Amazon Lightsail vs Red Hat OpenShift comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Red Hat are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5, while Red Hat is ranked #3 with an average rating of 8.6. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 1.9% mindshare in PSP, compared to Red Hat’s 12.2% mindshare. Additionally, 100% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 96% of Red Hat users who would recommend it.

Amazon Lightsail

Read 9 Amazon Lightsail reviews

1,239 Views
996 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Red Hat OpenShift

Read 61 Red Hat OpenShift reviews

10,368 Views
8,526 Comparison Views

96% willing to recommend

Amazon Lightsail

Red Hat OpenShift

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Red Hat OpenShift and Amazon Lightsail compete in the cloud computing and application deployment category. Red Hat OpenShift appears to have the upper hand in terms of feature richness and scalability, making it more suitable for large-scale deployments compared to the cost-effective and user-friendly Amazon Lightsail.

Features: Red Hat OpenShift offers features like fast CI/CD, strong security, and robust pod solutions, beneficial for large-scale deployments. Its integration with Docker and Kubernetes simplifies deployments. Advanced security features and ImageStream are also advantages. Amazon Lightsail is focused on simplicity and cost-effectiveness, with pre-configured instances and ease of use appealing to less tech-savvy users. It supports applications like WordPress with minimal setup.

Room for Improvement: Red Hat OpenShift could improve its documentation and accessibility of the security model, and enhance autoscaling capabilities. More intuitive templates and better support for multi-cloud integrations are needed. Amazon Lightsail could enhance disk management, auto-scaling, and network features. Improvements in documentation and support will improve user onboarding and integration.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Red Hat OpenShift provides flexibility with on-premises, private, public, and hybrid cloud deployments, though it requires skilled personnel. Its technical support is varied, with some users finding it lacking. Amazon Lightsail is simpler and easier to deploy in public cloud settings, though it might not offer comprehensive technical support for complex projects.

Pricing and ROI: Red Hat OpenShift has a higher price point justified by extensive features. It offers bundled pricing and support though some find it expensive compared to open-source Kubernetes solutions with ROI linked to operational efficiencies. Amazon Lightsail is praised for cost-effectiveness and predictable pricing, attracting startups and small businesses, with favorable ROI for straightforward applications but limited feature set compared to OpenShift for demanding environments.

To learn more, read our detailed Amazon Lightsail vs. Red Hat OpenShift Report (Updated: April 2025).

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Lightsail vs. Red Hat OpenShift

April 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 Lightsail

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

10th

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Red Hat OpenShift

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

3rd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.1

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Server Virtualization Software (9th), Container Management (12th), Hybrid Cloud Computing Platforms (7th), Agile and DevOps Services (1st)

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Amazon Lightsail is 1.9%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Red Hat OpenShift is 12.2%, up from 11.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Vitor Gabriel Reis Lux Barboza

IT Specialist Architecture at Nidec Global Appliance

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.

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Mikhael Ibrahim

Platform Engineer & Manager at a computer software company with 51-200 employees

Seamlessly monitor microservices with streamlined DevOps capabilities

Most benefit from it, however, I work with Kubernetes, and installing Vanilla Kubernetes is easy. That said, it introduces many tools that need to be set up individually. OpenShift comes ready out of the box, with all tools installed and configured. Red Hat certifies and confirms that all the components are compatible with each other. OpenShift's superior dashboard is a notable strength, especially when compared to Kubernetes. The integrated DevOps capabilities, such as pipelines and the container registry, are extremely beneficial. Additionally, its capability to monitor microservices and containers with integrated tools like Prometheus is a major advantage. The horizontal pod scaling exceeds the scalability features I found in Kubernetes.

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

"The most valuable features are the usability and customer service."

"I find Lightsail particularly valuable for hosting WordPress as it is easier to set up than a bare metal server, which requires extensive configuration and package installations."

"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."

"The instances optimized for WordPress are very lightweight and straightforward in configuration."

"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."

"We use Amazon Lightsail for hosting security components in-house and AI modules."

More Amazon Lightsail pros

"The most valuable feature is the high availability for the applications."

"The developers seem to like the source-to-image feature. That makes it easy for them to deploy an application from code into containers, so they don't have to think about things. They take it straight from their code into a containerized application. If you don't have OpenShift, you have to build the container and then deploy the container to, say, EKS or something like that."

"Provides support throughout the whole platform."

"The most valuable feature of OpenShift is the security context constraint (SCC). The solution’s security throughout the stack is good. And security context constraints provide port-level security. It's a granular level of control, where you can give privileges to certain users to work on certain applications."

"I have seen a return on investment, and it depends upon the types and the nature of some of the most critical applications that have been hosted on the OpenShift infrastructure."

"The product's initial setup is very easy, especially compared to AWS."

"The concept of containers and scaling on demand is a feature I appreciate the most about Red Hat OpenShift."

"We have found the cluster management function to be very good with this product."

More Red Hat OpenShift pros

Cons

"When you need to add some custom rules to Amazon Lightsail, the auto scaling feature is a bit difficult."

"Backward compatibility and the flexibility to choose software versions while installing would be improvements."

"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."

"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."

"The solution could be smoother than it is."

"The main area for improvement in Lightsail is the difficulty in scaling down resources."

"The product's network features need enhancement."

"I don't see this solution as enterprise-ready, for bigger companies like banks."

More Amazon Lightsail cons

"This solution could be improved by offering best practices on standardization and additional guidance on how to use this solution."

