Amazon AWS vs Amazon Lightsail comparison

Amazon AWS and Amazon Lightsail are both solutions in the PaaS Clouds category. Amazon AWS is ranked #2 with an average rating of 8.1, while Amazon Lightsail is ranked #10 with an average rating of 8.5. Amazon AWS holds a 12.4% mindshare in PSP, compared to Amazon Lightsail’s 2.0% mindshare. Additionally, 93% of Amazon AWS users are willing to recommend the solution, compared to 100% of Amazon Lightsail users who would recommend it.

Amazon AWS

Read 256 Amazon AWS reviews

9,968 Views
4,264 Comparison Views

93% willing to recommend

Amazon Lightsail

Read 9 Amazon Lightsail reviews

1,086 Views
228 Comparison Views

100% willing to recommend

Amazon AWS

Amazon Lightsail

Comparison Buyer's Guide

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Executive SummaryUpdated on Dec 15, 2024

Amazon AWS and Amazon Lightsail compete in the cloud hosting and computing services category. AWS appears to have an upper hand due to its extensive features and flexibility aimed at both small and large-scale operations.

Features: Amazon AWS is equipped with scalable storage solutions, flexible computing power, and a comprehensive security suite suitable for diverse operating systems and relational databases. It offers dynamic pricing with extensive technical support. Amazon Lightsail is best for simple applications offering ease of setup and a budget-friendly pricing structure, making it especially appealing for startups and smaller projects.

Room for Improvement: AWS users consistently call for simplified cost structures and enhanced technical support. The complexity of pricing and high data transfer costs could deter startups seeking predictable expenses. Amazon Lightsail, on the other hand, needs enhancements in documentation and support to enable easier navigation and better utilization of its platform features.

Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: AWS provides extensive deployment options for public, private, and hybrid cloud configurations, receiving praise for its technical support, although users seek quicker response times. Amazon Lightsail excels with its simple public cloud deployment, highlighted for being user-friendly and having a straightforward setup process, receiving positive reviews for customer support.

Pricing and ROI: AWS's pay-as-you-go model offers flexibility but can become costly with increased usage, yet it remains cost-efficient for large-scale operations. Amazon Lightsail offers flat-rate pricing starting at five dollars, making it a cost-effective choice for startups. Both platforms deliver positive ROI, with AWS’s flexibility aiding long-term value, while Lightsail emphasizes affordability and simplicity.

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

Buyer's Guide

Amazon AWS vs. Amazon Lightsail

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

Amazon AWS

Ranking in PaaS Clouds

2nd

Average Rating

8.4

Reviews Sentiment

7.2

Number of Reviews

256

Ranking in other categories

Infrastructure as a Service Clouds (IaaS) (2nd)

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

Mindshare comparison

As of July 2025, in the PaaS Clouds category, the mindshare of Amazon AWS is 12.4%, down from 17.4% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Amazon Lightsail is 2.0%, up from 1.2% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.

PaaS Clouds

Featured Reviews

Arun Srivastav

CEO at Planfirma Technologies Private Limited

Allows for automatic scaling of resources and provides built-in firewalls and security features, eliminating the need for external security solutions

One thing that's a bit different is that we're still accustomed to speaking to someone directly. AWS doesn't offer that kind of support. It's only through bots. You're speaking to chatbots, and that can sometimes be frustrating because there's no person on the other side. AI is not a substitute for a person. AWS marketplace is very strong, but somehow AWS doesn't promote it much. They have a huge customer base across the globe, and if products were launched in their marketplace, they could sell like hotcakes. They should improve their marketplace and promote the same product across the globe. They can take a cut, but they should promote it. That's something they don't do very much. So, AWS should promote its marketplace software. The company should promote it aggressively. Currently, they keep it very subtle. If you ask for it, they'll help you out. But they don't seem to advertise, "You're building a product on our platform? Why don't you sell it in our marketplace?" Improvement in AI: AWS is a little behind Microsoft Azure in terms of AI. AWS is still getting there, but the kind of examples and help files available in Azure for AI are much better. So AWS still needs to work on its AI functionality.

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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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Quotes from Members

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

Pros

"The solution also helps organizations to move applications to a containerized platform."

"They release new solutions almost every quarter and you don't get that kind of innovation from an enterprise company."

"Amazon has a much better understanding of the workflow of data scientists and machine learning processes. This is seen by their SageMaker which offers different versions of the models to be used."

