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Amazon Lightsail vs IBM Public Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

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 Lightsail
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
10th
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
9
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
IBM Public Cloud
Ranking in PaaS Clouds
12th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
7.2
Number of Reviews
17
Ranking in other categories
IoT Platforms (6th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of February 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Amazon Lightsail is 1.4%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of IBM Public Cloud is 3.2%, down from 4.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
PaaS Clouds
 

Featured Reviews

Vitor Gabriel Reis Lux Barboza - PeerSpot reviewer
Provides preconfigured templates for common setups and allows for easy configuration of firewall settings directly from the console
There were templates for Ubuntu, for instance, that I used. I used it if I remember, going to 20.04, I guess. It was ready, and I just used the template and it worked well. There is a template for Windows Server, but I didn't test them. Also, the configurations over the firewall in the console work very good for the purpose that we need to isolate it from the internet but allow the connection from specific IP addresses in specific ports. So the filtering in the Lightsail Firewall works good. And I am able to isolate the virtual machine well from the internet in order to avoid DDoS attacks and stuff like that.
Shivakumar Kuppannan - PeerSpot reviewer
No hidden charges, 100% stable, and allows us to have bare metal servers for dedicated workload
It pretty much has all the features. There are many applications and features, and because of that, we need to walk through or study all the material and do hands-on. We need clear documentation or support for using IBM Public Cloud. The UI is fine, and everything else in terms of usability and configuring the cloud is also fine. The only thing is that when we're stuck or get an error, we need some technical support. Normally, for any cloud, we get a lot of information on the web, but that is missing in the case of IBM Public Cloud. We need some technical support documents. That is the only thing missing in IBM Public Cloud.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"We use Amazon Lightsail for hosting security components in-house and AI modules."
"The initial setup is pretty easy."
"One of the product's most valuable features is its fixed pricing, which makes it ideal for small projects and websites that do not require scaling."
"EC2 instances are pre-configured and upgraded, so you can simply select and instantly pay for an EC2 instance to set up WordPress, Node.js, or a server container using Docker."
"In Lightsail, they simplified to do it in as few clicks as possible. So, around ten clicks, I have a virtual machine deployed."
"The most valuable features are the usability and customer service."
"Implementations are completed with a few clicks, allowing efficient transitions to other development stages, and setup is easy whether for online support or basic business requirements."
"The instances optimized for WordPress are very lightweight and straightforward in configuration."
"What I like most in IBM Public Cloud is how easy it is to create serverless functions. They are called IBM functions, but in AWS, they are called Lambda functions. Those are pretty standard, and another thing I like the most is that you have fewer restrictions on the amount of data you can transfer across those functions. IBM Public Cloud is way more flexible than AWS. I also like that IBM Public Cloud is pretty straightforward to integrate. As long as you have all the tools IBM provides you, getting everything up and running is straightforward."
"For non-complex applications, the IBM Cloud works fine and the price is much lower than the competitors."
"The beauty of cloud service providers, especially public cloud service providers, is that they are scalable every time when you need them because their payment model is pay-as-you-go."
"An advantage of IBM Public Cloud is the bare metal server. We can take the bare metal server. It's not shared with anyone. We can deploy our applications without sharing them with anyone. That is an advantage of IBM Public Cloud."
"It is easy to deploy what you need for the initial setup"
"The initial setup was very easy. It's quite straightforward. Deployment took about fifteen minutes. Everything is well organized."
"This is a predictable and dependable service."
"The availability is second to none. Customer support is very good."
 

Cons

"The main area for improvement in Lightsail is the difficulty in scaling down resources."
"It would be beneficial if Lightsail allowed easier upgrade and change processes, similar to EC2 instances, without needing to fully back up and reinstall configurations."
"When you need to add some custom rules to Amazon Lightsail, the auto scaling feature is a bit difficult."
"I don't see this solution as enterprise-ready, for bigger companies like banks."
"Currently, there is limited support available while installing or configuring it, and resources are primarily available through community-contributed articles."
"To improve, I feel the disk management is too basic. I can't easily partition the disk for the operating system. I have to follow the main configuration that is already set up in the template. To partition the disk, I would need to deploy the operating system first and then make changes, but it's not an ideal method. I would recommend improving the disk management."
"Backward compatibility and the flexibility to choose software versions while installing would be improvements."
"The solution could be smoother than it is."
"There is not a lot of support for this solution, which is something that needs to be improved."
"An area for improvement in IBM Public Cloud is getting up-to-date information on how to set up everything. It's hard to find new documentation."
"The initial setup and the pricing are areas that need improvement."
"Support could be improved."
"The solution’s pricing could be improved."
"They could improve on customizing reporting capabilities."
"While they have about 99% of what we need, the only exception, perhaps, was the push notification feature that was discontinued. They delayed the replacement product."
"I would like to see a more user-friendly deployment process in the next release of this solution."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"A few months ago, Lightsail's pricing increased, likely due to the addition of the new VPC feature."
"Amazon Lightsail is a bit cheaper than Amazon EC2."
"The services that it provides are good for the price."
"It's very cheap."
"The affordability of starting at five dollars makes it an attractive option for startups and medium-sized companies, aligning with budget considerations while offering essential cloud services."
"Lightsail is available at an affordable cost starting from five dollars per month."
"The prices are better than EC2 machines, for instance, because they are simplified management, but it works well, and I am able to run everything that I need on it."
"The licensing fees are straightforward and predictable."
"The price of IBM Cloud is very cheap compared to competitors AWS and Azure."
"In order to be competitive, you have to commit to a contract for at least one year, but you pay a fixed monthly fee."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a nine out of ten."
"Pricing is not as fair as Amazon or Azure."
"IBM Public Cloud is pretty cheap. They have an ongoing free tier that basically won't expire, so as long as your solution is small enough, you can have a test set that you can use for demos, which will cost you almost nothing."
"IBM has a lesser price compared to other cloud service providers like Azure and AWS."
"We are using the trial version of this solution, so we have not paid anything."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Computer Software Company
22%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Educational Organization
10%
Financial Services Firm
9%
University
13%
Computer Software Company
13%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Manufacturing Company
8%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about Amazon Lightsail?
In Lightsail, they simplified to do it in as few clicks as possible. So, around ten clicks, I have a virtual machine deployed.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon Lightsail?
Lightsail is available at an affordable cost starting from five dollars per month. This cost may increase with additional features like a static IP.
What needs improvement with Amazon Lightsail?
The main area for improvement in Lightsail is the difficulty in scaling down resources. While it is easy to scale up, scaling down is not straightforward and involves additional complexities.
Which is preferable - IBM Public Cloud or Microsoft Azure?
IBM Public Cloud is IBM’s Platform-as-a-Service. It aims to provide organizations with a secure cloud environment to manage data and applications. One of the features we like is the cloud activity ...
What needs improvement with IBM Cloud?
The front end is not pervasive, so it is very difficult get the status of your current services or account from a mobile device.
What do you like most about IBM Public Cloud?
The most valuable feature of IBM Public Cloud is the AI integrations.
 

Also Known As

No data available
IBM Bluemix
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Uvionics Tech, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Alpha Modus, Inventive, Web Business Consulting, FindBrok, SilverHook Powerboats, United Way of Allegheny County
Find out what your peers are saying about Amazon Lightsail vs. IBM Public Cloud and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
837,501 professionals have used our research since 2012.