Amazon EC2 vs Amazon Lightsail

Updated November 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Amazon EC2

AWS's virtual servers, with hundreds of instance types and flexible ways to pay.

Paid

Visit Amazon EC2 Amazon EC2 profile

Amazon Lightsail

AWS's fixed-price virtual servers, bundled with storage, transfer and a static IP.

Paid

Visit Amazon Lightsail Amazon Lightsail profile

The short answer

Both are AWS virtual servers. Amazon EC2 suits teams that need many instance types, regions, GPUs or tight integration with the rest of AWS, and are willing to manage separate meters for storage, transfer and IPs. Amazon Lightsail suits people who want a predictable fixed monthly price with storage, transfer and a static IP bundled. The biggest difference is flexibility versus simplicity.

Amazon EC2 or Amazon Lightsail: our take

EC2 is the core compute service of AWS. You choose from a very long list of instance types, from small burstable machines to large GPU and memory-heavy servers, including Arm, and combine them with separate services for block storage, load balancing and auto scaling. Lightsail is the simple end of AWS: fixed bundles of memory, vCPUs, SSD storage and data transfer, managed from a console that hides most of AWS's complexity, with a static IP, DNS management and browser SSH included. It also offers managed databases, load balancers, object storage, a CDN and containers at similar flat prices, and ready-made images such as WordPress.

The pricing approach is the main practical difference. EC2 bills per second On-Demand, with Savings Plans giving up to 72% off in exchange for a commitment and Spot Instances up to 90% off for spare capacity that can be reclaimed at short notice. Data transfer, storage and IP addresses are billed separately, so costs are harder to predict; inter-AZ transfer alone is $0.01/GB in each direction. Lightsail starts at $5 USD/month with IPv4, with Windows plans from $9.50 USD/month, and the bundle includes transfer. The trade-off is lower specs for the price than budget VPS hosts and smaller transfer allowances in some Asian regions. Both have a free tier for new customers.

Because both run on AWS, they are not an either-or for life: a Lightsail server can connect to other AWS services, and workloads can be moved to EC2 later.

Pick Lightsail for a single website, a small app or a test server where a known monthly bill matters more than fine-grained control. Pick EC2 when you need specific hardware such as GPUs, auto scaling across many instances, Spot or Savings Plans discounts at scale, or deep integration with services like S3, RDS and IAM.

Choose Amazon EC2 if…

Teams that need many instance types, regions or deep AWS integration rather than a simple VPS.
Huge choice of instance types, including GPUs and Arm
Per-second billing on common operating systems

Choose Amazon Lightsail if…

People who want a predictable-price VPS that can grow into the wider AWS ecosystem.
You need Linux and Windows, which Amazon EC2 doesn't list
Fixed monthly bundles including transfer
Static IP and DNS management included

What is Amazon EC2?

Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is the core virtual server service of Amazon Web Services. You pick an instance type from a very long list, from tiny burstable machines to large GPU and memory-heavy servers, choose an operating system image, and run it in any AWS region. Networking, block storage (EBS), load balancers and auto scaling are separate services you combine around it. Billing is flexible: On-Demand instances are charged per second with no commitment, Savings Plans cut the price in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment, and Spot Instances sell spare capacity at a deep discount but can be reclaimed. A free tier lets new accounts try small instances. EC2 suits teams that need scale, specific hardware or the rest of AWS next to their servers. For a single simple VPS it is more work and harder to price than Lightsail or DigitalOcean, since bandwidth, storage and IP addresses are billed separately.

What is Amazon Lightsail?

Amazon Lightsail is the simple end of AWS: virtual private servers sold as fixed monthly bundles of memory, vCPUs, SSD storage and data transfer, instead of EC2's many separate meters. You choose a Linux or Windows image or a ready-made app such as WordPress, pick a bundle, and manage it from a console that hides most of AWS's complexity, with a static IP, DNS management and browser SSH included. Alongside servers it offers managed databases, load balancers, block storage, object storage, a CDN and container services at similar flat prices. New customers can try it under the AWS Free Tier. Because it runs on AWS, you can later connect it to other AWS services or move workloads to EC2. Trade-offs include smaller transfer allowances in some Asian regions, IPv4 costing more than IPv6-only bundles, and an AWS account and billing setup that can feel heavy for a single small server.

Side by side

Attribute	Amazon EC2	Amazon Lightsail
Pricing	Paid	Paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web, Linux, Windows
Best for	Teams that need many instance types, regions or deep AWS integration rather than a simple VPS.	People who want a predictable-price VPS that can grow into the wider AWS ecosystem.
Status	Active	Active

Verified facts, compared

Facts both apps publish, checked on each vendor's own site.

Fact	Amazon EC2	Amazon Lightsail
Free tier	Yes	Yes, under AWS Free Tier