Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
Lambda (AWS Serverless) vs Grafana Cloud
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Cloud & Infrastructure
Run code without thinking about servers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Grafana Cloud
Cloud & Infrastructure
Composable observability platform
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: 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; Grafana Cloud active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
- They diverge on capability: Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Lambda (AWS Serverless) and Grafana Cloud actually diverge.
| Attribute | Lambda (AWS Serverless) | Grafana Cloud |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | usage-based | Unknown |
| Platforms | Web, Api | Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API |
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Cloud & Infrastructure), founded (2014).
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 Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Function-as-a-Service
- Event-driven execution
- Auto-scaling
- Pay-per-use
- Multiple languages
- Concurrency limits
- Dead Letter Queues
- Environment variables
Only in Grafana Cloud
- Grafana Dashboards
- Prometheus Metrics
- Loki Logs
- Tempo Traces
- Alerting
- OnCall
- Synthetic Monitoring
- Incident Management
Both cover
- Encryption
- Cloud deployment
- Web support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Event-driven functions without managing serversnot Grafana Cloud
- API backends behind API Gatewaynot Grafana Cloud
- Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot Grafana Cloud
- Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot Grafana Cloud
- Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot Grafana Cloud
Grafana Cloud
- Infrastructure monitoringnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Application monitoringnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Log aggregationnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Distributed tracingnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
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
Grafana Cloud
- Active Series (AS) billing model is difficult to predict and control; misconfiguration can cause sudden spikes and unexpected bills
- Reduced control and customization compared to self-hosted Grafana instances
- Data sovereignty concerns for organizations requiring on-premises data retention
- Limited reporting types compared to traditional BI tools for compliance and audit requirements
Pricing, plan by plan
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Free- Free TierFree
- 1M free requests/month
- 400,000 GB-seconds/month
- Always free
Grafana Cloud
Free- FreeFree
- 10k active series (metrics)
- 50GB logs/traces per month
- 3 active users
- Pro$19/month
- Usage-based pricing beyond free tier
- 8 USD per active visualization user
- Included Grafana Alerting
- Enterprise$25000/year
- Minimum annual commitment
- Full-service deployment options
- Premium support
Which should you pick?
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.
Choose Grafana Cloud if
- You need grafana dashboards.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
- You also want prometheus metrics.
Questions people ask
- Is Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Grafana Cloud better?
- Neither clearly leads. Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Grafana Cloud?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Grafana Cloud at Free.
- Does Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Grafana Cloud run on more platforms?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api. Grafana Cloud runs on Web (Chrome, Edge, Firefox, Safari), API.
- Can I use Lambda (AWS Serverless) for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Lambda (AWS Serverless) best used for?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) is most often used for event-driven functions without managing servers, api backends behind api gateway, processing s3, dynamodb, sqs and kinesis events, scheduled jobs without a always-on instance. Of those, event-driven functions without managing servers and api backends behind api gateway are not what Grafana Cloud is typically brought in for.
- What can Lambda (AWS Serverless) do that Grafana Cloud cannot?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use. Grafana Cloud covers Grafana Dashboards, Prometheus Metrics, Loki Logs, Tempo Traces. Both handle Encryption, Cloud deployment, Web support.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Grafana Cloud: What are the exact limits of Grafana Cloud's free tier?
Grafana Cloud free tier includes 10,000 active series for metrics, 50GB logs and traces per month, 3 active visualization users, and 14-day retention with community support. No credit card required.
SourceGrafana Cloud: How is Grafana Cloud billed, and what are the per-unit costs?
Grafana Cloud Pro tier starts at $19/month platform fee plus usage-based charges. Metrics cost $6.50 per 1,000 active series above free limits, logs and traces are charged per GB ingested, and visualization users are $8 per active user.
SourceGrafana Cloud: Can I use Grafana Cloud for open-source Grafana deployments?
Grafana Cloud is the managed cloud service version. Open-source Grafana is free and can be self-hosted indefinitely on your own infrastructure.
SourceGrafana Cloud: What observability signals does Grafana Cloud include?
Grafana Cloud includes metrics (via Mimir), logs (via Loki), traces (via Tempo), profiles, and synthetics, with unified querying and visualization across all signals.
SourceGrafana Cloud: Does Grafana Cloud include alerting and how is it priced?
Yes, Grafana Alerting is included at no additional charge across all tiers. Rule storage, evaluation, and notification delivery are covered by the platform fee with no per-alert or per-notification fees.
Source