AWS Fargate vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling comparison

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling and AWS Fargate are both solutions in the Compute Service category. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.9, while AWS Fargate is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.4. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling holds a 11.8% mindshare in CS, compared to AWS Fargate’s 15.7% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of AWS Fargate users who would recommend it.

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Read 44 Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling reviews

2,041 Views
1,813 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AWS Fargate

Read 15 AWS Fargate reviews

4,273 Views
2,555 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

AWS Fargate

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

AWS Fargate and Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling compete in the cloud computing space, with each offering unique advantages. AWS Fargate is praised for its convenience and scalability without the need for server management, making it attractive for teams lacking deep DevOps skills. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling stands out for its flexibility and high availability, which are crucial for dynamic environments requiring precise server management and scaling.

Features: AWS Fargate offers a serverless compute engine for containers with self-managed scaling, ideal for variable workloads. It integrates seamlessly with other AWS services and enables ease of scaling without managing underlying infrastructure. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling provides significant elasticity, allows custom configurations of networks and VPCs, and integrates with load balancers for high availability. It scales resources based on demand and uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model, adding value to its flexibility.

Room for Improvement: AWS Fargate has higher costs and is complex to set up for smaller clients or those needing detailed infrastructure control, presenting challenges in multi-container support and integration with current setups. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, while stable, faces challenges with complex pricing and configuration setups. There are constraints when independently scaling resources and a demand for clearer documentation and improved support for vertical scaling.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS Fargate is mostly used in Public Cloud setups, offering ease of deployment due to its simplicity and automated services. Customer support is generally satisfactory, though proactive engagement is noticed more in premium plans. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is flexible for both Public and Private Cloud deployments, though support experiences are mixed, indicating potential for better personalized assistance and clearer guidance.

Pricing and ROI: AWS Fargate is regarded as costlier, especially for startups on tight budgets; however, it delivers a positive ROI for scalable operations. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is generally seen as more cost-effective than alternatives like Azure, with a pay-as-you-go model supporting varied workload needs efficiently, though complex pricing outlines often require strategic management for optimal outcomes.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Fargate vs. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling Report (Updated: January 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Fargate vs. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

January 2025

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Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Ranking in Compute Service

2nd

Average Rating

8.8

Reviews Sentiment

8.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

AWS Fargate

Ranking in Compute Service

3rd

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of January 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is 11.8%, up from 11.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Fargate is 15.7%, down from 15.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Compute Service

Featured Reviews

Erick Karanja

Technical Lead at Cellulant Kenya

Scaling is as easy as hitting a button and setup is straightforward

AWS has already made improvements. In the past, if you provisioned a large EC2 instance and underutilized it, you still paid a premium. Now, AWS encourages using Kubernetes, where you primarily pay for the compute power you actually use in production. There is room for improvement. You might end up paying a high price if you're not careful and you provision a server that's underutilized. AWS has left it to engineers to figure out solutions. If you find the cost too high, you can move to Kubernetes, which might be a better solution for you than large EC2 instances. So, the improvements need to come from the user side, not the provider. Software engineers and engineering teams need to know their limits with EC2 instances. They need to recognize when it's time to transition their applications to Kubernetes. This means building with the cloud in mind from the start, making it easier to move solutions to the cloud without suffering upgrades and integration issues.

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Subrata Mukherjee

Senior Technical Architect; Head of Platform at Blenheim Chalcot IT Services India

Boost demand response with cost-efficient serverless architecture

We are a venture builder company, and if we select AWS for our product. Our design is based on a serverless architecture model. ECS Fargate is the most convenient way in terms of scalability, integration, and cost control Thanks to the serverless model and easy integration features, a few…

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Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:

Pros

"Applications deployed on EC2 instances can easily integrate with other AWS services. For example, you can connect your EC2 Auto Scaling group to a tool like CloudWatch for health checks and anomaly detection."

"The most valuable features are that it is stable, flexible, and reliable."

"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."

"Can handle traffic spikes so the system doesn't overload."

"We use the solution to increase CPU and memory size."

"The solution includes many features for configuring networks and VPCs."

"The auto-scaling feature is particularly useful. Additionally, CloudWatch and CloudTrail are also important features for us."

"The Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling features are simple to use."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling pros

"The most valuable feature of AWS Fargate is its ability to run on demand without the constant run time of basic resources."

"The most valuable feature of AWS Fargate is its ease of use."

"By using a server's compute resources, one can observe the resource metrics. With AWS, one can determine when servers will be used based on CloudWatch results. For example, CloudWatch informs the application and service platform when the hit ratio has reached the threshold value."

"It allows for focusing on applications instead of managing infrastructure."

"AWS Fargate is an easy-to-use tool to simplify setup. You only pay for the resources you use. If you need to quickly create, delete, or scale applications without managing resources like EC2 instances, Fargate is the best service to use."

