Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Amazon ECS VS Docker for AWS

Compare Amazon ECS VS Docker for AWS and see what are their differences

Amazon ECS logo Amazon ECS

Amazon EC2 Container Service is a highly scalable, high-performance​ container management service that supports Docker containers.

Docker for AWS logo Docker for AWS

Docker Enterprise Edition (EE) for AWS This deployment is fully baked and tested, and comes with the latest Docker Enterprise Edition for AWS. This release is maintained and receives security...
  • Amazon ECS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-05
  • Docker for AWS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-15

Amazon ECS features and specs

  • Cost-Effective
    Amazon ECS allows you to run only the computing resources you need. You can scale your services up or down based on demand, optimizing costs efficiently.
  • Integration with AWS Services
    ECS seamlessly integrates with other AWS services like IAM, VPC, CloudWatch, and more, providing a cohesive and robust ecosystem for your applications.
  • Ease of Use
    ECS is managed by AWS, reducing the complexity of setting up, operating, and scaling containerized applications. It handles orchestration tasks, simplifying deployment and management.
  • Security
    Offers strong security features like IAM roles for tasks, fine-tuned network policies, and encrypted traffic between services, ensuring robust security for your applications.
  • High Availability
    ECS leverages AWS’s global infrastructure, enabling you to deploy applications across multiple availability zones for high availability and fault tolerance.

Possible disadvantages of Amazon ECS

  • Complexity in Hybrid Environments
    Integrating ECS with non-AWS components in a hybrid cloud setup can be complex, requiring additional configuration and management effort.
  • Vendor Lock-In
    Being tightly integrated with AWS services means that migrating away from ECS to another container orchestration platform could be challenging and time-consuming.
  • Learning Curve
    While ECS simplifies many tasks, users still need to understand AWS services and best practices, creating a learning curve for those new to the AWS ecosystem.
  • Limited Multi-Cloud Support
    Unlike Kubernetes, which can be deployed in multi-cloud environments, ECS is mainly optimized for AWS, limiting its flexibility in multi-cloud strategies.
  • Dependency on AWS Infrastructure
    The performance and availability of ECS are dependent on AWS infrastructure, making it less appealing for organizations that need infrastructure independence.

Docker for AWS features and specs

  • Portability
    Docker containers allow applications to be packaged with all their dependencies and environments, ensuring they run the same way across all environments, including AWS.
  • Scalability
    Docker integrates well with AWS services like ECS and EKS, enabling easy scaling of applications by managing containers across a cluster.
  • Resource Efficiency
    Containers are lightweight compared to traditional VMs, allowing for better resource utilization, which can optimize costs on AWS when running multiple applications or services.
  • Rapid Deployment
    Docker accelerates the deployment process, allowing for faster iteration and reduced time-to-market by using containers to deploy consistent environments on AWS.
  • Microservices Support
    Docker promotes a microservices architecture, enabling AWS users to decompose their applications into small, manageable services that can be developed, tested, and deployed independently.

Possible disadvantages of Docker for AWS

  • Complexity
    Managing containers at scale may introduce complexity, requiring a good understanding of container orchestration tools and AWS ecosystem.
  • Data Management
    Persisting data in a Docker environment can be challenging due to the ephemeral nature of containers, requiring additional AWS services or configurations to manage stateful applications.
  • Security Concerns
    Containers share the host operating system kernel, which can potentially lead to security vulnerabilities if not properly managed or isolated.
  • Networking Challenges
    Configuring networks and service discovery within Docker containers on AWS can be intricate, especially when interconnecting multiple containers or different AWS services.
  • Limited by Host OS
    Docker containers must run on a compatible host operating system, which can limit the choice of technologies when deploying across multiple environments in AWS.

