AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling comparison

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling and AWS Lambda are both solutions in the Compute Service category. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.8, while AWS Lambda is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.5. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling holds a 11.2% mindshare in CS, compared to AWS Lambda’s 20.8% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of AWS Lambda users who would recommend it.

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Read 44 Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling reviews

1,879 Views
1,662 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

AWS Lambda

Read 83 AWS Lambda reviews

6,146 Views
3,447 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

AWS Lambda

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 12, 2025

AWS Lambda and Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling both compete in the cloud computing category, with Lambda having the upper hand for users seeking serverless solutions, while EC2 is preferred for those requiring robust infrastructure management.

Features: AWS Lambda offers a serverless architecture, cost-efficient scaling, and robust integration capabilities, enabling quick deployments and flexibility in language support. It is ideal for automated, event-driven tasks without infrastructure management concerns. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling provides infrastructure as a service with significant control over deployment, load balancers integration, and elasticity, allowing resources to adjust based on demand, making it stable for traditional applications.

Room for Improvement: AWS Lambda could improve cold start latency, extend execution time limits beyond 15 minutes, and enhance integration with external providers and language support. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling needs enhancements in cost-efficiency, user interface, and integration capabilities, as users find the pricing model complex.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS Lambda is praised for its ease of use and minimal setup, suitable for users with various technical backgrounds, while receiving generally strong customer support. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling, though requiring more initial setup, offers greater control over deployment. Its technical support receives mixed reviews.

Pricing and ROI: AWS Lambda employs a pay-as-you-go model without upfront infrastructure costs, presenting cost efficiency for projects with fluctuating demands. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling’s usage-based pricing can potentially be expensive if not managed well, yet provides significant ROI for businesses needing stable, scalable infrastructure.

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

Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda 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 Lambda

Ranking in Compute Service

1st

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

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

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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Wai L Lin O

Cloud Engineer - Supervisor at KBZ Bank

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.

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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

"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."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling pros

"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."

More AWS Lambda pros

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."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling cons

"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"

More AWS Lambda cons

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."

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling pricing and cost advice

"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."

More AWS Lambda pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

22%

Computer Software Company

16%

University

Government

Educational Organization

67%

Financial Services Firm

Computer Software Company

Manufacturing Company

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...

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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.

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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...

See all answers

What do you like most about AWS Lambda?

The tool scales automatically based on the number of incoming requests.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS Fargate vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Compared 67% of the time

AWS Batch vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Compared 7% of the time

Apache NiFi vs Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

Compared 4% of the time

More Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling Competitors

AWS Batch vs AWS Lambda

Compared 54% of the time

Apache NiFi vs AWS Lambda

Compared 15% of the time

Apache Spark vs AWS Lambda

Compared 9% of the time

Google Cloud Dataflow vs AWS Lambda

Compared 4% of the time

Amazon EC2 vs AWS Lambda

Compared 3% of the time

More AWS Lambda Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

February 2025

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Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda

February 2025

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Also Known As

AWS RAM

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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.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS Lambda is a compute service that lets you run code without provisioning or managing servers. AWS Lambda executes your code only when needed and scales automatically, from a few requests per day to thousands per second. You pay only for the compute time you consume - there is no charge when your code is not running. With AWS Lambda, you can run code for virtually any type of application or backend service - all with zero administration. AWS Lambda runs your code on a high-availability compute infrastructure and performs all of the administration of the compute resources, including server and operating system maintenance, capacity provisioning and automatic scaling, code monitoring and logging. All you need to do is supply your code in one of the languages that AWS Lambda supports (currently Node.js, Java, C# and Python).

You can use AWS Lambda to run your code in response to events, such as changes to data in an Amazon S3 bucket or an Amazon DynamoDB table; to run your code in response to HTTP requests using Amazon API Gateway; or invoke your code using API calls made using AWS SDKs. With these capabilities, you can use Lambda to easily build data processing triggers for AWS services like Amazon S3 and Amazon DynamoDB process streaming data stored in Amazon Kinesis, or create your own back end that operates at AWS scale, performance, and security.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Netflix

Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda vs. Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling

January 2025

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