"It's quite stable and scalable. The price is good as well."

"AWS's security model, including IAM or security groups, has contributed to our organization's compliance. It manages authentication, permissions, and overall security posture, which helps us maintain compliance."

"This solution is a good option if you are looking for cloud-based storage. Using a cloud-based solution, it is not required to accommodate a full workload. You can start with a basic version and scale up as needed."

"The stability is magnificent, it's spectacular."

"It's very stable and the performance is good."

More Amazon AWS pros

"Implementations are completed with a few clicks, allowing efficient transitions to other development stages, and setup is easy whether for online support or basic business requirements."

"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."

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

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

"In Lightsail, they simplified to do it in as few clicks as possible. So, around ten clicks, I have a virtual machine deployed."

More Amazon Lightsail pros

Cons

"The security right now needs improvement. It's not bad, per se. It's just that there's always room for improvement in security."

"The pricing could be more competitive."

"I'd like the solution to be more plug-and-play."

"I think that the interface could be improved."

"There's not much room for improvement but that being said, they can improve the overall process of the overall product features and backend."

"Amazon tools are for more mature DevOps. The process and the Dev is very good, but it doesn't compare to the ease of using the Google Cloud Platform."

"The price could be better."

"They should really consolidate and make things simpler rather than offer you hundreds of random options. The way everything is arranged really forces users to figure out everything on their own and then, on top of that, to calculate the total costs. There's an infinite number of combinations even just with cost calculations. It's just too much."

More Amazon AWS cons

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

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

"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."

"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."

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

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

"Currently, there is limited support available while installing or configuring it, and resources are primarily available through community-contributed articles."

"The product's network features need enhancement."

More Amazon Lightsail cons

Pricing and Cost Advice

"The price tends to be higher, but that is a usual case when prioritizing reliable backup solutions for servers and other infrastructure."

"The tool’s pricing is reasonable."

"I think they've done a pretty good job with their pricing."

"It seems to be reasonable. It's the first one that I've used as a cloud platform, so they've set the benchmark for me, and now, I'm comparing everything else to them."

"The pricing of Amazon is higher than that of SalesForce."

"Amazon AWS is offering different pricing, and saving plans, it's very easy for a customer to consider the Amazon AWS service."

"You are not paying a licensing fee, you pay for consumption."

"It is quite expensive in my very personal opinion. Going on-prem in a data center is, for sure, not as expensive as going to AWS, but when it comes to a point where you are raising and growing, it simply makes a lot of sense to stay in AWS. It is awesome in that way. I am not aware of any extra costs."

More Amazon AWS pricing and cost advice

"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."

"It's very cheap."

"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."

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

"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."

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Comparison Review

it_user8586

Engineer at a tech consulting company with 51-200 employees

Aug 14, 2013

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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews

Financial Services Firm

16%

Computer Software Company

13%

Manufacturing Company

University

Computer Software Company

20%

Financial Services Firm

University

Manufacturing Company

Company Size

By reviewers

Large Enterprise

Midsize Enterprise

Small Business

Questions from the Community

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 ...

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How is SAP Cloud Platform different than Amazon AWS?

How is SAP Cloud Platform different than Amazon AWS? Amazon AWS offers options both in terms of upgrading and expanding capabilities as well as acquiring greater storage space. These upgrades can ...

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Looking to compare Google Firebase, Amazon AWS, and Microsoft Azure

We like Google Firebase hosting and authentication and also the excellent cloud functionality. Our team found the flexibility of handling and dealing with the database through EDL to be very useful...

See all answers

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

Comparisons

Akamai Connected Cloud (Linode) vs Amazon AWS

Compared 12% of the time

SAP Cloud Platform vs Amazon AWS

Compared 11% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Amazon AWS

Compared 11% of the time

Alibaba Cloud vs Amazon AWS

Compared 8% of the time

Red Hat OpenShift vs Amazon AWS

Compared 7% of the time

More Amazon AWS Competitors

Google Cloud vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 35% of the time

Microsoft Azure vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 33% of the time

Heroku vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 10% of the time

Google App Engine vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 5% of the time

AWS Elastic Beanstalk vs Amazon Lightsail

Compared 5% of the time

More Amazon Lightsail Competitors

Product Reports

Buyer's Guide

Amazon AWS

April 2025

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Buyer's Guide

PaaS Clouds

June 2025

Download Amazon Lightsail product report

Also Known As

Amazon Web Services, AWS

No data available

Overview

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is an adopted cloud platform that offers more than 200 fully featured services from data centers located across the globe. This is a scalable, low-cost infrastructure platform in the cloud that is utilized by thousands of businesses of different sizes around the world. The product offers a wide variety of solutions for its customers, which allows them to launch applications regardless of their industry.

