AWS Amplify vs Chef comparison

Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Progress Software are both solutions in the Release Automation category. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is ranked #5 with an average rating of 7.0, while Progress Software is ranked #12 with an average rating of 7.0. Amazon Web Services (AWS) holds a 2.6% mindshare in RA, compared to Progress Software’s 1.2% mindshare. Additionally, 71% of Amazon Web Services (AWS) users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 95% of Progress Software users who would recommend it.

AWS Amplify

Read 7 AWS Amplify reviews

1,018 Views
372 Comparison Views

71% willing to recommend

Chef

Read 19 Chef reviews

318 Views
75 Comparison Views

95% willing to recommend

AWS Amplify

Chef

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Jan 7, 2025

Chef and AWS Amplify are tools in the application management and deployment category. AWS Amplify appears to have the upper hand due to its ease of use and seamless integration with AWS services.

Features: Chef offers automation capabilities, infrastructure as code, and integration with multiple cloud platforms. AWS Amplify provides swift deployment, comprehensive libraries for frontend frameworks, and backend support, including AI integration.

Room for Improvement: Chef could improve ease of use and reduce complexity in setup and operation. Better GUI interfaces and more comprehensive beginner guides would help. AWS Amplify could enhance its local development experience and expand offline capabilities. Providing more detailed customization options and extending support for more non-AWS environments would be beneficial.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: Chef requires a steeper learning curve due to its complex setup but offers comprehensive control. AWS Amplify facilitates a user-friendly deployment model with the advantage of AWS's extensive support network and documentation.

Pricing and ROI: Chef may involve higher upfront costs due to its customization needs, offering significant ROI through scalable automation. AWS Amplify uses a pay-as-you-go model, aligning costs with usage and providing faster ROI through reduced time to market.

To learn more, read our detailed AWS Amplify vs. Chef Report (Updated: June 2025).

Buyer's Guide

AWS Amplify vs. Chef

June 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

AWS Amplify

Ranking in Release Automation

5th

Average Rating

7.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.4

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

No ranking in other categories

Chef

Ranking in Release Automation

12th

Average Rating

8.0

Reviews Sentiment

7.5

Number of Reviews

Ranking in other categories

Build Automation (20th), Configuration Management (18th)

Mindshare comparison

As of June 2025, in the Release Automation category, the mindshare of AWS Amplify is 2.6%, down from 2.7% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Chef is 1.2%, up from 0.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

Release Automation

Featured Reviews

Krishna Vishwakarma

Flutter Developer at Techsevin

Has good documentation but takes time for a beginner to learn

The only tricky part I experienced was during the initial installation. I followed the documentation, but it wasn't working for some reason. I had to modify some local files in the CLI-generated folder to get it to work. I had to dig deep to find the issue, and it wasn't mentioned in the docs. So, some issues could be better highlighted in the AWS CLI documentation, which would help developers integrate other services more easily. AWS needs to improve its support.

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Aaron P

DevOps Engineer at a manufacturing company with 1,001-5,000 employees

Easy configuration management, optimization abilities, and complete infrastructure and application automation

In terms of improvement, Chef could get better by being more widely available, adapting to different needs, and providing better documentation. There is also an issue with shared resources like cookbooks lacking context, which could lead to problems when multiple companies use them. Chef should aim for wider availability, better flexibility, clearer documentation, and improved management of shared resources to prevent conflicts. Many companies are now moving to Ansible, so I would recommend better documentation, easier customer use, and simpler integration. I have concerns about the complexity of migrating to different servers and would prefer a simpler process.

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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The link with Figma is very nice. You can create your design in Figma, and then you can import it into AWS Amplify and use it. You can link it to your data source and data bindings."

"I didn't host my application but have used their backend as a service. It was a complete package with authentication, AWS AppSync, DynamoDB, and GraphQL. AWS Amplify is great if you don't know backend development and don't want to struggle with other backend services like MongoDB. You don't have to worry about what backend language or database to use. If you're confused, enroll with AWS Amplify. I also recommend Google Firebase for similar purposes."

