Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS Lambda VS AWS Batch

Compare AWS Lambda VS AWS Batch and see what are their differences

AWS Lambda logo AWS Lambda

Automatic, event-driven compute service

AWS Batch logo AWS Batch

AWS Batch enables developers, scientists, and engineers to easily and efficiently run hundreds of thousands of batch computing jobs on AWS.
  • AWS Lambda Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29
  • AWS Batch Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-21

AWS Lambda features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS Lambda automatically scales your application by running your code in response to each trigger. This means no manual intervention is required to handle varying levels of traffic.
  • Cost-effectiveness
    You only pay for the compute time you consume. Billing is metered in increments of 100 milliseconds and you are not charged when your code is not running.
  • Reduced Operations Overhead
    AWS Lambda abstracts the infrastructure management layer, so there is no need to manage or provision servers. This allows you to focus more on writing code for your applications.
  • Flexibility
    Supports multiple programming languages such as Python, Node.js, Ruby, Java, Go, and .NET, which allows you to use the language you are most comfortable with.
  • Integration with Other AWS Services
    Seamlessly integrates with many other AWS services such as S3, DynamoDB, RDS, SNS, and more, making it versatile and highly functional.
  • Automatic Scaling and Load Balancing
    Handles thousands of concurrent requests without managing the scaling yourself, making it suitable for applications requiring high availability and reliability.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Lambda

  • Cold Start Latency
    The first request to a Lambda function after it has been idle for a certain period can take longer to execute. This is referred to as a 'cold start' and can impact performance.
  • Resource Limits
    Lambda has defined limits, such as a maximum execution timeout of 15 minutes, memory allocation ranging from 128 MB to 10,240 MB, and temporary storage up to 512 MB.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Using AWS Lambda ties you into the AWS ecosystem, making it difficult to migrate to another cloud provider or an on-premises solution without significant modifications to your application.
  • Complexity of Debugging
    Debugging and monitoring distributed, serverless applications can be more complex compared to traditional applications due to the lack of direct access to the underlying infrastructure.
  • Cold Start Issues with VPC
    When Lambda functions are configured to access resources within a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), the cold start latency can be exacerbated due to additional VPC networking overhead.
  • Limited Execution Control
    AWS Lambda is designed for stateless, short-running tasks and may not be suitable for long-running processes or tasks requiring complex orchestration.

AWS Batch features and specs

  • Scalability
    AWS Batch automatically provisions the optimal quantity and type of compute resources based on the volume and specific resource requirements of the batch jobs submitted.
  • Cost-Effectiveness
    By using AWS Batch, you only pay for the resources you consume, and it provides integration with Spot Instances which can significantly lower costs.
  • No Infrastructure Management
    AWS Batch removes the need to manage server clusters or other infrastructure, allowing users to focus entirely on jobs and workloads.
  • Flexible Job Definitions
    Users can easily specify job definitions to model their machine learning, batch processing, or other computational tasks, allowing for flexibility in resource allocation.
  • Integration with AWS Services
    AWS Batch integrates with various AWS services like Amazon CloudWatch, AWS Lambda, and AWS IAM to provide a comprehensive and secure batch processing solution.

Possible disadvantages of AWS Batch

  • Complexity
    Setting up and configuring AWS Batch can be complex for new users unfamiliar with AWS services, requiring a learning curve.
  • Limited to AWS Ecosystem
    AWS Batch is deeply integrated into the AWS ecosystem, which might not be ideal for users looking for a multi-cloud strategy or those using different cloud service providers.
  • Vendor Lock-in
    Heavy reliance on AWS Batch can lead to vendor lock-in, making it potentially difficult to migrate workloads to other platforms if needed.
  • Potential for Hidden Costs
    While AWS Batch can be cost-effective, there is the potential for unexpected costs if jobs are not efficiently managed or optimized, especially when scaling up resources.
  • Limited Control Over Infrastructure
    Since AWS Batch manages infrastructure automatically, users have limited control over the underlying compute resources, which may not be suitable for all use cases.

AWS Lambda videos

AWS Lambda Vs EC2 | Serverless Vs EC2 | EC2 Alternatives

More videos:

  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda Tutorial | AWS Tutorial for Beginners | Intro to AWS Lambda | AWS Training | Edureka
  • Tutorial - AWS Lambda | What is AWS Lambda | AWS Lambda Tutorial for Beginners | Intellipaat

AWS Batch videos

How AWS Batch Works

More videos:

  • Review - Live from the London Loft | AWS Batch: Simplifying Batch Computing in the Cloud
  • Review - AWS re:Invent 2018: AWS Batch & How AQR leverages AWS to Identify New Investment Signals (CMP372)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS Lambda and AWS Batch)
Cloud Computing
94 94%
6% 6
Cloud Hosting
93 93%
7% 7
Developer Tools
88 88%
12% 12
Development
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare AWS Lambda and AWS Batch

AWS Lambda Reviews

Top 7 Firebase Alternatives for App Development in 2024
AWS Lambda is suitable for applications with varying workloads and those already using the AWS ecosystem.
Source: signoz.io

AWS Batch Reviews

Python & ETL 2020: A List and Comparison of the Top Python ETL Tools
AWS Batch: This is used for batch computing jobs on AWS resources. It has insane scalability and is well-suited for engineers look to do large compute jobs.
Source: www.xplenty.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS Lambda seems to be a lot more popular than AWS Batch. While we know about 273 links to AWS Lambda, we've tracked only 14 mentions of AWS Batch. 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.

AWS Lambda mentions (273)

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AWS Batch mentions (14)

  • Looking for a decent (self hostable) program to orchestrate scripts, notify on failures, etc
    After moving off Jenkins, I moved everything to AWS Batch with Fargate. This works quite well, but it is proving to be a little expensive, as I have to pay for:. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • Hosting strategy suggestions
    If you're looking for more control over your infrastructure and want to run a full computing environment, EC2 might be the right choice for you. With EC2, you have complete control over the operating system, network, and storage, which can be useful if you need to install custom software or use specific hardware configurations. Additionally, EC2 + Batch processing provide a wider range of instance types, including... Source: about 2 years ago
  • Questions for bioinformatics researchers that use AWS
    AWS Batch is the equivalent of a university cluster you submit to with slurm/sge/lsf/etc. But does not use those schedulers as AWS has their own. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Scheduling "Fetch & Run" Batch Jobs with AWS Batch and CloudWatch Rules
    Developers frequently use batch computing to access significant amounts of processing power. You may perform batch computing workloads in the AWS Cloud with the aid of AWS Batch, a fully managed service provided by AWS. It is a powerful solution that can plan, schedule, and execute containerized batch or machine learning workloads across the entire spectrum of AWS compute capabilities, including Amazon ECS, Amazon... - Source: dev.to / about 2 years ago
  • can you run OS applications in lambda layers?
    As others mentioned, you *can*. It might be easier with AWS Batch (https://aws.amazon.com/batch/) depending on what you're trying to do. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS Lambda and AWS Batch, you can also consider the following products

Amazon S3 - Amazon S3 is an object storage where users can store data from their business on a safe, cloud-based platform. Amazon S3 operates in 54 availability zones within 18 graphic regions and 1 local region.

Fission.io - Fission.io is a serverless framework for Kubernetes that supports many concepts such as event triggers, parallel execution, and statelessness.

Google App Engine - A powerful platform to build web and mobile apps that scale automatically.

Nuclio - Nuclio is an open source serverless platform.

Amazon API Gateway - Create, publish, maintain, monitor, and secure APIs at any scale

Knative - Knative provides a set of components for building modern, source-centric, and container-based applications that can run anywhere.