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AWS (Amazon Web Services) vs Nomad

AWS (Amazon Web Services) logo

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

Software

The leading cloud computing platform

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Nomad logo

Nomad

Software

Flexible workload orchestration

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Nomad nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • They diverge on capability: AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, Nomad covers Container orchestration.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Nomad actually diverge.

Attributes where AWS (Amazon Web Services) and Nomad differ
AttributeAWS (Amazon Web Services)Nomad
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, Api, Cli, MobileLinux, Windows, Mac, Cloud
Founded20062015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Unknown).

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 Nomad

  • Container orchestration
  • Job scheduling
  • Multi-cloud support
  • Auto-scaling
  • Service discovery
  • Rolling deployments
  • Monitoring integration
  • High availability

Both cover

  • Terraform
  • Kubernetes
  • Docker

What people use each for

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

AWS (Amazon Web Services)

  • Web hostingnot Nomad
  • Data storagenot Nomad
  • Machine learningnot Nomad
  • Big data analyticsnot Nomad
  • Application developmentnot Nomad

Nomad

  • Scheduling containers, binaries, Java and VM workloads on the same clusternot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Running an orchestrator with a single binary and no external dependenciesnot AWS (Amazon Web Services)
  • Batch and edge workload scheduling across multiple datacentresnot 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

Nomad

  • Nomad 1.7.0 and later is licensed under the Business Source License 1.1 with IBM Corporation as licensor, not an OSI open source licence
  • The Additional Use Grant forbids offering Nomad to third parties on a hosted or embedded basis in a paid product that competes with IBM's paid versions
  • Each version converts to MPL 2.0 only four years after that version is published
  • Resource quotas, Sentinel policies and audit logging sit in a Governance and Policy add-on module that is separate from the Enterprise base platform package
  • Multi-region deployments, multiple Vault namespaces and Nomad Autopilot advanced server management require Nomad Enterprise

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

Nomad

Free
  • Open SourceFree
    • Workload orchestration
    • Multi-cloud
    • Flexible scheduling

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.
AWS (Amazon Web Services) review

Choose Nomad if

  • You need container orchestration.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
  • You also want job scheduling.
Nomad review

Questions people ask

Is AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Nomad better?
Neither clearly leads. AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Nomad 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 Nomad?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) starts at Free and Nomad at Free.
Does AWS (Amazon Web Services) or Nomad run on more platforms?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) runs on Web, Api, Cli, Mobile. Nomad runs on Linux, Windows, Mac, Cloud.
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 Nomad is typically brought in for.
What can AWS (Amazon Web Services) do that Nomad cannot?
AWS (Amazon Web Services) covers EC2 - Virtual Servers, S3 - Object Storage, RDS - Managed Database, Lambda - Serverless Computing. Nomad covers Container orchestration, Job scheduling, Multi-cloud support, Auto-scaling. Both handle Terraform, Kubernetes, Docker.
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