Try our new research platform with insights from 80,000+ expert users

AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2 comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive Summary

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
Ranking in Compute Service
5th
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
65
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 is 6.3%, down from 6.8% 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

KatlegoMabila - PeerSpot reviewer
Offers customization and flexibility with great support
Scalability depends on whether the client wants to scale up or scale down. It decreases resources based on demand. The great aspect of scalability is the flexibility to allow business success to optimize resource solutions and cost efficiency. Another crucial aspect of scalability is auto-scaling. When you have the opportunity to auto-scale, it can't always be available for everything. If you have chosen to integrate with auto-scaling, it's marvellous and doesn't require additional effort. Auto-scaling gives you the edge by using the capacity you have efficiently, scaling up or down as needed. These flexibilities within the EC2 feature instances of AWS play a crucial role in helping me utilize AWS EC2 Intelligent efficiently.
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 most valuable features of Amazon EC2 are ease of use and the services offered."
"The serverless architecture solutions are most valuable, and the ability to start with little cost, and then expand as needed."
"Amazon EC2 allows us to create different regions and availability zones based upon application needs."
"I can quickly create a VM instance with just one click."
"The most valuable feature is autoscaling."
"Configuration can be changed at any time and it's very scalable."
"EC2 has the typical advantages of using the cloud. It's easy to provision and set up."
"Amazon EC2 is highly scalable."
"The utilization of containers is particularly beneficial in overcoming the size limitations imposed on Lambda functions which not only allows us to work around these constraints but also contributes to the improvement and maintenance of our code."
"What I like most about AWS Lambda is that it's very easy to deploy."
"The most valuable feature of AWS Lambda, from a conceptual point, is its functions. For example, it's mathematical templates into which you can write, and create your solution. You write small pieces of a solution under given parameters."
"Some of the most valuable features are that it's easy to install and use. The performance is also good."
"Lambda is the preferred compute option because of on-demand cost. We don't have to provision any hardware beforehand. We don't have to provision the capacity required for the services because it is serverless."
"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."
"We have no issues with the technical support."
"What I like best about AWS Lambda is that it's feature-rich, and I appreciate that. I also like that it's stable and supports many languages."
 

Cons

"Amazon EC2 could improve its dashboards and UI, they need to be more user-friendly."
"We faced a challenge in regard to billing. 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."
"The only issue with EC2 is that it makes it difficult to install an LLS certificate on your WordPress website that you have deployed inside that virtual machine. That becomes complicated."
"Regional acceleration could improve. If I am hosting a website and I want the experience to be faster they should have this feature to allow for increased speeds."
"It is a little too expensive."
"I would like to see improvement in the information available up-front for users around tailoring the package to their actual requirements. At present it can take time to work with the on demand instance until you are used to what features are right for the user."
"EC2 could be improved with easier migration."
"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."
"I would like to see more integration with other platforms."
"There were some timeout issues with AWS Lambda as the options provided didn't suit our business cases."
"Lamba functions have cold-starts that can cause some delay."
"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."
"I want to see support for longer applications. I need the 15-minute time-out window to improve."
"If it is a specific ETL process or a long-term one, then AWS Lambda is not a good option."
"What could be improved in AWS Lambda is a tricky question because I base the area for improvement on a specific matrix, for example, latency, so I'm still determining if I can be the judge on that. However, room for improvement could be when you're using AWS Lambda as a backend, it can be challenging to use it for monitoring. Monitoring is critical in development, and I don't have much expertise in the area, but you can use other services such as Xray. I found that monitoring on AWS Lambda is a challenge. The tool needs better monitoring. Another area for improvement in AWS Lambda is the cold start, where it takes some time to invoke a function the first time, but after that, invoking it becomes swift. Still, there's room for improvement in that AWS Lambda process. In the next release of AWS Lambda, I'd like AWS to improve monitoring so that I can monitor codes better."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"It's competitive but can vary based on instance types and usage patterns."
"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."
"There is a license required to use this solution and we pay on a monthly basis."
"I am using the tier three Amazon service. I am not going to use another solution other than Amazon EC2 because here in Pakistan there are some payment issues for solutions abroad."
"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."
"Reducing the price of the solution could lead to an improvement."
"I use the free tier, although I have paid for some services that are not free. The overall cost of this solution depends on the services you use."
"EC2 pricing is somewhat transparent, in that AWS provides pricing for all instance types. However, the number of pricing options can be confusing."
"The cost is based on runtime."
"It costs maybe less than $10 per month in my use case."
"This is a product that is pay-per-use, as opposed to a licensing fee."
"Its pricing is on the higher side."
"AWS Lambda's cloud version isn't expensive, and I'd rate its pricing as five out of five."
"Lambda is an affordable solution. They offer free requests every month and charge per the compute time. If you are working in a big organization, usually AWS offer a savings plan where you get approximately 70% discount on pricing."
"The price is expensive and is based on usage. The more users you have the higher the cost."
"Price-wise, AWS Lambda is very cheap. It's not free, but it's not that expensive."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Compute Service solutions are best for your needs.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
19%
Financial Services Firm
16%
Retailer
6%
University
6%
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?
The scalability and elasticity are helpful.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2?
I'm going to mention again that there is quite a bit of complexity within the pricing of EC2 instances. I'm just going to give it six out of ten since there are various standards, upfront and commi...
What needs improvement with Amazon EC2?
There is not much to be improved or enhanced. One of the things that need to be looked into is the complex pricing, which is rather intense. Sometimes, clients don't understand the structures. Thes...
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.
 

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: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.