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Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head

Lambda (AWS Serverless) vs Prometheus

Lambda (AWS Serverless) logo

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

Cloud & Infrastructure

Run code without thinking about servers

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite
Prometheus logo

Prometheus

Network & Connectivity

Open source monitoring and alerting toolkit for cloud native environments

From
Free
Rated
-
Full reviewWebsite

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; Prometheus not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • They diverge on capability: Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Lambda (AWS Serverless) and Prometheus actually diverge.

Attributes where Lambda (AWS Serverless) and Prometheus differ
AttributeLambda (AWS Serverless)Prometheus
Pricing modelusage-basedopen-source
PlatformsWeb, ApiLinux, macOS, Windows
CategoryCloud & InfrastructureNetwork & Connectivity
Founded20142015

Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), 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 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 Prometheus

  • Multi-dimensional Data Model
  • PromQL Query Language
  • Pull-based Collection
  • Service Discovery
  • Alerting Rules
  • Federation
  • Local Storage
  • Grafana

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 Prometheus
  • API backends behind API Gatewaynot Prometheus
  • Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot Prometheus
  • Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot Prometheus
  • Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot Prometheus

Prometheus

  • Cloud-native monitoring and alertingnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Time-series metrics collectionnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
  • Infrastructure monitoringnot 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

Prometheus

  • Not suitable for per-request billing as collected data lacks 100% accuracy
  • Hard limit on scrape body size; large responses cause scrape failure
  • Per-scrape sample limit enforced; exceeding limit marks targets as failed
  • Not designed for long-term durable storage; optimised for metrics collection

Pricing, plan by plan

Lambda (AWS Serverless)

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

Prometheus

Free

No published plan breakdown. See the Prometheus review.

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.
Lambda (AWS Serverless) review

Choose Prometheus if

  • You need multi-dimensional data model.
  • You want to start without paying.
  • You work on Linux, macOS, Windows.
  • You also want promql query language.
Prometheus review

Questions people ask

Is Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Prometheus better?
Neither clearly leads. Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Prometheus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Prometheus?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) starts at Free and Prometheus at Free.
Does Lambda (AWS Serverless) or Prometheus run on more platforms?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api. Prometheus runs on Linux, macOS, Windows.
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 Prometheus is typically brought in for.
What can Lambda (AWS Serverless) do that Prometheus cannot?
Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use. Prometheus covers Multi-dimensional Data Model, PromQL Query Language, Pull-based Collection, Service Discovery.
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