AWS Cloud9 Reviews

My main use case for AWS Cloud9 is cloud-based development and testing, specifically for quickly setting up environments and working with AWS services. I primarily use AWS Cloud9 as an online IDE to run, develop, and debug applications directly in the browser without needing a local setup.

I use AWS Cloud9 to quickly develop and test a backend script, then deploy it to AWS services like Lambda. For example, I use AWS Cloud9 to write a Python script that processes file uploads to Amazon S3. I code and test everything directly in AWS Cloud9 using its built-in terminal. Once it is working, I deploy the logic to AWS Lambda for automated executions. This workflow helps me avoid local setup, speed up testing, and ensures everything integrates smoothly within the AWS ecosystem.

Apart from this, I use AWS Cloud9 for quick debugging, environment consistency, and seamless AWS integration. Beyond development, I use this for debugging issues in a live-like environment, which helps avoid problems like working on my machine and ensures consistency since the environment is pre-configured and runs on AWS infrastructure. I also leverage it for learning and experimenting with services like Amazon EC2 and AWS Lambda as everything is essentially accessible from one place.

The best features of AWS Cloud9 are its browser-based IDE, built-in debugger and terminal, real-time collaborations, and seamless AWS integration, which make development faster and easier. When it comes to the browser-based IDE, there is no setup required; I can run, write, and debug the code directly from the browser without needing to install any configuration. It supports languages like Python, JavaScript, and Java, including code completions, syntax highlighting, and hints that help me write code faster with very few errors. The built-in integrated debuggers help in inspecting the codes and variables.

Additional features I wish to mention include auto environment management, SSH access, and built-in AWS CLI or SDK support, which make development smoother and more production-like. Beyond basic IDE features, AWS Cloud9 stands out for cost control, secure access, and ready-to-use AWS tooling, making it very practical for real-world cloud workflows.

AWS Cloud9 has positively impacted my organization by facilitating team collaboration that leads to quicker delivery of features. Using AWS Cloud9, we have seen a positive impact on our workflows, such as faster onboarding and setup. New developers can start coding immediately without configuring a local environment, reducing the setup time from hours to minutes. It has also improved development speed, as everything is integrated in one place, such as the editor, terminal, and AWS tools. We spend less time switching tools and more time building features. Real-time collaboration helps during debugging sessions and pair programming, reducing issue resolution times. The seamless integration with AWS Lambda and S3 bucket allows faster testing and deployment of cloud-based features. In one use case, a feature that earlier took two to three days, including setup and debugging, is now completed within one day, mainly due to faster environment setup and smoother testing.

AWS Cloud9 is powerful, but it can be improved in terms of performance, modern IDE features, limited updates, and dependency on AWS infrastructure, which sometimes slows productivity. Since it runs in the browser and depends on Amazon EC2 instances, performance can lag compared to local IDEs, especially for larger projects or lower specs instances. It also has limited modern IDE features compared to tools like Visual Studio Code, lacking a rich extension ecosystem, advanced UI customizations, and some modern developer productivity features. Improvements can include better performance optimization, a plugin ecosystem, faster startup times, and more frequent feature updates, as well as an improved collaboration experience. AWS Cloud9 is great for AWS native development but still lags behind modern IDEs in performance, flexibility, and the pace of innovation.

In terms of improvements, richer extension ecosystems, faster startup, better performance for large projects, and triggering CI/CD pipeline integration would make the workflow much smoother. A stronger extension and customization capability would significantly enhance day-to-day work with AWS Cloud9. Offline or hybrid mode, including limited offline capabilities or local sync, would reduce the dependency on consistent internet connectivity. Better debugging and monitoring integration, with deeper integration into logging and monitoring tools like Amazon CloudWatch, would simplify troubleshooting without switching context. If AWS Cloud9 evolves with better performance, extensibility, and deeper DevOps integrations, it would become a much more complete modern development platform.

I have been using AWS Cloud9 for the last two years.

AWS Cloud9 is stable in my organization and my setup.

AWS Cloud9 is moderately scalable; you can scale easily using AWS resources, but it is not designed for large enterprise-scale IDE management. There are limitations in scalability; it is not ideal for larger enterprises. Managing many environments manually can be complex and lacks centralized governance compared to enterprise developers.

Customer support is reliable, as it is integrated with AWS, so AWS customer support is dependable.

Environment setup is reduced by fifty percent, the development cycle is faster by twenty to thirty percent, and debugging time is reduced by twenty-five percent. Overall, this translates to a thirty to thirty-five percent improvement in development productivity for certain tasks. Onboarding and other processes become much easier, resulting in faster delivery due to time saved and reduced friction without cutting costs directly.

In terms of ROI, we mainly see a thirty to fifty percent time saving, faster onboarding, and reduced operational overhead rather than reducing headcount. A backend feature that used to take three days, including setup, development, and debugging, is now reduced to one and a half or two days total due to faster delivery timelines and reducing developer friction for more consistent and reliable deployments.

Earlier, setting up a local environment took two to four hours per developer. With AWS Cloud9, it drops to fifteen to thirty minutes, even less. Since everything including the editor, terminal, and AWS access is in one place, the development cycle is also reduced by twenty to thirty percent.

I evaluated VS Code, GitHub Codespaces, and IntelliJ before choosing AWS Cloud9.

