How it works
AWS rents computing by the hour, the second or the request. The core pieces are EC2 virtual servers, Lambda serverless functions, S3 file storage, RDS and Aurora managed SQL databases, DynamoDB, the CloudFront CDN, SES for email and IAM for permissions. Simpler bundles such as Lightsail (fixed-price servers) and Amplify (frontend hosting) exist for smaller projects.
It runs regions on every inhabited continent, including Mumbai and Hyderabad in India. Its breadth is the draw and also the difficulty: permissions, networking and billing take real skill, and costs such as data transfer and forgotten resources surprise many teams. Budgets and billing alerts are worth setting up on the first day.
AWS pros and cons
Pros
- A very wide range of services, for almost any workload
- Regions worldwide, including two in India
- Mature, well documented, and a skill many engineers already have
- Pay only for what you use, with discounts for longer commitments
Cons
- Complex console, permissions and networking for newcomers
- Bills are hard to predict, and data transfer out adds up
- Easy to leave resources running and pay for them unnoticed
When to use AWS
Pick it when
- Products that need many managed services under one account
- Enterprise or compliance-heavy customers that expect AWS
- A team that already knows AWS, or has budget to learn it
Skip it when
- A small site or first version that a frontend cloud or VPS would host with less effort
AWS pricing
Pay as you go
Pay per use. New accounts get $100 in credits, and up to $100 more for trying services; the optional free plan lasts up to six months. Some services, such as Lambda, keep always-free monthly allowances.
AWS pricing page (opens in a new tab)Approximate, checked September 2026.What the other tools cost
AWS vs the alternatives
Related terms
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