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AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) vs Docker comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 14, 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

AWS Cloud Development Kit (...
Ranking in Development Platforms
4th
Average Rating
8.0
Reviews Sentiment
7.6
Number of Reviews
5
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
Docker
Ranking in Development Platforms
1st
Average Rating
8.6
Reviews Sentiment
7.4
Number of Reviews
56
Ranking in other categories
Container Management (5th), Software Supply Chain Security (8th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of March 2025, in the Development Platforms category, the mindshare of AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) is 10.2%, up from 6.0% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Docker is 43.7%, up from 36.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Development Platforms
 

Featured Reviews

Asif  Meem - PeerSpot reviewer
An easy-to-deploy solution that can be used to write code to provision infrastructure
We use AWS CDK for defining infrastructure as code You can use AWS CDK to write code to provision infrastructure. The solution has a significant quality of life improvement for software developers who can code to spin up infrastructure on AWS. Using AWS CDK requires some knowledge of popular…
Rikin Parekh - PeerSpot reviewer
Useful to create sandbox environments to run applications and makes it easy to test them
Overall, setting up the Docker environment is quite easy. Many methods exist, such as using Docker Compose and Docker networks to communicate between containers. The main challenge lies in designing the architecture and integrating different frameworks and microservices. I would rate the ease of setting up the tool at around nine out of ten. The time it takes to deploy depends on the scale of the system. For the early-stage startup I'm currently working with, it doesn't take much time. It's just me handling the deployment. In our early-stage startup, we have a couple of teams with around four to five backend APIs and two front-end services. Deploying these doesn't take much time. My focus is more on minimizing costs due to our lean startup structure.

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"You can use AWS CDK to write code to provision infrastructure."
"AWS CDK offers seamless integration, which was a significant factor in choosing it for cloud computing."
"One of the most valuable aspects of CDK is its ability to integrate various components seamlessly, such as Lambda functions, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and EventBridge."
"AWS CDK has notably streamlined the deployment process compared to other methods, primarily by defining cloud infrastructure as code."
"The most valuable features of the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) are its speed and ease of deployment."
"The setup process is very straightforward."
"I think that with Docker, it is easy to deploy it on different platforms."
"There are ways of using Docker where you have absolutely no dependencies on the environment that you work in. This allows us to deploy Docker anywhere anytime and this has been most valuable."
"Docker is highly scalable."
"The solution is easy to install."
"We find the auto scaling and auto healing functionality of this solution very good."
"The solution helps save costs."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is that it provides a containerized environment. The isolation between the environments is beneficial. Additionally, the solution is easy to use."
"The most valuable feature of Docker is its portability, ease of security management, and low resource usage."
 

Cons

"There is room for improvement in the use of EventBridge and the initial setup of CDK, which can be a bit challenging."
"There is room for improvement in the use of EventBridge and the initial setup of CDK, which can be a bit challenging."
"They could allow combining multiple languages, such as JavaScript and Python for the platform. At present, we can use only one language."
"The primary issue we've encountered is pricing. Some customers find the pricing to be somewhat high. Additionally, there's a discrepancy between the promised resource utilization and the actual utilization. The resource utilization calculations don't align with the provided guidelines. So, the pricing and resource utilization calculations could be refined."
"There are some issues with different plugins."
"Using AWS CDK requires some knowledge of popular programming languages."
"The documentation could be improved."
"I would love to have it available on Linux."
"Sometimes, we have sync-up issues where the build doesn't get processed due to these sync issues, causing the build to fail. That's one of the drawbacks I see. When we did a huge sync-up, we faced a couple of issues. It takes some time for us to complete the sync-up. For frequent, smaller updates, we haven't had any issues. However, challenges can arise for those who prefer doing everything in one go. This might not necessarily be due to the tool itself but because of the approach of doing everything in a single batch."
"Docker management is very difficult when we have a large number of nodes."
"Docker needs to improve its pricing."
"Sometimes, it can become heavy and cause performance issues."
"I have encountered network issues while connecting with microservices. I want to optimize the application layers over the bucket. It should also have better documentation."
"The vendor should release a monitoring tool or include monitoring capabilities in Docker"
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Since AWS CDK is an open-source solution, it's free to use."
"For commercial use, it's about $30 per month. The license itself isn't expensive, but if there are many users, the price becomes high."
"Docker is a free tool."
"Docker is a free-to-use solution. However, Docker Enterprise is not free."
"The current cost for us is nothing as an open source."
"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"Docker is a free open-source solution."
"We use the open-source version."
"Docker has made some changes and there is an enterprise version that is affordable."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
No data available
Computer Software Company
18%
Insurance Company
11%
Financial Services Firm
10%
Manufacturing Company
9%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
No data available
 

Questions from the Community

What do you like most about AWS CDK?
The most valuable features of the AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) are its speed and ease of deployment.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS CDK?
Over time, I expect AWS to become more cost-efficient and resilient. Although the pricing is currently high, I hope they continue to improve their system, which will lead to cost reductions.
What needs improvement with AWS CDK?
There is room for improvement in the use of EventBridge and the initial setup of CDK, which can be a bit challenging. The IAM policies could be simplified to make the setup process more straightfor...
What do you like most about Docker?
We are using Docker to host applications.
What needs improvement with Docker?
In terms of communication between services, perhaps the configuration within networks between containers could be improved.
 

Comparisons

No data available
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers
Information Not Available
Find out what your peers are saying about AWS Cloud Development Kit (CDK) vs. Docker and other solutions. Updated: January 2025.
841,431 professionals have used our research since 2012.