"The only tricky part I experienced was during the initial installation. I followed the documentation, but it wasn't working for some reason. I had to modify some local files in the CLI-generated folder to get it to work. I had to dig deep to find the issue, and it wasn't mentioned in the docs. So, some issues could be better highlighted in the AWS CLI documentation, which would help developers integrate other services more easily. AWS needs to improve its support."

"One of the things I like best about AWS Amplify is its ease of use and strong integration with other AWS services, which enhances efficiency."

"The most valuable feature of AWS Amplify is authentication."

"Typically, whenever we make changes and need to switch environments (e.g., dev to production), it's easy for our developers to maintain the state of each environment and make customizations as needed. They don't necessarily need to involve the cloud team for basic management."

"The most valuable feature is user management, which includes authentication and authorization."

"It is a well thought out product which integrates well with what developers and customers are looking for."

"Deployment has become quick and orchestration is now easy."

"Automation is everything. Having so many servers in production, many of our processes won't work nor scale. So, we look for tools to help us automate the process, and Chef is one of them."

"The product is useful for automating processes."

"I wanted to monitor a hybrid cloud environment, one using AWS and Azure. If I have to provision/orchestrate between multiple cloud platforms, I can use Chef as a one-stop solution, to broker between those cloud platforms and orchestrate around them, rather than going directly into each of the cloud-vendors' consoles."

"Chef can be scaled as needed. The Chef server itself can scale but it depends on the available resources. You can upgrade specific resources to meet the demand. Similarly, with clients, you can add as many clients as you need. Again, this depends on the server resources. If the server has enough resources, it can handle the number of servers required to manage the infrastructure. Chef can be scaled to meet the needs of the infrastructure being managed."

"It has been very easy to tie it into our build and deploy automation for production release work, etc. All the Chef pieces more or less run themselves."

"The most important thing is it can handle a 100,000 servers at the same time easily with no time constraints."

More Chef pros

Cons

"Its capability to handle big projects needs to be improved. If you generate a user interface in Figma and import everything where all components are in one directory, currently, it is complicated. It isn't able to cope with that. For small projects, it is not an issue, but if you have big projects and you want to use AWS Amplify, then it gets more difficult. That is the most important point for me. It should be improved to cope better with bigger projects."

"AWS Amplify can be improved in some areas, particularly in providing more robust documentation and easier customization options."

"I don't think there are major issues, but there is room for improvement in the UI/UX of AWS Amplify. The UI still needs to be more polished and user-friendly. It's currently a bit like drag-and-drop initially, but there should be more options to customize the UI based on our needs."

"I like AWS Amplify's documentation. It's comprehensive and includes many examples, so you don't need to ask for help much - you can refer to the docs. It's easy to use. I also appreciate the cost structure. You only pay for what you use. For example, if you use 100 GB, you're charged for that, but if you don't use it, you pay the maintenance cost."

"AWS Amplify could improve in the deployment. It would be beneficial to have more methods, such as automation."

"AWS can implement multiple web applications, and cross-platform applications, like iOS."

"The documentation needs improvement, as it is not user-friendly and can be challenging for novices."

"There appears to be no effort to fix the command line utility functionality, which is definitely broken, provides a false positive for a result when you perform the operation, and doesn't work."

"The time that it takes in terms of integration. Cloud integration is comparatively easy, but when it comes to two-link based integrations - like trying to integrate it with any monitoring tools, or maybe some other ticketing tools - it takes longer. That is because most of the out-of-the-box integration of the APIs needs some revisiting."

"In the future, Chef could develop a docker container or docker images."

"It is an old technology."

"If only Chef were easier to use and code, it would be used much more widely by the community."

"Third-party innovations need improvement, and I would like to see more integration with other platforms."

"There is a slight barrier to entry if you are used to using Ansible, since it is Ruby-based."

"The solution could improve in managing role-based access. This would be helpful."

More Chef cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"When you're just starting, it is free. You have to pay only when you reach a certain amount of usage. I'm still at the early stage. So, I don't have to pay a lot. At the moment, it is not too expensive for me. It is worth the money."

"The pricing depends on what your use case is and whether you're an existing AWS customer. It's a pay-as-you-go model, so not expensive."

