Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

AWS Lambda VS Azure Container Instances

Compare AWS Lambda VS Azure Container Instances and see what are their differences

AWS Lambda logo AWS Lambda

Automatic, event-driven compute service

Azure Container Instances logo Azure Container Instances

Easily run application containers in the cloud with a single command. Azure Container Instances lets you get started in seconds and lower your infrastructure costs with per-second billing.
  • AWS Lambda Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-29
  • Azure Container Instances Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-02-05

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.

Azure Container Instances features and specs

  • Simplified Deployment
    Azure Container Instances allows for quick and easy deployment of containers without the need for managing virtual machines or orchestrators.
  • Scalability
    ACIs can be scaled up or down based on demand, providing flexibility and cost-efficiency for varying workloads.
  • Cost-Effective
    You only pay for the compute resources you use, making it ideal for quick tasks and short-lived workloads.
  • Integration with Azure Services
    ACIs can be easily integrated with other Azure services such as Azure Virtual Networks, Azure Monitor, and Azure Logs for comprehensive cloud solutions.
  • Fast Start-up
    Containers start quickly in ACIs, allowing for rapid scaling and fast execution of workloads.

Possible disadvantages of Azure Container Instances

  • Limited Orchestration
    ACIs lack the advanced orchestration capabilities seen in Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) or other orchestrators, which may be necessary for complex applications.
  • Statefulness Limitations
    ACIs are best suited for stateless applications. Managing stateful applications may require additional services and configurations.
  • Not Ideal for Long-Running Workloads
    Though cost-effective for short tasks, ACIs may become expensive for long-running applications compared to other container solutions.
  • Limited Customization
    ACIs provide fewer customization options in terms of infrastructure and configurations compared to managing your own VMs or using AKS.
  • Networking Constraints
    While ACIs integrate with virtual networks, there are limitations on advanced networking features, which might be crucial for complex network architectures.

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

Azure Container Instances videos

Azure Container Instances Tutorial | Serverless containers in cloud

More videos:

  • Review - Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) & Azure Container Instances (ACI) For Beginners

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to AWS Lambda and Azure Container Instances)
Cloud Computing
98 98%
2% 2
Developer Tools
71 71%
29% 29
Cloud Hosting
100 100%
0% 0
DevOps Tools
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 Azure Container Instances

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

Azure Container Instances Reviews

We have no reviews of Azure Container Instances yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, AWS Lambda seems to be a lot more popular than Azure Container Instances. While we know about 274 links to AWS Lambda, we've tracked only 8 mentions of Azure Container Instances. 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 (274)

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Azure Container Instances mentions (8)

  • Azure Container Instances vs Sliplane
    Azure Container Instances (ACI) 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
  • A Brief History Of Serverless
    This model was so successful that we started to see others create competitors such as AWS Fargate and Azure Container Instances. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
  • Similar to AWS Fargate provider?
    Https://azure.microsoft.com/en-us/products/container-instances and as /u/re-thc posted, GKE Autopilot can be that for Google Cloud. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Deploy Application on Azure App Services
    Containerize and deploy the application using one of the container delivery services on Azure like App Services, Container Instances, or Kubernetes Services. - Source: dev.to / over 2 years ago
  • Run Apache APISIX on Microsoft Azure Container Instance
    Apache APISIX is an open-source Microservice API gateway and platform designed for managing microservices requests of high availability, fault tolerance, and distributed system. You can install Apache APISIX by the different methods (Docker, Helm, or RPM) and run it in the various public cloud providers because of its cloud-native behavior. In this post, you will learn how easily run Apache APISIX API Gateway in... - Source: dev.to / almost 3 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing AWS Lambda and Azure Container Instances, 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.

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

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

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.

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

Apache Mesos - Apache Mesos abstracts resources away from machines, enabling fault-tolerant and elastic distributed systems to easily be built and run effectively.