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Arize AI vs Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Arize AI logo

Arize AI

AI

AI engineering platform for observability and evaluation of agents and LLM apps

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite
Lambda (AWS Serverless) logo

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Cloud

Run code without thinking about servers

From
Free
Free plan
Yes
Full reviewWebsite

The short version

  • Each has a real cost: Arize AI the free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.; 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: Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, 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 Arize AI and Lambda (AWS Serverless) actually diverge.

Attributes where Arize AI and Lambda (AWS Serverless) differ
AttributeArize AILambda (AWS Serverless)
Pricing modelfreemiumusage-based
CategoryAICloud
FoundedUnknown2014

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), platforms (web, api), user rating (Not yet rated).

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 Arize AI

  • End-to-end tracing
  • Evaluation framework
  • Prompt testing and improvement
  • Alyx AI engineering agent
  • Custom dashboards
  • Data warehouse integrations

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

What people use each for

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

Arize AI

  • Tracing and debugging production AI agentsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessionsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Improving prompts before production rolloutnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Storing and querying GenAI traces alongside a data warehousenot Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

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

Where each one falls short

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

Arize AI

  • The free plan caps trace spans at 25,000 per month with only 15 days of retention.
  • Self-hosted deployment and Data Fabric integration are restricted to the custom-priced Enterprise tier.
  • Pricing beyond the $50/month Pro plan requires a custom quote, making cost planning less transparent at scale.
  • Advanced compliance features like HIPAA are only available on Enterprise.

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

Arize AI

Free
  • AX FreeFree
    • 25k trace spans/month
    • 1 GB storage/month
    • 15-day retention
  • AX Pro$50/month
    • 50k trace spans/month
    • 10 GB storage/month
    • 30-day retention
  • AX Enterprise$undefined/mo
    • Custom trace spans, storage, and retention
    • SaaS or self-hosted deployment
    • Managed agents and Data Fabric

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

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

Which should you pick?

Choose Arize AI if

  • You need end-to-end tracing.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on web, api.
  • You also want evaluation framework.
Arize AI 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 Arize AI or Lambda (AWS Serverless) better?
Neither clearly leads. Arize AI 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, Arize AI or Lambda (AWS Serverless)?
Arize AI starts at Free and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free.
Does Arize AI or Lambda (AWS Serverless) run on more platforms?
Arize AI runs on web, api. Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api.
Can I use Arize AI for free?
Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
What is Arize AI best used for?
Arize AI is most often used for tracing and debugging production ai agents, running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions, improving prompts before production rollout, storing and querying genai traces alongside a data warehouse. Of those, tracing and debugging production ai agents and running large-scale evaluations across traces and sessions are not what Lambda (AWS Serverless) is typically brought in for.
What can Arize AI do that Lambda (AWS Serverless) cannot?
Arize AI covers End-to-end tracing, Evaluation framework, Prompt testing and improvement, Alyx AI engineering agent. Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Arize AI: What does Arize AX cost?

Arize AX offers a free plan, a Pro plan at $50/month, and a custom-priced Enterprise plan, with pricing based on trace spans, storage, and retention needs.

Source
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
Arize AI: Is there a free plan, and what are its limits?

The AX Free plan includes 25,000 trace spans and 1 GB of storage per month with 15-day retention, plus unlimited users, evaluations, and experiments.

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
Arize AI: What deployment options are available?

Free and Pro plans are SaaS-only, while Enterprise customers can choose SaaS or self-hosted deployment with custom SLAs.

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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