Amazon Lightsail or Amazon EC2

Compare Free Cloud Servers

AWS offers two great solutions

Whether you’re new to the cloud or looking to get your enterprise cloud solution on the infrastructure you trust, we’ve got you covered.

Amazon Lightsail

Amazon Lightsail is a cloud platform that's cost-effective, fast, & reliable with an easy-to-use interface. It’s ideal for simpler workloads, quick deployments, and getting started on AWS.


Use Amazon Lightsail for…

• Simple web applications
• Websites, including custom code, WordPress, and eCommerce
• Single-server business software
• Dev/Test environments


Try Amazon Lightsail for free »

For a limited time, try Lightsail free for 3 months on the following plans:

$3.50/mo, $5/mo, or $10/mo plans when using Linux/Unix
$8 USD, $12, or $20 plans when using Windows
$10 USD per node when using Containers
$15 USD database plans when using Databases

The offer applies to new or existing AWS accounts who started Lightsail usage on or after 7/8/2021. Offer only applies to one bundle per account. Standard charges apply after first 750 hours of usage of the selected bundle each month.

Amazon EC2

Amazon EC2 is a compute web service that offers secure, resizable compute capacity in the cloud. It is designed for scalable deployments and optimizing your workloads.


Use Amazon EC2 for…

• Enterprise applications
• HPC, Big Data, and Analytics workloads (e.g. Hadoop, Spark)
• Migrations from on-premises environments, including BYOL
• Application modernization


Try Amazon EC2 for free »

Try EC2 for free for 12 months.

750 hours per month of Linux, RHEL, or SLES t2.micro or t3.micro instance dependent on region.

750 hours per month of Windows t2.micro or t3.micro instance dependent on region.

Compare your options

  Amazon Lightsail Amazon EC2
Multiple pricing models and discount options that match your use case  
Low, predictable, and bundled monthly pricing  
Easily connects to other AWS services
Offers an all-in-one experience, including load balancers and databases  
Allows you full control and flexibility so that you can configure exactly what you need  
Makes server management easier by automatically configuring key resources like networking and security  
Instance types that are optimized for specific workloads including enterprise applications, machine learning, high-performance computing and/or graphics-intensive applications  
Offers you a simplified and efficient way to launch, deploy and manage your compute, networking, storage, and database resources on AWS  
   
Multiple pricing models and discount options that match your use case Amazon EC2
Low, predictable, and bundled monthly pricing Amazon Lightsail
Easily connects to other AWS services Amazon Lightsail and Amazon EC2
Offers an all-in-one experience, including load balancers and databases Amazon Lightsail
Allows you full control and flexibility so that you can configure exactly what you need Amazon EC2
Makes server management easier by automatically configuring key resources like networking and security Amazon Lightsail
Instance types that are optimized for specific workloads including enterprise applications, machine learning, high-performance computing and/or graphics-intensive applications Amazon EC2
Offers you a simplified and efficient way to launch, deploy and manage your compute, networking, storage, and database resources on AWS Amazon Lightsail

Learn more about our benefits

  • Amazon Lightsail
  • Lightsail is an an easy-to-use cloud platform that offers you everything you need to build your application or website, including compute, networking, storage, and databases.

    Get started in minutes

    Lightsail makes it easy to get started with an easy-to-use management console and API.

    Preconfigured cloud resources & software

    Lightsail offers a number of preconfigured options to get you up and running quickly, including Linux and Windows OS, and Application stacks.

    Low, predictable pricing

    Lightsail bundles all the resources you need in to a single, simple price.

    Easily scale your idea

    As your ideas grow, Lightsail can easily handle your increased traffic and heavier workloads. Plus, you can easily expand your idea by connecting to other AWS services.

    Managed environments

    Lightsail automatically configures networking, access, and security environments, taking the guesswork out of launching your server.

    Get 3 months free

    For a limited time, get 90-days free with the AWS Free Tier when you sign up for an account.

  • Amazon EC2
  • Amazon EC2 provides web services for provisioning and managing computing capacity in the cloud.

    Flexibility of choice

    Broadest and deepest selection of instance types, operating systems, software packages and consumption options to run any workload at scale.

    Automatic scaling

    Increase or decrease capacity within minutes, not hours or days. You can commission one or thousands of instances simultaneously.

    Cost-effective, high performance

    EC2 offers powerful servers, including specialized instances for enterprise applications, machine learning, high-performance computing, graphics-intensive applications, and many more.

    Integrated with AWS

    EC2 is natively integrated with most AWS services to provide a complete, secure solution for computing, query processing, and cloud storage across a wide range of applications.

    Your configuration

    EC2 offers you the ability to fully configure your compute, storage, and networking options.

    Get 12 months free

    Get 750 hours per month of Linux, RHEL, or SLES t2.micro instance usage with the AWS Free Tier once you sign up.

The choice is easy

Whether you’re looking for a cost-efficient, all-in-one solution or an optimized solution that addresses your high-performance needs – we’ve got you covered.