Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users
Subhdip Rakshit - PeerSpot reviewer
Sr. DevOps & Cloud Manager at a energy/utilities company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
May 1, 2024
Focuses on orchestration rather than directly managing EC2 instances for deployment and configuration
Pros and Cons
  • "Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling operates at a different level, working in parallel to efficiently manage workload distribution. Primarily, it focuses on orchestration rather than directly managing EC2 instances for deployment and configuration. It uses automated processes to deploy and manage ports, leveraging Application Load Balancers to effectively handle data communication and management."
  • "Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling offers various benefits but lacks certain features for fine-grained customization compared to other cloud providers like GCP. Users are constrained by predefined instance families in EC2 when selecting instance types for scaling. Unlike GCP, where users can independently scale resources such as memory or CPU, EC2 doesn't offer this flexibility."

What is our primary use case?

Creating a target group is essential when setting up Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. You can specify the target capacity, indicating the desired number of instances within the same instance family. Additionally, you define CPU thresholds to trigger scaling actions, specifying when to increase or decrease instances. Moreover, you configure the load balancer to communicate with the front end.

How has it helped my organization?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling operates at a different level, working in parallel to efficiently manage workload distribution. Primarily, it focuses on orchestration rather than directly managing EC2 instances for deployment and configuration. It uses automated processes to deploy and manage ports, leveraging Application Load Balancers to effectively handle data communication and management.

What is most valuable?

It is essential to architect your system depending on the data type and workload requirements. For large datasets, consider storing them in cloud storage solutions like Amazon S3 and utilizing services like Amazon Athena or AWS Glue for querying and processing. Using Amazon RDS for traditional databases like Oracle or SQL Server could benefit structured data or transactional workloads. Additionally, AWS provides various managed services tailored to specific use cases, which can be leveraged to optimize performance and scalability.

What needs improvement?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling offers various benefits but lacks certain features for fine-grained customization compared to other cloud providers like GCP. Users are constrained by predefined instance families in EC2 when selecting instance types for scaling. Unlike GCP, where users can independently scale resources such as memory or CPU, EC2 doesn't offer this flexibility. 

This limitation can be problematic for users who require specific resource configurations, such as needing more CPU without increasing memory or vice versa. Customizing instance families based on specific resource needs would benefit users by providing more tailored scaling options to optimize their applications' performance and cost.

Buyer's Guide
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The product is stable. It is the leading service offered by AWS. It provides reliable scaling capabilities for managing resources efficiently. I've encountered minimal downtime and excellent support from AWS.  AWS support promptly notifies us if any resource encounters issues and ensures that it's properly addressed or moved to a healthier resource for optimal performance.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The product is scalable. We use vertical scaling. It can leverage horizontal scaling, involving clustering instances to handle workload demands. This process is swift and doesn't require manual adjustments of instance types. It simplifies scaling operations significantly.

How are customer service and support?

I have the 45 dollar support pack for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. With this support package, if there are any issues or questions about the service, I can email the support team for assistance.

How was the initial setup?

I used to deploy using cloud automation templates rather than directly provisioning instances from HP. Therefore, I have different files for deploying the resources. Generally, I use configurations and predefined images to create instances automatically. This process is automated through pipeline processes rather than manual intervention.

What other advice do I have?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is a vital component with real-time data. While some data remains in traditional offline formats, much of it is stored dynamically in the cloud. This setup facilitates efficient responses and operations. The effectiveness of EC2 Auto Scaling depends on the nature of the data, including its source and storage location. For instance, data lakes play a significant role in organizing and analyzing data as per domain requirements, aiding in the creation of models and other processes.

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is versatile in adjusting resources like memory and CPU according to different application needs. For instance, in a memory-intensive application where multiple computing instances are used, the requirement may not be for high memory, but rather for a significant number of vCPUs to process data efficiently. The four gigabytes memory size may enough, the computing processes may demand eight vCPUs to handle data effectively. Scaling options can be adjusted accordingly, perhaps opting for instances with higher vCPU counts while maintaining memory at a lower size.

The integration is easier because of the VPC and unavailable endpoint.

We use open-source Python automation tools for deploying our applications on Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. These tools help us manage instances dynamically based on code commits. As we scale our infrastructure, we rely on these tools to efficiently handle the increasing workload.

You can use the available endpoints to facilitate communication between the service and the instances within the private subnet for security purposes. This ensures a private and secure environment. It's essential to adhere to these practices for optimal security. 

