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Amazon S3 vs AWS
AWS offers a broader suite of services beyond storage, but S3 is the specific object storage component.
Short answer: Pick Amazon S3 if you want durable, scalable object storage; pick AWS if you want comprehensive cloud infrastructure and services. Amazon S3 has a free plan.
Which to pick
Pick Amazon S3 if you want…
- Durable, scalable object storage
Pick AWS if you want…
- Comprehensive cloud infrastructure and services
- General AWS cloud services
Side by side
- What it is
- Amazon S3:Amazon S3 is a fully managed object storage service that lets you store and retrieve any amount of data from anywhere with high durability and scalability.
- AWS:AWS is Amazon’s cloud platform offering compute, storage, databases and over 240 services on a pay-as-you-go model.
- Best for
- Amazon S3:Durable, scalable object storage
- AWS:Comprehensive cloud infrastructure and services
- Who it’s for
- Amazon S3:Developers, data engineers, and enterprises needing scalable, durable object storage.
- AWS:Developers, startups and enterprises building and scaling applications in the cloud
- Pricing
- Amazon S3:Freemium
- AWS:Pay-as-you-go
- Free plan or trial
- Amazon S3:Free trial
- AWS:Free trial
Amazon S3 features
- 11-nines durability. Provides 99.999999999% durability for stored objects.
- Multiple storage classes. Offers Standard, Intelligent-Tiering, Infrequent Access, Glacier, and Express for cost-optimized access patterns.
- Automatic lifecycle management. Moves data between classes automatically to reduce storage spend.
- Encryption by default. All objects are encrypted at rest without extra configuration.
- Fine-grained access control. Supports bucket policies, IAM, and ACLs for secure data access.
- Integration with AWS analytics & AI. Directly connects to services like Athena, SageMaker, and Redshift for analytics and machine learning.
AWS features
- Pay-as-you-go pricing. You only pay for the services you consume, similar to utilities, with no long-term contracts.
- Free Tier credits. New accounts receive up to $200 in free credits and $100-$200 in Free Tier usage for up to 6 months.
- Global infrastructure. 124 Availability Zones across 39 regions with edge locations for low-latency access.
- Broad service portfolio. Over 240 services covering compute, storage, AI, networking, security and more.
- Pricing Calculator. Estimate monthly costs for single or multiple services using the AWS Pricing Calculator.
- Savings Plans & tiered pricing. Commit to usage for discounts and get volume-based price reductions as usage grows.
Amazon S3 vs AWS FAQ
What is the difference between Amazon S3 and AWS?+
AWS offers a broader suite of services beyond storage, but S3 is the specific object storage component.
Should I use Amazon S3 or AWS?+
Pick Amazon S3 if you want durable, scalable object storage. Pick AWS if you want comprehensive cloud infrastructure and services or general AWS cloud services.
Is Amazon S3 or AWS free?+
Amazon S3 has a free plan and paid plans.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.