Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
AWS (Amazon Web Services) vs Lambda (AWS Serverless)
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Cloud & Infrastructure
The leading cloud computing platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Cloud & Infrastructure
Run code without thinking about servers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: AWS (Amazon Web Services) data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills; 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: AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Lambda (AWS Serverless) actually diverge.
| Attribute | AWS (Amazon Web Services) | Lambda (AWS Serverless) |
|---|---|---|
| Platforms | Web, Api, Cli, Mobile | Web, Api |
| Founded | 2006 | 2014 |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), pricing model (usage-based), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure).
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 AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- EC2 - Virtual Servers
- S3 - Object Storage
- RDS - Managed Database
- Lambda - Serverless Computing
- CloudFront - CDN
- VPC - Virtual Network
- IAM - Access Management
- CloudWatch - Monitoring
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.
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Web hostingnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Data storagenot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Machine learningnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Big data analyticsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Application developmentnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Event-driven functions without managing serversnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- API backends behind API Gatewaynot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
- Data transfer in is free and data transfer out is charged, which is the standard source of unexpected bills
- Discounts require one or three year Savings Plan commitments rather than being automatic
- Every service is priced separately, so a working architecture has no single published cost
- The free tier is a promotional allowance rather than an ongoing free plan
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
AWS (Amazon Web Services)
Free- AWS Free TierFree
- EC2 750 hours/month
- 5GB S3 storage
- 20GB data transfer
- Pay-As-You-GoFree
- No upfront payment
- No long-term commitments
- Pay only for what you use
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Free- Free TierFree
- 1M free requests/month
- 400,000 GB-seconds/month
- Always free
Which should you pick?
Choose AWS (Amazon Web Services) if
- You need ec2 - virtual servers.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile.
- You also want s3 - object storage.
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.
Questions people ask
- Is AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Lambda (AWS Serverless) better?
- Neither clearly leads. AWS (Amazon Web Services) 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, AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Lambda (AWS Serverless)?
- AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free.
- Does AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Lambda (AWS Serverless) run on more platforms?
- AWS (Amazon Web Services) runs on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile. Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use AWS (Amazon Web Services) for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is AWS (Amazon Web Services) best used for?
- AWS (Amazon Web Services) is most often used for web hosting, data storage, machine learning, big data analytics. Of those, web hosting and data storage are not what Lambda (AWS Serverless) is typically brought in for.
- What can AWS (Amazon Web Services) do that Lambda (AWS Serverless) cannot?
- AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, S3 - Object Storage, RDS - Managed Database, Lambda - Serverless Computing. Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use.