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. Partner
PeerSpot user
Solution Architect at a tech vendor with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Jun 26, 2024
Helps to deploy a new virtual machine in minutes
Pros and Cons
  • "The tool is a simple solution. You can deploy a new virtual machine in minutes. You can select options like memory and core number and connect storage. It's great because it's simple and fast. You can build a virtual machine in minutes, do your experiments, and then uninstall it without paying for it when it's not in use."
  • "The solution is not cheap."

What is most valuable?

The tool is a simple solution. You can deploy a new virtual machine in minutes. You can select options like memory and core number and connect storage. It's great because it's simple and fast. You can build a virtual machine in minutes, do your experiments, and then uninstall it without paying for it when it's not in use.

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is simple to integrate. 

What needs improvement?

The solution is not cheap. 

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Amazon solutions are also stable regarding stability, but their Service Level Agreements often guarantee around 97% or 98% uptime rather than 99.99%. For critical systems that require 99.99% reliability or higher, you may need to implement additional measures to achieve the necessary reliability. It's essential to carefully examine and analyze the SLAs to understand their reliability level.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable. However, to scale, you might need to manually upgrade it by adding more processor cores or memory. My company has around 7000 users. 

How are customer service and support?

I didn't face any scenarios that required extensive support. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling's support is good. 

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup and installation are very straightforward. You can select from preconfigured system machines, choose the storage size, and configure it from the screen. Once you make these selections, access to the instance takes just a few minutes.

What was our ROI?

It's my solution for experiments. You don't need to buy or search for hardware for experiments. But for constant use, such as an Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling machine running 24/7, I prefer special discounts because they're not cheap.

In some business cases, it could be perfect. But for me, it's a great solution for something like a startup for the initial phase. Then, you should precisely calculate your costs and understand what happens.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

As far back as I can remember, I have experience with two types of subscriptions. The first was my personal AWS base, and the second was a corporate license. I can't say much about the corporate license, but I recall they sent the bill every month for the personal subscription, though I could be mistaken.

What other advice do I have?

I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. I advise monitoring your expenses carefully because it's easy to forget to stop the automation, for example, at night or over the weekend, which can lead to surprises. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling
December 2025
Learn what your peers think about Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: December 2025.
879,310 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Muhammad Awais Zahid - PeerSpot reviewer
DevOps Engineer at a tech vendor with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 10
Oct 27, 2024
Pay-as-you-go and efficient with automated workload handling
Pros and Cons
  • "It uses features like target tracking scaling policy, which automatically maintains CPU utilization levels."
  • "For future improvements, I suggest focusing on cost reduction."

What is our primary use case?

I have been working with customers who use Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling for handling their workload on servers and scaling up the infrastructure as required. 

As an instructor and cloud consultant, I help clients maintain and scale their infrastructure using this service to achieve zero downtime.

How has it helped my organization?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling ensures minimal downtime and maintains consistent performance under varying workloads. It provides geographic redundancy where traffic can automatically shift between zones if needed.

What is most valuable?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is valuable because it operates on a pay-as-you-go basis. It automatically terminates extra servers when the load decreases, acts on demand, and works locally. 

It uses features like target tracking scaling policy, which automatically maintains CPU utilization levels.

What needs improvement?

For future improvements, I suggest focusing on cost reduction. 

Additionally, while the interface is already user-friendly, more updates and enhancements could be beneficial, particularly for customizing and configuring complex infrastructures.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling for two years across all EC2 services.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is highly reliable and offers 99% durability. I prefer recommending this service to my clients because it provides minimum downtime.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is highly scalable. It allows users to set thresholds to maintain specific CPU utilization levels and automatically adjusts server numbers based on demand, distributing traffic with the help of a load balancer.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is excellent. They help understand new features and configurations and I would rate it a ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is straightforward if the workload is small, taking about five to 15 minutes. However, managing the system for larger infrastructures can be demanding.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is minimal, varying depending on the region and resources used. The service itself is almost free; however, associated resources may incur costs.

What other advice do I have?

New users should understand all the features of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling fully before utilizing the service, such as setting capacity limits and monitoring scaling metrics, to avoid high costs and inefficiencies.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer. consultant
PeerSpot user
ShahRushabh - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a computer software company with 5,001-10,000 employees
MSP
Jul 14, 2023
A stable solution that can be used to divide the heavy traffic of a solution
Pros and Cons
  • "Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling has a cool-down time feature called the warmup start."
  • "Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling can provide more discounts when using the machines the solution uses."