Amazon ECS videos

Amazon ECS: Core Concepts

Docker for AWS videos

No Docker for AWS videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Amazon ECS and Docker for AWS)
Developer Tools
71 71%
29% 29
Cloud Hosting
74 74%
26% 26
Cloud Computing
71 71%
29% 29
Containers As A Service
100 100%
0% 0

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Amazon ECS and Docker for AWS

Amazon ECS Reviews

The Top 7 Kubernetes Alternatives for Container Orchestration
Amazon ECS is a flexible, high-performing, scalable container management solution compatible with Docker containers that let you run your applications on a controlled group of Amazon EC2 instances. Through Amazon ECS, you don’t have to set up and manage the cluster’s management infrastructure or set up tasks. You can use the management tools of AWS Console or SDKs, AWS CLI...
Top 10 Best Container Software in 2022
If you are looking for great backup recovery and building cloud-native applications, then AWS Fartgate is one of the best tools. If you initially want to do POCs without investing much in infrastructure, then Amazon ECS is a good choice because of its pay per use pricing model.

Docker for AWS Reviews

We have no reviews of Docker for AWS yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Docker for AWS might be a bit more popular than Amazon ECS. We know about 70 links to it since March 2021 and only 52 links to Amazon ECS. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Amazon ECS mentions (52)

  • AWS ECS vs Sliplane
    Amazon's Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Sliplane both simplify deployment, management, and scaling of containerized applications. However, there are some key differences, and both platforms serve different users and use cases. Let's compare them side by side. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Top 8 Docker Alternatives to Consider in 2025
    AWS Elastic Container Service (ECS) and Elastic Kubernetes Service (EKS) provide managed container orchestration platforms integrated with AWS infrastructure. - Source: dev.to / 4 months ago
  • Day 3: What is Docker and why should I care?
    Most cloud platforms support Docker containers. Sliplane, Fly.io, AWS, Google Cloud, etc. This means that you can easily switch between cloud providers if you want to, without having to change your software. If you ever migrated from one cloud provider to another, you probably know how much work this can be. With Docker, you can just take your container image and run it on the new platform. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • The New Dev's Guide to Externalizing App Config
    In containerized environments like Kubernetes or Amazon ECS, configuration is often injected as environment variables or mounted as files. Your app starts up with fresh values every time—no rebuilds needed. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Large-scale Data Processing with Step Functions : AWS Project
    The workers in this example are containers, running in Amazon Elastic Container Service (ECS) with an Amazon Fargate Capacity Provider . Though the workers could potentially run almost anywhere so long as they had access to poll the Step Functions Activity and report SUCCESS/FAILURE back to Step Functions. - Source: dev.to / 6 months ago
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Docker for AWS mentions (70)

  • From Beginner to Pro: Deploying Scalable AI Workloads with Docker & Terraform
    For more information on Docker, you can refer to the official Docker documentation and explore relevant open-source projects on Docker's GitHub. Additionally, for Terraform-related resources, check out the official Terraform documentation and Terraform GitHub. - Source: dev.to / 3 days ago
  • Building Autonomous AI Agents with Docker: How to Scale Intelligence
    Docker Official Documentation Docker Hub - AI & Machine Learning Containers Deploying AI with Docker & Kubernetes Docker Community Forums GitHub - AI Agents & Docker Projects. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Docker + Cypress in 2025: How I’ve Perfected My E2E Testing Setup
    Docker Documentation: For container best practices, security tips, and new features. - Source: dev.to / about 2 months ago
  • Docker 101 ft. Avg Web Dev
    For more detailed information, visit the official **Docker documentation.**. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
  • Containers and Docker: Simplifying Software Development
    Docker Documentation: https://docs.docker.com/. - Source: dev.to / 2 months ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Amazon ECS and Docker for AWS, you can also consider the following products

Docker - Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.

Docker Hub - Docker Hub is a cloud-based registry service

Google Kubernetes Engine - Google Kubernetes Engine is a powerful cluster manager and orchestration system for running your Docker containers. Set up a cluster in minutes.

Docker Compose - Define and run multi-container applications with Docker

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

Amazon EKS - Amazon EKS makes it easy for you to run Kubernetes on AWS without needing to install and operate your own Kubernetes clusters.