AWS Lambda Alternatives

While Lambdas can be a convinient mathord to run functions, AWS also provides alternativ services that can fulfill similar roles while providing certain specific benefits and drawbacks which can be useful to explore depending on your company needs.

Lambdas vs EC2 Instance Alternatives

EC2 instances are one of the most commonly used services on AWS and provide some unique benefits over AWS Lambdas in certain aspects for the application of running short runtime functions.

EC2 instances allow you to pay On Demand prices, similar to the pricing strategies of Lambda functions, which can be greatly beneficial for functions that have unpredictable usage times with runtimes that exceed the Lambdas typical limits (generally considered to be arount 15 minutes maximum). EC2 instances also allow for larger functions to be run where the size of the instance you choose is more flexible than the Lambda limit of ~10 GB. A breakdown of some common comparees against EC2's most similar Lambda alternatives has been complied here:

Comparee	Lambda	On Demand EC2 Instances	Spot Instances
Free tier option	Yes	Limited free tier usage period	Limited free tier usage period
Price	$0.008 per GB (prices vary depending on region).	t1.micro ~$0.02 (prices vary depending on region and instance types).	t1.micro ~$0.002 (prices vary depending on region and instance types).
Maximum Function size	~10GB	Varies depending on EC2 instance size and number.	Varies depending on EC2 instance size and number.
Ease of use	AWS Lambda is a managed service and therefore may have an increased ease of use.	EC2 is not an AWS managed service and therefore may be more difficult to implement than AWS Lambda.	EC2 is not an AWS managed service and therefore may be more difficult to implement than AWS Lambda.
Ease of connectivity to other AWS services	Option to automatically set up triggers in Lambda console for select services.	Requires manual trigger creation.	Requires manual trigger creation.
Customisability	Lambdas have limited storage and require specific formats to run therefore making them less customisable overall. They are also managed by AWS further reducing their customisability.	As none managed services EC2 instances are inately highly customisable. As well as this their storage limits are not fixed and are dependent only on the instance tier and number of instances you decide to aquire.	As none managed services EC2 instances are inately highly customisable. As well as this their storage limits are not fixed and are dependent only on the instance tier and number of instances you decide to aquire.
Efficiency	As Lambdas are managed services their infrastructure and configuration efficiency is dependednt on AWS, however the individual function efficiency and layout can be customised.	Like Lambda functions, these instances are available On demand and their efficiency is therefore dependent on the individuals EC2 and function set up.	While Spot instances can be efficient while running, they are relient on space being currently available and therefore may not be efficient for functions requiring on demend continuous runs.

Lambdas vs Other Similar AWS Services

AWS provides managed services that are able to run functions on a schedule or via certain triggers that can provide similar outcomes to AWS Lambdas depending on specific company requirements. A breakdown on these services can be found here in comparison with AWS Lambda functions:

Comparee	Lambda	AWS Batch	AWS Fargate Clusters
Free tier option	Yes	No additional cost, on top of your EC2 or Lambda function instances aquired for the batch jobs (Pay only for the resources you use).	No additional cost, on top of your EC2 or Lambda function instances aquired for the batch jobs (Pay only for the resources you use).
Price	$0.008 per GB	No additional cost, on top of your EC2 or Lambda function instances aquired for the batch jobs (Pay only for the resources you use).	No additional cost, on top of your EC2 or Lambda function instances aquired for the batch jobs (Pay only for the resources you use).
Function size	~10GB	Varies depending on EC2 instance size and number as well as whether Lambdas are used.	Varies depending on EC2 instance size and number.
Ease of use	AWS Lambda is a managed service and therefore may have an increased ease of use.	AWS Batch is a managed service and therefore may have an increased ease of use.	AWS Batch is a managed service and therefore may have an increased ease of use.
Ease of connectivity to other AWS services	Option to automatically set up triggers in Lambda console for select services.	Requires manual trigger creation.	Requires manual trigger creation.
Custmisability	Lambdas have limited storage and require specific formats to run therefore making them less customisable overall. They are also managed by AWS further reducing their customisability.	While AWS Batch is a managed service, it can be used to manage highly customisable EC2 instances or Lambda functions depending on requirements.	AWS Fargate is a managed service. The provisioning of instances and their type will be managed by AWS for this service ie you cannopt choose OS or instance type for this service.
Efficiency	As Lambdas are managed services their infrastructure and configuration efficiency is dependednt on AWS, however the individual function efficiency and layout can be customised.	If the function is required to be ran on a specific schedule or to be triggered by certain processes, AWS Batch can increase the efficiency of organiseing the running of such functions.	As AWS Fargate is a managed service its infrastructure and configuration efficiency is dependednt on AWS, however the individual function efficiency and layout can be customised.