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AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary
 

Categories and Ranking

Amazon EC2
Ranking in Compute Service
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
63
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
79
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of December 2024, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Amazon EC2 is 6.5%, down from 6.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 20.3%, down from 27.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Compute Service
 

Featured Reviews

Julius Mboya - PeerSpot reviewer
Ensures we can provision resources on demand, and we can grow and shrink them as per the traffic
We faced a challenge in regard to billing. There was a time when we were working on changing the mode of payment from card to wire. It took a lot of time because our state is set up in Kenya, so we needed to pay in Kenya currency. We have to go around in circles. There was a lot of documentation required, but we managed to go through successfully.
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

"EC2 is flexible when we need to increase its resources (memory, boosting, and storage) based on our usage. That is the power of EC2."
"The most valuable feature of Amazon EC2 is its ability to spin a new virtual machine in a few seconds."
"An advantage of Amazon is that it offers a wide range of infrastructure services with an easy way to configure them."
"The product is very mature and organized."
"All of my lower maintenance overheads are taken care of. I don't have to worry about it."
"The serverless architecture solutions are most valuable, and the ability to start with little cost, and then expand as needed."
"The tool's performance, reliability, security and flexibility are good. We can use it remotely. The autoscaling functionality of EC2 is quite good. I appreciate the DevOps suite for tracking development tasks. This functionality is important for pure software development."
"The most valuable features of Amazon EC2 are ease of use and the services offered."
"The ability to scale up and down very quickly helps because we can maintain our system performance and business at a low cost."
"It is a scalable solution."
"It's also suitable for companies of any size. For example, we're a large enterprise, and we've used Lambda without any problems in the last 10 months."
"Lambda is trigger-based, which means it only activates when accessed, ensuring cost savings."
"This product is easy to use."
"The solution is highly scalable."
"AWS Lambda's most valuable feature is serverless architecture."
"They have the built-in IDE, so everything happens without integration issues."
 

Cons

"This solution could be improved with better pricing. If you continue using this solution over a long period of time, your costs may accumulate."
"EC2 could be improved with easier migration."
"We're expecting to have Graviton instances. Graviton means it's not internal, it's a low-cost instance. At present time, Graviton is not supported for a few packages."
"I think the whole AWS stack is very disconnected from each other. in the .NET space, everything just works nicely together. In the AWS stack, there is a lot of head scratching."
"The product needs to improve its cost management."
"am concerned about the tool's data security."
"Amazon EC2's pricing could be better."
"Amazon EC2 could improve the console view. The ability to see the console view directly would be helpful, similar to what VMware has. Additionally, when the system is rebooting we are able to see a screenshot of the UI, but it would be a lot better if we could interact directly with the console level."
"I think that perhaps Lambda could explore its functionality more."
"Amazon doesn't have enough local support based in our country."
"It could be cheaper."
"Lambda has limitations on the amount of memory you can use and is not a good solution for long running processes."
"The running time of AWS Lambda runs fine. It takes around five minutes but it would be great if that time could be extended."
"If you're running a new application with a significant load, you need to be prepared for potential bottlenecks."
"We'd love to see more integration potential in the future."
"I would like to see improvements in AWS Lambda's stability and setup processes, as there were some complexities encountered initially."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The pricing of this solution is variable. There is an open-source variant that is accessible via the public cloud, and then tiers that range in price depending on the level and amount of usage that is required."
"The clients have found the billing of Amazon EC2 good, but the price could be less high. There is a monthly subscription to use the solution."
"It has helped to reduce costs with infrastructure."
"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."
"It is not an expensive solution."
"Pricing appears to be cheap, however, it is extremely difficult in calculating what something will cost."
"There is a license required to use this solution and we pay on a monthly basis."
"The price can be improved."
"We only need to pay for the compute time our code consumes."
"The price is expensive and is based on usage. The more users you have the higher the cost."
"The price of AWS Lambda is priced very low."
"I would rate the tool’s pricing a nine out of ten. The solution’s pricing works on a pay-as-you-go basis."
"The solution is part of the AWS subscription model that is paid annually."
"AWS Lambda is cheap."
"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."
"It costs maybe less than $10 per month in my use case."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Retailer
7%
Manufacturing Company
6%
Educational Organization
62%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Computer Software Company
6%
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?
The scalability and elasticity are helpful.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2?
We are paying about $1,500 a month for one of the services. I'd rate the pricing as six out of ten for being expensive.
What needs improvement with Amazon EC2?
The pricing model could be improved. We found Amazon EC2 to be pricey.
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 offers a highly favorable pricing model, especially for smaller applications or low-traffic workloads. The first one million requests per month are free, which provides significant cost ...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2
No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Netflix, Expedia, TimeInc., Novaris, airbnb, Lamborghini
Netflix
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Lambda vs. Amazon EC2 and other solutions. Updated: December 2024.
824,053 professionals have used our research since 2012.