"We appreciate the simple use of containers within this solution, it makes managing the containers quick and easy."

"I like their containerization service. You can use Docker or something similar and deploy quickly without the know-how related to, for example, Kubernetes. If you use AKS or Kubernetes, then you have to have the know-how. But for Fargate, you don't need to have the know-how there. You just deploy the container or the image, and then you have the container, and you can use it as AWS takes care of the rest. This makes it easier for those getting started or if you don't have a strong DevOps team inside your organization."

"The most valuable feature of Fargate is that it's self-managed. You don't have to configure your own clusters or deploy any Kubernetes clusters. This simplifies the initial deployment and scaling process."

More AWS Fargate pros

Cons

"It's an expensive solution."

"There is room for improvement in the pricing model."

"There is room for improvement. You might end up paying a high price if you're not careful and you provision a server that's underutilized."

"We have found that the sizing in Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is far off. For example, we will see some at one terabyte and the other one is two terabytes. There is nothing between one and two terabytes. Sometimes it's a struggle if I need one and a half, I still am supposed to pay for two. There are five terabytes, six terabytes, and 12 terabytes, and if I need something at eight or nine, I'm still paying 30 to 40 percent more by taking the one which is 12 terabytes. Microsoft Azure does similar sizes but the gap can be more, such as six terabytes, and the next one is 12 terabytes."

"Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling could improve by adding better integration features with the other services. Additionally, if the alarms could be triggered from other services this would be beneficial."

"I would like to see the security portal improved in the future."

"The solution is not cheap."

"The pricing could be reduced."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling cons

"I would like to see the older dashboard instead of the newer version. I don't like the new dashboard."

"I would like to see enhanced faster application scaling and better integration with the elastic file system to unify storage volumes and improve the launch time of instances."

"We faced challenges in vertically scaling our workload."

"AWS Fargate needs improvement in terms of setup complexity."

"We would like to see some improvement in the process documents that are provided with this product, particularly for auto-scaling and other configuration tools that are a bit complicated."

"AWS Fargate could improve the privileged mode containers. We had some problems and they were not able to run."

"Service computing is not as straightforward compared to other computing services. It requires more effort to use effectively."

"If there are any options to manage containers, that would be good. That relates more to the cost point. For example, over the next three months, I'll be making a comparison between solutions like CAST AI and other software-as-a-service platforms that offer Kubernetes management with an emphasis on cost reduction."

More AWS Fargate cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling uses a pay-as-you-go pricing model."

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

"Amazon EC2 instances can be very expensive."

"The tool's pricing is good and not expensive."

"The pricing is not fixed and it is based on usage."

"I rate Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling's pricing a seven out of ten."

"AWS offered some credits, so we have been able to enjoy some of those benefits. The pricing was fair."

"The solution is not expensive."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling pricing and cost advice

"We would advise that this solution has a slightly-higher price point than others on the market. There is a free plan available for start-ups, but the free and lower range licensing models do not provide the full functionality."

"I rate the price of AWS Fargate a four out of five."

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

16%

University

Government

Financial Services Firm

25%

Computer Software Company

14%

Government

Comms Service Provider

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling?

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 e...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling?

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 locat...

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What needs improvement with Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling?

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.

See all answers

What do you like most about AWS Fargate?

The most valuable feature of Fargate is that it's self-managed. You don't have to configure your own clusters or deploy any Kubernetes clusters. This simplifies the initial deployment and scaling p...

See all answers

What needs improvement with AWS Fargate?

There is a tool named Compose that helps in converting the Docker Compose file into a Kubernetes file. For ECS and Fargate, AWS reads a Dockerfile and helps with conversion. However, I am uncertain...

See all answers

What advice do you have for others considering AWS Fargate?

I rate Fargate ten out of ten. The most significant advantage is the unified configuration for all containers deployed by ECS, allowing seamless integration with services like OpenAI or Google Gemi...

See all answers

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Product Reports

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Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

January 2025

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Buyer's Guide

AWS Fargate

January 2025

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Also Known As

AWS RAM

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Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Overview

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling helps you maintain application availability and allows you to automatically add or remove EC2 instances according to conditions you define. ... Dynamic scaling responds to changing demand and predictive scaling automatically schedules the right number of EC2 instances based on predicted demand.

A new compute engine that enables you to use containers as a fundamental compute primitive without having to manage the underlying instances. With Fargate, you don’t need to provision, configure, or scale virtual machines in your clusters to run containers. Fargate can be used with Amazon ECS today, with plans to support Amazon Elastic Container Service for Kubernetes (Amazon EKS) in the future.

Fargate has flexible configuration options so you can closely match your application needs and granular, per-second billing.

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Buyer's Guide

AWS Fargate vs. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

January 2025

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