AWS Lambda vs Amazon EC2 comparison

Amazon EC2 and AWS Lambda are both solutions in the Compute Service category. Amazon EC2 is ranked #6 with an average rating of 9.1, while AWS Lambda is ranked #1 with an average rating of 8.6. Amazon EC2 holds a 5.1% mindshare in CS, compared to AWS Lambda’s 20.7% mindshare. Additionally, 98% of Amazon EC2 users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 94% of AWS Lambda users who would recommend it.

Amazon EC2

Read 67 Amazon EC2 reviews

984 Views
895 Comparison Views

98% willing to recommend

AWS Lambda

Read 88 AWS Lambda reviews

2,734 Views
2,488 Comparison Views

94% willing to recommend

Amazon EC2

AWS Lambda

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on May 21, 2025

AWS Lambda and Amazon EC2 are prominent competitors in cloud computing. AWS Lambda's serverless and cost-efficient operation provides it with a distinct edge in rapid application deployment without the need for infrastructure management.

Features: AWS Lambda operates on a serverless, event-driven model, allowing applications to scale automatically and eliminating infrastructure concerns. It supports multiple programming languages and integrates effectively with other AWS services. Amazon EC2, however, offers powerful compute capabilities with customizable virtual servers, enabling applications to operate with high performance and a range of instance types that cater to more complex workloads.

Room for Improvement: AWS Lambda could enhance runtime capabilities beyond the current 15-minute execution limit and expand stability and integration options. Users also seek improved resource allocation for demanding applications. Amazon EC2, on the other hand, faces challenges with pricing complexity, migration support, and seamless transitions across instance types.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS Lambda facilitates rapid deployment due to its serverless nature, requiring no infrastructure management and leverages Amazon's strong support infrastructure, although complex issues may slow resolutions. Amazon EC2 offers granular control during deployment, but demands more expertise from users. Its customer service is reliable, with additional benefits for enterprises needing extensive support.

Pricing and ROI: AWS Lambda's cost-effective, pay-as-you-go pricing model provides significant savings, particularly for variable workloads by avoiding infrastructure costs. The return on investment is optimal due to its usage-based billing. Conversely, Amazon EC2 can become expensive, with pricing intricacies tied to usage and configuration considerations, but offers flexibility and dependability that can justify its higher costs for complex needs.

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

Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda vs. Amazon EC2

July 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

Ranking in Compute Service

6th

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

AWS Lambda

Ranking in Compute Service

1st

Average Rating

8.6

Reviews Sentiment

7.3

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the Compute Service category, the mindshare of Amazon EC2 is 5.1%, down from 7.5% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of AWS Lambda is 20.7%, up from 19.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Compute Service

Featured Reviews

KatlegoMabila

Senior AWS Account Manager at Silicon Overdrive

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.

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Andrew-Wong

AWS Developer at Centrica

Convenience in deployment process with room for code preview improvement

Having a better preview would be helpful. Sometimes, if my Lambda code is too big, it can be inconvenient as I'm unable to see my code when it exceeds a certain size. AWS has a limit, like a three-megabyte limit, beyond which I cannot view or edit the code easily.

Read full review

Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"Amazon EC2 allows us to create different regions and availability zones based upon application needs."

"I like EC2 because of its simple workload and the ability to configure VPCs and security groups."

"Its ease of use is valuable."

"EC2 is secure and stable, and we have no complaints about it on AWS."

"Stable, scalable, and simple to implement."

"The ability to bring up servers and then do the computation and deposit means we don't have to maintain a data center. Everything is virtual and the security is also taken care of. It helps us to achieve compliance. Being a small startup with the security features that AWS provides helps us with compliance."

"Amazon EC2 is highly scalable."

"EC2 instances on AWS allow users to run virtual servers based on the CPU, memory, storage, and networking capacity."

More Amazon EC2 pros

"The solution is designed very well. You don't need to keep a server up. You just need some router to route your API request and Lambda provides a very well-designed feature to process the request."

"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."

"The solution is scalable."

"The programming language and the integration with other AWS services are the most valuable features."

"One of the most valuable features of AWS Lambda is the performance. Lambda is very technical and has very high performance, as well as good real-time performance."

"The most valuable feature is that there is no need to implement it in a server because it is a service."

"The solution is highly scalable."

"I have used AWS Lambda for simple messaging for SQS, creating a cron job, and delay messaging."

More AWS Lambda pros

Cons

"It is a little too expensive."

"Amazon EC2 could improve its dashboards and UI, they need to be more user-friendly."

