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AWS Lambda vs Vercel
Short answer: Pick AWS Lambda if you want pay-per-use serverless functions; pick Vercel if you want full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions. AWS Lambda is paid; Vercel has a free plan, paid from $20/month.
AWS LambdaRun code without managing servers, billed per request
VercelFrontend cloud to build and deploy web appsWhich to pick
Pick AWS Lambda if you want…
- Pay-per-use serverless functions
- Integrations with Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB or Amazon Kinesis (on AWS Lambda's list, not Vercel's)
Pick Vercel if you want…
- Full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions
- Frontend web app hosting
- A free plan to start with (Hobby)
- Integrations with GitHub, GitLab or Bitbucket (on Vercel's list, not AWS Lambda's)
Side by side
- What it is
- AWS Lambda:AWS Lambda runs code without managing servers, charging only for compute time used.
- Vercel:Vercel is a cloud platform for building, deploying and scaling frontend web apps and AI agents.
- Best for
- AWS Lambda:Pay-per-use serverless functions
- Vercel:Full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions
- Who it’s for
- AWS Lambda:Developers building event-driven, web, or isolated compute workloads.
- Vercel:Frontend developers, teams building web apps or AI-enabled services.
- Pricing
- AWS Lambda:Paid
- Vercel:Freemium
- Starting price
- AWS Lambda:—
- Vercel:$20/month (Pro)
- Free plan or trial
- AWS Lambda:—
- Vercel:Free plan (Hobby) · Free trial
- Plans
- AWS Lambda:—
- Vercel:Hobby $0/mo. · Pro $20/mo. per month
- Works with
- AWS Lambda:Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Kinesis, Apache Kafka, Amazon SQS, Amazon DynamoDB Streams, Express, Hono
- Vercel:GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Google, Vercel CLI
AWS Lambda features
- Event Functions. Run code triggered by over 220 AWS services with automatic scaling and pay-per-use billing.
- Web Functions. Deploy standard Node.js HTTP servers globally with multi-region routing and active CPU billing.
- MicroVMs. Execute code in isolated sandboxes with state retention and lifecycle control.
- Managed Instances. Dedicated EC2-backed capacity for compute-intensive jobs with longer timeouts.
- Durable Functions. Orchestrate long-running, multi-step workflows with built-in branching and retries.
- Real-time Processing. Process streaming data from Kinesis, Kafka, SQS, and DynamoDB Streams with sub-second latency.
Vercel features
- Global Delivery. Ultra-fast, secure CDN with automatic routing and TLS encryption.
- Serverless Functions. Dynamic, scalable functions with fluid compute pricing.
- AI Model Gateway. Secure inference and token-based pricing for AI features.
- Sandboxed Environments. Isolated compute sandboxes for agents and custom workloads.
- Preview URLs. Instant preview deployments for every git branch.
- Custom SSL & Domain Management. Automatic certificates and domain handling per project.
- Spend Management. Usage budgets, alerts and auto-pause to control costs.
- Team Collaboration. Roles, MFA, SSO and viewer seats for shared development.
AWS Lambda vs Vercel FAQ
What is the difference between AWS Lambda and Vercel?+
Vercel: Provides a frontend-focused platform for building and deploying web apps, not a general compute service.
Should I use AWS Lambda or Vercel?+
Pick AWS Lambda if you want pay-per-use serverless functions or integrations with Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB or Amazon Kinesis (on AWS Lambda's list, not Vercel's). Pick Vercel if you want full-stack frontend hosting with serverless functions, frontend web app hosting or a free plan to start with (Hobby).
Is AWS Lambda or Vercel free?+
AWS Lambda is paid. Vercel has a free plan (Hobby); paid plans start at $20/month (Pro).
Do AWS Lambda and Vercel integrate with the same tools?+
Their integration lists don't overlap: AWS Lambda lists Amazon S3, Amazon DynamoDB, Amazon Kinesis, Apache Kafka and 5 more; Vercel lists GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Google and 1 more.
On DevHunt
Based on each tool's website and DevHunt data. Details may change; check the official sites.