"The whole area around the hybrid cloud could be improved. I would like to deploy a Red Hat OpenShift cluster on-premise and on the cloud, then have Red Hat do the entire hybrid cloud management."

"There have been some issues with security, in particular, that we had to address. At times they make it “clunky." I am quite confident these parameters will appear in the next releases. They have been reported as bugs and are actually in process."

"If we can have a GUI-based configuration with better flexibility then it will be great."

"I think that OpenShift has too many commands for running services from the CLI, and the configuration files are a little complicated."

"Its virtual upgrades are time-consuming."

"An enhancement to consider for the future might involve incorporating a comprehensive solution for CI/CD tailored specifically for OpenShift."

"I want easier node management and more user-friendly scripts for installing master and worker nodes."

More Red Hat OpenShift cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"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."

"Amazon Lightsail is a bit cheaper than Amazon EC2."

"The services that it provides are good for the price."

"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."

"It's very cheap."

"A few months ago, Lightsail's pricing increased, likely due to the addition of the new VPC feature."

"We use the license-free version of Red Hat Openshift but we pay for the support."

"It's expensive. It may be cheaper to invest in building Vanilla Kubernetes, especially if security is not the number one motivation or requirement. Of course, that's difficult, and in some business areas, such as banking, that's not something you can put as a second priority. In other situations, a Vanilla Kubernetes with a sufficiently strong team can be cheaper and almost as effective."

"The licensing cost for OpenShift is expensive when compared to other products. RedHat also charges you additional costs apart from the standard licensing fees."

"Depending on the extent of the product use, licenses are available for a range of time periods, and are renewable at the end of the period."

"The product has reasonable pricing."

"We had a Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) license for all our servers' operating systems. By having multiple Red Hat products together, you can negotiate costs and leverage on having a sort of enterprise license agreement to reduce the overall outlay or TCO."

"My company makes payments towards the licensing costs attached to OpenShift."

"OpenShift is really good when we need to start, but once we get to a certain scale, it becomes too expensive."

More Red Hat OpenShift pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

20%

Manufacturing Company

10%

Educational Organization

Financial Services Firm

31%

Manufacturing Company

Computer Software Company

Insurance Company

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

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.

See all answers

How does OpenShift compare with Amazon AWS?

Open Shift makes managing infrastructure easy because of self-healing and automatic scaling. There is also a wonderful dashboard mechanism to alert us in case the application is over-committing or ...

See all answers

Which would you recommend - Pivotal Cloud Foundry or OpenShift?

Pivotal Cloud Foundry is a cloud-native application platform to simplify app delivery. It is efficient and effective. The best feature is how easy it is to handle external services such as database...

See all answers

What do you like most about OpenShift?

OpenShift facilitates DevOps practices and improves CI/CD workflows in terms of stability compared to Jenkins.

See all answers

Comparisons

Google Cloud vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 37% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 35% of the time

Heroku vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 11% of the time

Google App Engine vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 5% of the time

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon Lightsail Competitors

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 17% of the time

Pivotal Cloud Foundry vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 17% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 14% of the time

Amazon AWS vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 9% of the time

Google Cloud vs Red Hat OpenShift

Compared 8% of the time

More Red Hat OpenShift Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

PaaS Clouds

April 2025

Download Amazon Lightsail product report

Buyer's Guide

Red Hat OpenShift

April 2025

Download Red Hat OpenShift product report

Overview

Lightsail is ideal for simpler workloads, quick deployments, and getting started on AWS. It’s designed to help you start small, and then scale as you grow.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Red Hat OpenShift offers a robust, scalable platform with strong security and automation, suitable for container orchestration, application deployment, and microservices architecture.

Designed to modernize applications by transitioning from legacy systems to cloud-native environments, Red Hat OpenShift provides powerful CI/CD integration and Kubernetes compatibility. Its security features, multi-cloud support, and source-to-image functionality enhance deployment flexibility. While the GUI offers user-friendly navigation, users benefit from its cloud-agnostic nature and efficient lifecycle management. However, improvements are needed in documentation, configuration complexity, and integration with third-party platforms. Pricing and high resource demands can also be challenging for wider adoption.

What are the key features of Red Hat OpenShift?

Security: Comprehensive security features ensure safe deployments and operations.
Scalability: Auto-scaling and monitoring capabilities cater to high-demand environments.
CI/CD Integration: Seamless integration for efficient continuous deployment processes.
Cloud Compatibility: Supports multi-cloud and on-premise solutions with ease.
GUI: Simplifies platform management and enhances usability.

What benefits and ROI should users look for?

Improved Efficiency: Streamlined operations reduce time and resource investments.
Enhanced Flexibility: Adapt quickly to changing demands and environments.
Quick Deployment: Fast application deployment supports agile project timelines.
Robust Support: Access to dependable customer support services.

Red Hat OpenShift is strategically implemented for diverse industries focusing on container orchestration and application modernization. Organizations leverage it for migrating applications to cloud-native environments and managing CI/CD pipelines. Its functionality facilitates efficient resource management and microservices architecture adoption, supporting enterprise-level DevOps practices. Users employ it across cloud and on-premises platforms to drive performance improvements.

Red Hat

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

UPS, Cathay Pacific, Hilton

Buyer's Guide

Amazon Lightsail vs. Red Hat OpenShift

April 2025

Free Report: Amazon Lightsail vs. Red Hat OpenShift

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