"I would like to see more variety in the operating system images used to create test environments in EC2. There should be more versions and releases. Sometimes, you want to test an update from an old release to a higher version, but you can’t do that with the new images available. You have to use your own."

"Regarding availability, a noticeable improvement would be the possibility of more load balancing configurations and the deployment of more datacenters, mainly in Latin America."

"Support doesn't share or give insights on OS-based issues. That needs to improve because if someone is buying an EC2 instance with the Windows server and SQL license, the client expects that there will be a minimum level of support."

"In terms of improvement, they could build some client-side desktop tools that provide easier connectivity to Amazon."

"The process of detaching EC2 instances to avoid billing could be less complex."

"The scalability could improve."

More Amazon EC2 cons

"AWS Lambda could be improved by increasing the size of the payload. Also, sometimes Lambda doesn't implement well for bigger solutions."

"It would be ideal if we could use the solution across different platforms."

"Having a better preview would be helpful."

"Lambda can only be used in one account; there's no possibility to utilize it in another account."

"AWS Lambda has a limitation where the execution time is capped at 15 minutes per task. Increasing this time would allow for handling heavier tasks more efficiently."

"There are other similar solutions, such as Google Cloud Platform or Microsoft Azure. They might be better for small tasks."

"Lamba functions have cold-starts that can cause some delay."

"AWS Lambda's GUI could be improved with a twist or tweak in its look and feel to make it more impressive."

More AWS Lambda cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"EC2 pricing is somewhat transparent, in that AWS provides pricing for all instance types. However, the number of pricing options can be confusing."

"Amazon EC2 is a very expensive solution."

"It's expensive, and it could be cheaper."

"There is a license required to use this solution and we pay on a monthly basis."

"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."

"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."

"The price of Amazon EC2 could improve. The Google Cloud Platform is more cost-effective."

"It has helped to reduce costs with infrastructure."

More Amazon EC2 pricing and cost advice

"AWS Lambda is inexpensive."

"AWS Lambda is a very inexpensive solution. They charge for the number of times we run it. If you run AWS Lambda for one time, they charge around 50 cents or 25 cents for the use. I don't know the exact price, but it's less than a dollar."

"The solution is free of cost for the first year, and after that, it becomes expensive."

"Its pricing is on the higher side."

"For licensing, we pay a yearly subscription."

"AWS Lambda cost is pretty decent."

"We only need to pay for the compute time our code consumes."

"Price-wise, AWS Lambda is a five out of ten."

More AWS Lambda pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

13%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Manufacturing Company

Comms Service Provider

Financial Services Firm

20%

Computer Software Company

12%

Manufacturing Company

University

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.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Amazon EC2?

Amazon EC2 is a bit expensive.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Amazon EC2?

The main thing that needs improvement is the cost. Other than that, there is nothing that needs improvement.

See all answers

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?

The pricing of AWS Lambda is reasonable. It's beneficial and cost-effective for users regardless of the number of instances used.

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS Batch vs Amazon EC2

Compared 23% of the time

AWS Fargate vs Amazon EC2

Compared 16% of the time

Apache Spark vs Amazon EC2

Compared 11% of the time

Google Compute Engine vs Amazon EC2

Compared 9% of the time

Google App Engine vs Amazon EC2

Compared 8% of the time

More Amazon EC2 Competitors

AWS Batch vs AWS Lambda

Compared 45% of the time

Apache NiFi vs AWS Lambda

Compared 18% of the time

Apache Spark vs AWS Lambda

Compared 13% of the time

Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling vs AWS Lambda

Compared 9% of the time

Google Cloud Dataflow vs AWS Lambda

Compared 4% of the time

More AWS Lambda Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon EC2

July 2025

Download Amazon EC2 product report

Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda

July 2025

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Also Known As

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, EC2

No data available

Overview

Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2) is a web service that provides secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed to make web-scale cloud computing easier for developers.

Amazon EC2’s simple web service interface allows you to obtain and configure capacity with minimal friction. It provides you with complete control of your computing resources and lets you run on Amazon’s proven computing environment. Amazon EC2 reduces the time required to obtain and boot new server instances to minutes, allowing you to quickly scale capacity, both up and down, as your computing requirements change. Amazon EC2 changes the economics of computing by allowing you to pay only for capacity that you actually use. Amazon EC2 provides developers the tools to build failure resilient applications and isolate them from common failure scenarios.

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

Netflix, Expedia, TimeInc., Novaris, airbnb, Lamborghini

Netflix

Buyer's Guide

AWS Lambda vs. Amazon EC2

July 2025

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