What is our primary use case?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is used to divide the heavy traffic of our solutions and process the request properly.

How has it helped my organization?

In a multi-tenancy architecture, when we have requests from multiple tenants, the CPU utilization of our machines goes high, and the processing time increases. However, when we use Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, it processes faster.

What is most valuable?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling has a cool-down time feature called the warmup start.

What needs improvement?

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling can provide more discounts when using the machines the solution uses.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling for almost two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling ten out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

I rate Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling ten out of ten for scalability.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's deployment is very easy.

What was our ROI?

Return on investment with Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling depends on your use cases. If you have a lot of load on your application, you will definitely see an ROI. Otherwise, it will be an expensive solution.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

There is no specific pricing for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, but we have to pay for the number of machines getting scaled up.

What other advice do I have?

I am using the latest version of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling.

Before using Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, analyze the load which the machines will receive. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling can be very expensive if you fail to decide whether you want to scale horizontally or vertically and scale accordingly.

Overall, I rate Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling a nine out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Deepak  Nagar - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager, Strategic Alliances at a computer software company with 201-500 employees
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Apr 19, 2024
A flexible solution that eliminates the need for hardware
Pros and Cons
  • "The solution removes the need for hardware. We can easily create servers or machines. Just by clicking or specifying our requirements, like memory size or disk space, it's set up for us. The tool eliminates the need for hardware. We can choose what we need and pay as we use it. It is flexible and can integrate with any product."
  • "The solution's pricing is expensive. You pay based on how much you use it, like paying for the time or hours you use the service. There's no need to buy hardware separately."

What is our primary use case?

We use the product as a computing machine. By clicking on the portal, we can create different machines with specific features, like memory size.

What is most valuable?

The solution removes the need for hardware. We can easily create servers or machines. Just by clicking or specifying our requirements, like memory size or disk space, it's set up for us. The tool eliminates the need for hardware. We can choose what we need and pay as we use it. It is flexible and can integrate with any product. 

What needs improvement?

The solution's pricing is expensive. You pay based on how much you use it, like paying for the time or hours you use the service. There's no need to buy hardware separately.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using the product for eight years. 

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I rate the tool's stability a nine out of ten. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable and flexible, meaning you can adjust resources like RAM, processing power, and storage capacity to match workload changes. I rate it a nine out of ten. My company has 400 users. For deployment and maintenance, only one to five technical administrators are usually needed to manage Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. 

How are customer service and support?

The tool's support is good. We don't need much tech support, as our technical team can handle most issues.

How was the initial setup?

The solution's setup is straightforward, easy to handle, and simple to use. The deployment process is also straightforward. You access the AWS portal, select EC2, and configure your requirements, such as RAM, storage, and processing power.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The solution's licensing is based on a pay-as-you-go model. You only pay for the resources you use, whether it's RAM, processing power, or storage. So, it's calculated based on the time you use those resources, typically billed in hours or minutes.

What other advice do I have?

I recommend the tool's scalability, flexibility, stability, and pay-as-you-go model. It's a great choice for efficiency gains and moving away from hardware setups. I rate the overall product an eight out of ten. 

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Mridu Boruah - PeerSpot reviewer
Cloud manager at a manufacturing company with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Aug 11, 2023
An easy-to-deploy solution useful when businesses need to cater to very high internet traffic
Pros and Cons
  • "The initial setup of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is easy...Since we are an enterprise-sized company and a client of Amazon, the response from the technical support team was immediate."
  • "The spinning up in the solution can be much faster...The product should have a faster scalability option."

What is our primary use case?

In my company, we use Auto Scaling for EC2 instances. I use Auto Scaling with a load balancer when there is very high internet traffic and we need to serve more users. The load balancer will just scale up to serve more users.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features of the solution stem from the fact that EC2 instances spin up fast but not fast enough, allowing users to choose the version that they want almost instantaneously. I think you can provision EC2 instances while handling everything via writing a piece of code that is very useful.

What needs improvement?

The spinning up in the solution can be much faster. There are other solutions you can depend on if you cannot even wait for seconds for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling to spin up.

The solution should be available with certain Microsoft products like an inbuilt MS Word or Office in EC2 since there are use cases where an application needs to access MS Excel to prepare or download a report.

The product should have a faster scalability option.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have experience with Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling. I use the solution's latest version. I am a customer of the solution.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten since there have been instances when we wanted to scale up and later found no instances available in that particular EC2 data center.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

There are more than 1,000 users of the solution in my organization.