My advice would be to start with a small project, optimize costs, auto-stop features, and use it mainly for AWS native development to get the best value. I suggest not relying on very large projects for heavy code, as advanced IDE tools like Visual Studio Code might be more efficient. Leveraging the built-in AWS tools and taking advantage of pre-configured AWS CLI integration is one of AWS Cloud9's biggest strengths. Since it is browser-based, a good internet connection is essential for smooth performance. Use AWS Cloud9 where it shines—quick setup, AWS integrations, and lightweight development—but do not expect it to fully replace a modern feature-rich IDE in all scenarios.

Overall, AWS Cloud9 is a solid choice for working within the Amazon Web Services ecosystem. Its biggest strengths are zero setup, seamless AWS integration, scalability, and accessibility from anywhere, making development faster and more consistent. At the same time, there is room for improvement in areas including performance, extensions, and the pace of innovation, especially compared to modern IDEs. While it may not be the most advanced IDE available, for AWS native workflows, it is a reliable, convenient tool that delivers real productivity benefits. I would rate this product as a seven out of ten.

I have used AWS Cloud9 and ElastiCache. It serves as a cloud VM for DevOps team members to give them access to AWS resources, and then they use that to access different resources in AWS since AWS Cloud9 instances are in the same VPC.

AWS Cloud9 can be used as a jump box and for managing AWS Lambda functions.

AWS Cloud9 is useful for collaboration capabilities in geographically distributed teams.

AWS Cloud9 has benefited us positively by helping make our operations more secure.

Some of the best features with AWS Cloud9 are that it is a cloud-based DE, so you do not have to have an IDE locally or set up the IDE every time when using different computers. It is just there. It exists in the same VPC, or you can put it in the same VPC as your other resources.

The integration with AWS services in AWS Cloud9 has made the development process more secure because you transition from having one jump box that everyone uses to everyone having their own individual jump boxes. It is advantageous to have something that is in the same VPC as your other resources that you can use as a jump box.

We are not tracking Cloud9 metrics. I do not think it is that important.

AWS Cloud9 is being discontinued, so preventing its discontinuation would address the main pain point.

I have been dealing with AWS solutions for four or five years.

I was not part of either the setup or deployment of AWS Cloud9, as it was already implemented when I arrived.

Setting up AWS Cloud9 does not seem too complex.

AWS Cloud9 has benefited us positively by helping make our operations more secure.

I did not deal with their customer service or technical support at any point.

Negative

AWS Cloud9 is in the cloud, while other solutions were local, though I am unsure about their current deployment models.

I am not going to disclose other IDE solutions.

I have never looked at the documentation on AWS Cloud9.

I am a Cloud Security Engineer.

On a scale of 1-10, I rate AWS Cloud9 a seven.

I would use AWS Cloud9 if I had a business that needed a lot of users with different types of access, since it is all in one place to manage easily.

One thing I like the most about AWS Cloud9 is how easy it is to access different things and to look for what you are searching for. The searchability is a strong feature that makes finding information straightforward.

One point of improvement for AWS Cloud9 would be to make the interface have a dark mode.

I have not been using AWS Cloud9 long enough to see a significant downside of it.

Regarding stability, I have not seen any lagging, crashing, downtime, or any sort of instability with AWS Cloud9 during my time using it.

I think AWS Cloud9 is pretty scalable, and I would say that is another good feature of it.

I have not personally contacted the technical support regarding AWS Cloud9.

The initial deployment when I first started using AWS Cloud9 was medium difficulty. If you do not know what you are doing, it would be considered high medium difficulty.

It only took me about an hour or two to fully set up AWS Cloud9 because I had my teacher helping us with the process.

I have not used any alternatives to AWS Cloud9.

Regarding the learning curve of AWS Cloud9, I would say for an average person, it will take at least three weeks to a month of consistently using it to finally get out of that learning curve.

Maintenance for AWS Cloud9 is all being taken care of.

I would probably not be a reference for AWS Cloud9 because I am still new to it. I would rate this product an eight out of ten.

I use AWS Cloud9 for deploying my codes on servers. I use it for database management and many other purposes.

I handle AWS Cloud9 entirely on my own, and I first prefer to edit my code. The second thing I do is connect it to my database so I can use it thoroughly.

AWS Cloud9 saves me two to three days per week in my work at Probus Insurance.

The best features of AWS Cloud9 for me include saving time. It was far more scalable than anything else I have used. I have utilized all of the time-saving features available.

AWS Cloud9 saves me two to three days per week in my work at Probus Insurance.

I would prefer to see changes in the pricing structure of AWS Cloud9 because it is too high.

I have been using AWS Cloud9 for the last three years.

I have not experienced any significant friction points or frustrations with AWS Cloud9.

AWS Cloud9 is very scalable.

I cannot recall the specific details right now, but we shifted from Azure to AWS Cloud9 because it was far more scalable. That is why we switched from Azure to AWS Cloud9.

When I first set up AWS Cloud9, it was quite easy. First, we log in by signing up or logging in. We can search for AWS Cloud9 and basically create an environment directly on the platform.

AWS Cloud9 is something everyone uses at Probus Insurance in the same way. I would recommend AWS Cloud9 with an overall rating of 8.5 out of 10, and I encourage everyone to use it at least once.