Cloud & Infrastructure · head to head
Proxmox VE vs Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Proxmox VE
Cloud & Infrastructure
Open-source hypervisor combining KVM and LXC virtualisation
- From
- €120/year
- Rated
- -
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Cloud & Infrastructure
Run code without thinking about servers
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Only Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier, so it costs nothing to try first.
- Each has a real cost: Proxmox VE per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers; 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
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Proxmox VE and Lambda (AWS Serverless) actually diverge.
| Attribute | Proxmox VE | Lambda (AWS Serverless) |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | €120/year | Free |
| Pricing model | subscription | usage-based |
| Free tier | No | Yes |
| Platforms | Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted | Web, Api |
| Founded | Unknown | 2014 |
Identical on both: 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 Proxmox VE
Nothing recorded that Lambda (AWS Serverless) does not also cover.
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.
Proxmox VE
- Open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platformsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisorsnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- High-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuitynot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Container deployments using LXC as lighter-weight alternative to Dockernot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Hybrid VM and container workloads in a single management interfacenot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Backup and archival infrastructure alongside primary virtualisationnot Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
- Event-driven functions without managing serversnot Proxmox VE
- API backends behind API Gatewaynot Proxmox VE
- Processing S3, DynamoDB, SQS and Kinesis eventsnot Proxmox VE
- Scheduled jobs without a always-on instancenot Proxmox VE
- Edge compute through Lambda@Edgenot Proxmox VE
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Proxmox VE
- Per-socket licensing model: cost scales with CPU socket count, not vCore count, resulting in high costs for multi-socket servers
- Linux-based host only; Windows hypervisors not supported, limiting adoption in Windows-focused organisations
- Clustering and high-availability setup requires operational expertise and careful network configuration
- Commercial support tiers limit advanced features (just-in-time access, network flow logs) to paid subscriptions
- Smaller ecosystem of third-party plugins and integrations compared to VMware vSphere
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
Proxmox VE
€120/year- Community$120/year
- Enterprise Repository access
- Community forum support only
- Per-socket subscription model
- Basic$370/year
- 3 support tickets per year
- 1 business day response time
- Stable updates and Enterprise Repository
- Standard$550/year
- 10 support tickets per year
- 4-hour response time for critical issues
- Remote SSH support and offline updates
- Premium$1100/year
- Unlimited support tickets
- 2-hour response time for critical issues
- Remote SSH support and offline updates
Lambda (AWS Serverless)
Free- Free TierFree
- 1M free requests/month
- 400,000 GB-seconds/month
- Always free
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.
Questions people ask
- Is Proxmox VE or Lambda (AWS Serverless) better?
- Neither clearly leads. Proxmox VE starts at €120/year and Lambda (AWS Serverless) at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Proxmox VE or Lambda (AWS Serverless)?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier; the other does not. Paid plans start at €120/year for Proxmox VE and Free for Lambda (AWS Serverless).
- Does Proxmox VE or Lambda (AWS Serverless) run on more platforms?
- Proxmox VE runs on Linux, Web, API, Self-hosted. Lambda (AWS Serverless) runs on Web, Api.
- Can I use Lambda (AWS Serverless) for free?
- Yes. Lambda (AWS Serverless) has a free tier, so you can try it without paying. Proxmox VE starts at €120/year.
- What is Proxmox VE best used for?
- Proxmox VE is most often used for open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platforms, cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisors, high-availability clustering for disaster recovery and business continuity, container deployments using lxc as lighter-weight alternative to docker. Of those, open-source datacenter virtualisation for hosting providers and cloud platforms and cost-sensitive enterprise virtualisation replacing commercial hypervisors are not what Lambda (AWS Serverless) is typically brought in for.
- What can Proxmox VE do that Lambda (AWS Serverless) cannot?
- Lambda (AWS Serverless) covers Function-as-a-Service, Event-driven execution, Auto-scaling, Pay-per-use.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Proxmox VE: What is the licensing model for Proxmox VE?
Proxmox VE is open-source and free to deploy. Optional subscription tiers provide technical support, priority response times, and access to the Enterprise Repository for stable update channels. All tiers include identical virtualisation features.
SourceProxmox VE: Can I run Proxmox VE without a support subscription?
Yes. Community Edition (€120/year per socket) provides Enterprise Repository access with community-based support through forums. The core Proxmox VE platform is fully functional without any subscription.
SourceProxmox VE: What hypervisors does Proxmox VE support?
Proxmox VE includes both KVM for full virtualisation and LXC for Linux containers. It does not support Xen or Hyper-V. Workloads on those platforms must be migrated or reimplemented.
Source