How are customer service and support?

There were a few instances when I had to contact technical support regarding the firewall in EC2 instances and when the software was not working on a particular EC2 instance. Only for certain compatibility issues or company contacts Amazon's customer support team. Since we are an enterprise-sized company and a client of Amazon, the response from the technical support team was immediate.

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is easy, but it takes a bit longer than the other solutions in the market.

The deployment of the solution can take a bit of time, but there have been cases with the solution that could be deployed in ten minutes.

What other advice do I have?

People must embrace containers rather than EC2 instances, especially if they want an environment that grants them great scalability and higher availability.

I rate the overall solution an eight out of ten.

Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
TorstenGöldner - PeerSpot reviewer
Software & Consulting at a tech services company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 10
Nov 18, 2024
Reliable with microservices architecture that enhances solution building
Pros and Cons
  • "The most valuable features include the availability of various services like compute, memory, and database services in the AWS landscape."
  • "There is a need for improvement in understanding the pricing structure, as it is complex and depends on several factors such as the location of data centers."

What is our primary use case?

Our primary use case is in the compute space and the generative AI space. We use it as a computing platform, Elastic Cloud, and to generate AI services.

How has it helped my organization?

It has helped our organization by providing a reliable infrastructure and enabling us to focus on what truly matters by not maintaining our own IT infrastructure. We have shifted to a cloud model, which has allowed us to rely on service providers like AWS and Google.

What is most valuable?

The most valuable features include the availability of various services like compute, memory, and database services in the AWS landscape. The microservices architecture allows us to build solutions using specific functionalities required.

What needs improvement?

There is a need for improvement in understanding the pricing structure, as it is complex and depends on several factors such as the location of data centers.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using it last year. Meanwhile, it's been a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

The infrastructure is reliable and stable, and services from AWS, Google, and Microsoft offer similar pricing structures.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability involves a deep understanding of the whole environment, which is not a quick start. Auto Scaling or service with AWS needs consideration due to the many services offered.

How are customer service and support?

How customer service operates and what their culture is may require a lot of orientation and understanding.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Veritas, however, we migrated to other tools. We do not use Veritas any longer.

How was the initial setup?

Setting it up takes a couple of weeks and months, as it involves more than just downloading and installing software.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing structure from AWS is really complex and depends on factors like the region and specific services used. Prices can vary significantly even within the same service across different locations.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Google Cloud Platform and Azure. We started with Azure before adding Google Cloud Platform.

What other advice do I have?

For new users, understanding the multitude of services offered by AWS and integrating them effectively can be challenging. One must dedicate time to understand the whole environment.

I'd rate the solution eight out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user
Ulrich Hatzinger - PeerSpot reviewer
Solution Consultant at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
Nov 30, 2024
Reliable with an efficient set up for virtual environments
Pros and Cons
  • "The easy possibility to spin up runtimes according to the needs of the POC, getting a runtime up and running in an easy way, which is accessible over the internet, is valuable for our process."
  • "EC2 is doing what it is intended to do, and I have no specific improvements to suggest."

What is our primary use case?

As part of my role managing the presales team for TIBCO in the DACH region, we conduct proof of concepts (POCs) for customers who want to try our software, including messaging, integration, and MDM tooling. To accomplish this, we spin up virtual machines on EC2 to set up the software and demonstrate its use cases.

What is most valuable?

The easy possibility to spin up runtimes according to the needs of the POC, getting a runtime up and running in an easy way, which is accessible over the internet, is valuable for our process. 

As mentioned, AWS provides virtual machines that we can leverage to run environments for demonstrations with our customers. Spinning up a virtual machine is a matter of a few minutes, allowing us to efficiently set up testing environments.

What needs improvement?

EC2 is doing what it is intended to do, and I have no specific improvements to suggest. It functions as a basic tool without any significant needs for enhancement.

For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using EC2 for more than five years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is reliable and stable. All good.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Scalability is not important for our POCs. Scaling is more relevant when bringing software to production, but it's not something we focus on during POCs.

How are customer service and support?

I have not needed to contact AWS support.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

How was the initial setup?

The initial setup is quick, taking only a few minutes to spin up a virtual machine.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

Each cloud vendor, such as Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud, offers similar services. We chose AWS, but the final decision was from our management.

What other advice do I have?

My experience with EC2 has been positive. I would rate the overall solution a perfect ten out of ten. It can be recommended for purposes similar to ours.

I'd rate the solution ten out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Disclosure: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
PeerSpot user