"The price per node is a little weird. It doesn't scale along with your organization. If you're truly utilizing Chef to its fullest, then the number of nodes which are being utilized in any particular day might scale or change based on your Auto Scaling groups. How do you keep track of that or audit it? Then, how do you appropriately license it? It's difficult."

"The price is always a problem. It is high. There is room for improvement. I do like purchasing on the AWS Marketplace, but I would like the ability to negotiate and have some flexibility in the pricing on it."

"We are using the free, open source version of the software, which we are happy with at this time."

"Pricing for Chef is high."

"Chef is priced based on the number of nodes."

"When we're rolling out a new server, we're not using the AWS Marketplace AMI, we're using our own AMI, but we are paying them a licensing fee."

"Purchasing the solution from AWS Marketplace was a good experience. AWS's pricing is pretty in line with the product's regular pricing. Though instance-wise, AWS is not the cheapest in the market."

"We are able to save in development time, deployment time, and it makes it easier to manage the environments."

More Chef pricing and cost advice

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Computer Software Company

16%

Financial Services Firm

10%

Construction Company

Healthcare Company

Financial Services Firm

21%

Computer Software Company

15%

University

Healthcare Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

No data available

Questions from the Community

How to estimate whether using the AWS services is worthwhile for saving time and money for manufacturing at a retailer company?

Estimating the cost-effectiveness of using AWS services for manufacturing at a retailer company involves a comprehensive analysis. To make an informed decision, you should consider factors like the...

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What do you like most about AWS Amplify?

Typically, whenever we make changes and need to switch environments (e.g., dev to production), it's easy for our developers to maintain the state of each environment and make customizations as need...

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for AWS Amplify?

I find the pricing of AWS Amplify reasonable, considering the value it provides, although opinions may vary based on usage.

See all answers

What do you like most about Chef?

Chef is a great tool for an automation person who wants to do configuration management with infrastructure as a code.

See all answers

What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Chef?

Chef is priced based on the number of nodes.

See all answers

What needs improvement with Chef?

Chef does not support the containerized things of Chef products. In the future, Chef could develop a docker container or docker images.

See all answers

Comparisons

AWS CodeDeploy vs AWS Amplify

Compared 52% of the time

Microsoft Azure DevOps vs AWS Amplify

Compared 39% of the time

AWS CodeStar vs AWS Amplify

Compared 9% of the time

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BigFix vs Chef

Compared 46% of the time

AWS Systems Manager vs Chef

Compared 15% of the time

VMware Aria Automation vs Chef

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Configuration Manager vs Chef

Compared 10% of the time

Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform vs Chef

Compared 10% of the time

More Chef Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

AWS Amplify

June 2025

Download AWS Amplify product report

Buyer's Guide

Chef

June 2025

Download Chef product report

Overview

AWS Amplify is a set of purpose-built tools and features that lets frontend web and mobile developers quickly and easily build full-stack applications on AWS, with the flexibility to leverage the breadth of AWS services as your use cases evolve. With Amplify, you can configure a web or mobile app backend, connect your app in minutes, visually build a web frontend UI, and easily manage app content outside the AWS console. Ship faster and scale effortlessly—with no cloud expertise needed.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Chef, is the leader in DevOps, driving collaboration through code to automate infrastructure, security, compliance and applications. Chef provides a single path to production making it faster and safer to add value to applications and meet the demands of the customer. Deployed broadly in production by the Global 5000 and used by more than half of the Fortune 500, Chef develops 100 percent of its software as open source under the Apache 2.0 license with no restrictions on its use. Chef Enterprise Automation Stack™, a commercial distribution, is developed solely from that open source code and unifies security, compliance, infrastructure and application automation with observability. Chef provides an unequaled developer experience for the Coded Enterprise by enabling users to express infrastructure, security policies and the application lifecycle as code, modernizing development, packaging and delivery of any application to any platform. For more information, visit http://chef.io and follow @chef.

Progress Software

Sample Customers

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Facebook, Standard Bank, GE Capital, Nordstrom, Optum, Barclays, IGN, General Motors, Scholastic, Riot Games, NCR, Gap

Buyer's Guide

AWS Amplify vs. Chef

June 2025

Free Report: AWS Amplify vs. Chef

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