The most common use cases for AWS are:

Application hosting: Clients can take advantage of on-demand infrastructure to power their applications. The product supports multiple types of apps, varying from hosted internal applications to software as a service (SaaS) offerings.
Websites: With AWS, clients can satisfy their web hosting needs through a scalable platform for their websites.
Backup and storage: AWS offers reliable data storage services, which allow clients to store their data and build dependable backups for all of their valuable information.
Enterprise IT: The product allows companies to host internal- or external-facing IT applications in a highly secure environment.
Content delivery: Users who want to distribute content to end users worldwide can do so quickly and easily through the high data transfer speeds of this solution.
Databases: AWS offers a variety of database solutions, which include hosted enterprise database software as well as non-relational database solutions.

Amazon AWS supports a global cloud infrastructure with AWS Region and Availability Zone models, which contribute to the high availability of enterprise applications running on the solution. Amazon AWS has an extensive array of products that serve different purposes, including:

Analytics
Application integration
Blockchain
Business applications
Cloud financial management
Compute
Contact center
Containers
Database
Developer tools
End-user computing
Front-end web and mobile
Games
Internet of Things (IoT)
Machine learning
Management and governance
Quantum technologies
Robotics
Satellite
Security, identity and compliance, and others

The products and services that Amazon AWS delivers to these sectors provide a large computing capacity which is quicker and cheaper compared to building a physical server farm. Among the most popular services are Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud, also known as "EC2," and Amazon Simple Storage Service, also known as "S3."

Amazon AWS Features

The wide array of products that Amazon AWS offers consist of different functions that utilize cloud computing across different sectors. The features of this solution can be categorized in the following ways:

Data and relationship management: With Amazon AWS, companies can manage multiple hierarchies of directory data, they can define attributes for objects and relationships, set custom inheritance rules for directories, and create multiple schemas.
Schema management: This group of features allows users to extend their directory schema according to their needs. They can extend it through multiple applications that share a single directory while avoiding duplication of data.
Fully managed infrastructure: This feature decreases time and costs for administrative tasks for companies regarding scaling infrastructure and managing servers.
Searching feature: The Cloud Directory feature of AWS offers built-in search capabilities which can cover sets of highly connected data and eliminate the need of creating nested queries.
Built-in data encryption: Users can benefit from high levels of protection of their data with AWS's products. The data in the cloud is automatically encrypted at rest and in transit through 256-bit encryption keys, managed by AWS Key Management Service (KMS).
Object policies: This feature allows Amazon AWS users to organize objects in different hierarchies by providing a framework for applications to evaluate policy assignments.

Amazon AWS Benefits

This product delivers various benefits across all industries that utilize its services. The greatest advantages of using Amazon AWS include:

High product functionality is supported by machine learning, artificial intelligence (AI), IoT, data lakes, and analytics.
The solution has a high level of security, which is backed by a deep set ofmore than 100 cloud security tools.
Amazon AWS has an easy-to-use interface that makes it possible for clients to host applications.
The product is very flexible in terms of which operating system, programming language, web app platform, and database clients can use.
AWS is a scalable and highly secure global computing infrastructure, supported by the reliability of Amazon.com.
Clients can utilize the Auto Scaling and Elastic Load Balancing tools to personally scale up or down applications, depending on their demand.
Users can choose from an array of payment options, including paying for only the services they need, as well as a free trial to select the ones most useful for them.

Reviews from Real Users

Greg G., a chief executive officer at a tech services company, ranks Amazon AWS highly, as he states that the solution is flexible, scales well, and offers good stability.

A technology manager technology at a computer software company values Amazon AWS because it is extremely cost-efficient, easy to upgrade and expand storage with greatly improved interfaces.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

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)

Sample Customers

Pinterest, General Electric, Pfizer, Netflix, and Nasdaq.

Expedia, Intuit, Royal Dutch Shell, Brooks Brothers

Buyer's Guide

Amazon AWS vs. Amazon Lightsail

June 2025

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