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Customer Support · head to head

Amazon Connect vs Amazon Lex

Amazon Connect logo

Amazon Connect

Customer Support

Cloud contact center from AWS

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Amazon Lex logo

Amazon Lex

Live Chat & Chatbots

AWS conversational AI service

From
$0.00075/per text request
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Only Amazon Connect has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
  • Each has a real cost: Amazon Connect telephony is charged separately from the platform, so the $0.038 per minute voice rate is not the whole cost of a call; Amazon Lex pay-as-you-go model with no standard free tier, only AWS free credits for new customers (6 months, $200 limit)
  • They diverge on capability: Amazon Connect covers Voice, Amazon Lex covers Speech recognition.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex actually diverge.

Attributes where Amazon Connect and Amazon Lex differ
AttributeAmazon ConnectAmazon Lex
Starting priceFree$0.00075/per text request
Free tierYesNo
PlatformsWebWeb, AWS Cloud
CategoryCustomer SupportLive Chat & Chatbots

Identical on both: pricing model (usage-based), user rating (Not yet rated), founded (2006).

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 Amazon Connect

  • Voice
  • Chat
  • Tasks
  • ML-powered analytics
  • Contact Lens
  • Outbound campaigns
  • Forecasting
  • Salesforce

Only in Amazon Lex

  • Speech recognition
  • Natural language understanding
  • Voice and text
  • Lambda integration
  • AWS services
  • Lambda
  • DynamoDB
  • SNS

Both cover

  • Web support

What people use each for

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

Amazon Connect

  • Cloud contact centre with no per-seat licencenot Amazon Lex
  • Voice, chat, email and SMS in one queuenot Amazon Lex
  • Conversational analytics and agent assistnot Amazon Lex
  • Outbound campaigns and automated contactnot Amazon Lex
  • Workforce scheduling for contact centre agentsnot Amazon Lex

Amazon Lex

  • Building conversational chatbots leveraging Alexa deep learning enginenot Amazon Connect
  • Voice and text-based NLU applications requiring automatic speech recognitionnot Amazon Connect
  • Custom conversational interfaces integrated into existing applicationsnot Amazon Connect

Where each one falls short

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

Amazon Connect

  • Telephony is charged separately from the platform, so the $0.038 per minute voice rate is not the whole cost of a call
  • Every channel is metered individually: $0.010 per chat message, $0.080 per email and $0.014 per SMS
  • Rates vary by region and by third-party provider, so a published figure is indicative rather than final
  • Cost tracks contact volume, which makes forecasting hard for a queue with seasonal peaks

Amazon Lex

  • Pay-as-you-go model with no standard free tier, only AWS free credits for new customers (6 months, $200 limit)
  • Speech requests cost $0.004 each, text requests $0.00075 each, training costs $0.50 per minute
  • Variable costs can accumulate quickly for high-volume applications

Pricing, plan by plan

Amazon Connect

Free
  • Pay-as-you-go$0.018/minute
    • Voice minutes
    • Free tier available
    • No upfront costs

Amazon Lex

$0.00075/per text request

No published plan breakdown. See the Amazon Lex review.

Which should you pick?

Choose Amazon Connect if

  • You need voice.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You also want chat.
Amazon Connect review

Choose Amazon Lex if

  • You need speech recognition.
  • You work on Web, AWS Cloud.
  • You also want natural language understanding.
Amazon Lex review

Questions people ask

Is Amazon Connect or Amazon Lex better?
Neither clearly leads. Amazon Connect starts at Free and Amazon Lex at $0.00075/per text request, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Amazon Connect or Amazon Lex?
Amazon Connect has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at Free for Amazon Connect and $0.00075/per text request for Amazon Lex.
Does Amazon Connect or Amazon Lex run on more platforms?
Amazon Connect runs on Web. Amazon Lex runs on Web, AWS Cloud.
Can I use Amazon Connect for free?
Yes. Amazon Connect has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Amazon Lex starts at $0.00075/per text request.
What is Amazon Connect best used for?
Amazon Connect is most often used for cloud contact centre with no per-seat licence, voice, chat, email and sms in one queue, conversational analytics and agent assist, outbound campaigns and automated contact. Of those, cloud contact centre with no per-seat licence and voice, chat, email and sms in one queue are not what Amazon Lex is typically brought in for.
What can Amazon Connect do that Amazon Lex cannot?
Amazon Connect covers Voice, Chat, Tasks, ML-powered analytics. Amazon Lex covers Speech recognition, Natural language understanding, Voice and text, Lambda integration. Both handle Web support.
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