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AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

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
44
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
AWS Lambda
Ranking in Compute Service
1st
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.5
Number of Reviews
83
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is 11.2%, down from 11.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 20.8%, down from 26.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Compute Service
 

Featured Reviews

Erick  Karanja - PeerSpot reviewer
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.
Wai L Lin O - PeerSpot reviewer
A serverless solution with easy integration features
We use AWS Lambda because it provides a solution for our needs without requiring us to manage our infrastructure. With the tool, we only pay for the resources we use. Additionally, it is straightforward to implement and integrates with other services like API Gateway. The tool's serverless nature has had the most significant impact on our workflow. I find it particularly attractive because it eliminates the need for managing servers. In my previous experience, managing upgrades and updates was quite challenging. The solution's integration process with other AWS services was relatively easy. We primarily use AWS services such as EventBridge for scheduling processes and log management.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The product is flexible."
"We appreciate that this solution allows us to run all of our severs through it, meaning that our workloads are mainly on the EC2 instance only."
"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."
"Having a load balancer in between is very helpful when you have huge traffic."
"The most valuable features include the availability of various services like compute, memory, and database services in the AWS landscape."
"The initial setup is straightforward."
"What we have found most valuable are the purchasing of usage at the time and small storage."
"Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling has a cool-down time feature called the warmup start."
"The initial setup of AWS Lambda is very straightforward and quick."
"You can spin up anything instantly without any investment."
"It is my preferred product, as it provides me with source code within the solution."
"Amazon takes care of the scalability. That's the right way. It's automatic and it's fully managed. That's one benefit of Lambda."
"The solution works for small applications. It is a serverless tool that is quick to spin up. We needn’t consider anything in the bag."
"AWS Lambda's most valuable feature is serverless architecture."
"The tool scales automatically based on the number of incoming requests."
"The support from AWS Lambda is very good, they are responsive."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the scalability."
"I would like to see a feature included that has the capability to clone when an instance is being terminated."
"What could be improved in Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is its fees."
"The pricing could be reduced."
"The tool must provide proper guidelines to troubleshoot connectivity issues."
"The support to manage the processes could be better."
"The launch configuration feature doesn't work properly. It needs to improve the load configuration feature along with launch templates. The tool needs to tag feature as well."
"The solution is not cheap."
"The automation with other Amazon products could be better."
"Amazon doesn't have enough local support based in our country."
"Its price should be improved. Its pricing is on the higher side. I am not sure if it currently supports the Go language. If it doesn't support the Go language, they can introduce it."
"It currently requires manual user maintenance to upgrade and evaluate, and an automated provision for this would be beneficial."
"We can write anything as code, but the solution will not give proper error information."
"The product needs some updating as far as ease-of-customization and configuration opportunities to work with solutions outside of the cloud."
"AWS Lambda should support additional languages."
"The tool changes its UI every month which is very frustrating for me. I don’t know why AWS keeps changing the UI. They can’t stick to a specific one"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Compared to the performance, the price is quite high. I would rate it a ten because it is expensive. There are additional costs including bandwidth costs, data transfer costs, and load balancing costs."
"The solution pricing varies by service region is mid-range."
"It's cost-effective."
"AWS offered some credits, so we have been able to enjoy some of those benefits. The pricing was fair."
"The product is expensive."
"Its price is affordable for enterprise customers."
"The product's pricing depends on the traffic and workload."
"The product is quite expensive."
"AWS Lambda's cloud version isn't expensive, and I'd rate its pricing as five out of five."
"AWS Lambda is a cheap solution."
"AWS Lambda is cost-effective, with a minimal maintenance cost."
"The solution is free of cost for the first year, and after that, it becomes expensive."
"I think the price is okay. However, if they add more functionality, they can have better prices. In fact, they should have better and more flexible packages for clients who have greater consumption of Lambda."
"You're not paying for a server if you're not using it, which is another reason I like it. So, you're not paying if you're not using it. It scales, and you're charged based on usage. It all depends on the use case. Some can be extremely inexpensive if you have very low volume transaction rates. That way, you don't have to fire up and absorb the cost of the servers just sitting there waiting for a transaction to come through. You're only paying when you use it. So, depending upon the use model, Lambda could be highly efficient relative to an EC2 solution. You don't have to have things reallocated."
"Price-wise, AWS Lambda is very cheap. It's not free, but it's not that expensive."
"AWS Lambda license is paid on a monthly basis."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Financial Services Firm
22%
Computer Software Company
16%
University
7%
Government
7%
Educational Organization
67%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Computer Software Company
4%
Manufacturing Company
3%
 

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...
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...
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.
Which is better, AWS Lambda or Batch?
AWS Lambda is a serverless solution. It doesn’t require any infrastructure, which allows for cost savings. There is no setup process to deal with, as the entire solution is in the cloud. If you use...
What do you like most about AWS Lambda?
The tool scales automatically based on the number of incoming requests.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Lambda?
AWS Lambda is cheaper compared to running an instance continuously. You only pay for what you use, making it cost-effective.
 

Also Known As

AWS RAM
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Lambda vs. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.