot Alibaba Cloud

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Alibaba Cloud

  • Technical support is a separate subscription, from $19.99 a month for Developer up to $8,000 a month for Enterprise, with only Basic included
  • Service prices are not shown as a rate card and route through a calculator or sales
  • Committed discounts require savings plans, reserved instances or capacity packages rather than being automatic

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

  • Billed on two axes at once, $0.20 per million requests plus $0.0000166667 per GB-second of duration, so memory settings change the bill as much as traffic does
  • Provisioned concurrency, used to avoid cold starts, is charged separately at $0.0000041667 per GB-second whether or not the function runs
  • Ephemeral storage beyond the included 512 MB is metered
  • Lambda@Edge costs $0.60 per million requests, three times the standard request rate
  • VPC use and cross-region data transfer carry EC2 charges on top

Pricing, plan by plan

Alibaba Cloud

Free
  • Free TrialFree
    • Free tier credits
    • ECS instances
    • Cloud storage
  • Pay-as-You-GoFree
    • Flexible billing
    • No commitments
    • Global reach

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Free
  • Free TierFree
    • 1M free requests/month
    • 400,000 GB-seconds/month
    • Always free

Which should you pick?

Choose Alibaba Cloud if

  • You need elastic compute service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli.
  • You also want object storage service.
Alibaba Cloud review

Choose Lambda (AWS Serverless) if

  • You need function-as-a-service.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Web, Api.
  • You also want event-driven execution.
Lambda (AWS Serverless) review

Questions people ask

Is Alibaba Cloud or Lambda (AWS Serverless) better?
Neither clearly leads. Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Alibaba Cloud or Lambda (AWS Serverless)?
Alibaba Cloud starts at Free and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free.
Does Alibaba Cloud or Lambda (AWS Serverless) run on more platforms?
Alibaba Cloud runs on Linux, Windows, Api, Cli. Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Alibaba Cloud for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Alibaba Cloud best used for?
Alibaba Cloud is most often used for cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific, pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment, committed-use discounts through savings plans for steady workloads, cdn and data transfer packages for content delivery. Of those, cloud compute and storage with a strong footprint in china and asia pacific and pay-as-you-go infrastructure without upfront commitment are not what Lambda (AWS Serverless) is typically brought in for.
What can Alibaba Cloud do that Lambda (AWS Serverless) cannot?
Alibaba Cloud covers Elastic Compute Service, Object Storage Service, RDS Database, MaxCompute. Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use. Both handle API Gateway, Cloud deployment.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Lambda (AWS Serverless): Is there a free tier for AWS Lambda?

Yes. AWS Lambda offers a free tier including 1 million requests per month, 400,000 GB-seconds per month, and 100 GB monthly response streaming.

Source
Lambda (AWS Serverless): How is AWS Lambda charged?

Lambda charges $0.20 per million requests. Duration charges are $0.0000166667 per GB-second for x86 (up to 6 billion GB-seconds/month in US East Ohio with tiered pricing). Ephemeral storage over the included 512 MB costs $0.0000000309 per GB-second. Provisioned Concurrency costs $0.0000041667 per GB-second with a 5-minute minimum.

Source
Lambda (AWS Serverless): What are Lambda Durable Functions pricing?

Lambda Durable Functions include operations at $8.00 per million (start execution, steps, waits). Data written costs $0.25 per GB. Data retention is $0.15 per GB-month with configurable 1-90 day retention (default 14 days).

Source
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