AWS Amplify vs Lambda

Amazon Web Services (AWS) provides on-demand access to a variety of services including storage, servers, content delivery networks, search, cache, databases, etc. These services make it extremely easy for the developers to build, deploy, and scale apps, and hence deliver a great customer experience.

AWS Amplify is primarily designed to create and handle the backend of a web or mobile deployment using AWS, while Lambda provides the serverless cloud computing platform that executes codes in response to a pre-defined event.

Continue reading as we discuss the features and advantages of both of these platforms so that you can decide which one will be better suited for your project.

What is AWS Amplify?

Offered as a backend as a service (BaaS) implementation, AWS Amplify is essentially a bunch of tools and services that are used by developers to build full-stack applications using Amazon’s infrastructure.

With Amplify, you as a developer get the flexibility to leverage other AWS solutions to customize your applications and improve their functionality. It supports a variety of development languages, including Angular, React, JavaScript, Next.js for web deployments, and Flutter, React Native, iOS, Android, etc., for mobile deployments.

AWS Amplify Core Features 

• DataStore

DataStore provides developers essentially a multiplatform on-device persistent storage engine that allows you to leverage shared and unshared data without having to write additional code for different scenarios. It is powered by GraphQL and automatically synchronizes data between the cloud and the apps, making it easy to work with cross-user data.

• Powerful analytics

As stated earlier, Amplify allows you to leverage other AWS services to improve the functionality of the ecosystem. With Amazon Pinpoint and Kinesis, you can track and understand how your users interact with your iOS, Android, and web apps over unique metrics and analyze the data to undertake market-driven strategies to encourage customer engagement and retention.

• Hosting

Amplify also offers a fully managed full-stack app hosting service combined with CI/CD workflows, which helps in significantly improving the time to market. Essentially, a full-stack serverless app features a frontend built with single-page frameworks and a backend built with cloud resources.

AWS Amplify Advantages 

• Location-aware features

If you are hosting a JavaScript app on Amplify, you can add unique location-aware features to your app, like Maps and location search. Amplify Geo comes with pre-integrated map UI components and updates the CLI tool automatically to provision the cloud location services. Moreover, you can also customize the features to match your app’s theme or opt for more advanced visualization options.

• Extend AI and ML capabilities

AWS Amplify allows developers to create highly advanced applications using Amazon’s native machine learning services like Sagemaker. Essentially, the platform orchestrates advanced use cases to chain multiple artificial intelligence and machine learning actions. You can add features like text-to-speech, translation, image identification, text transcription, etc.

• User and content management

Amplify Admin UI is a visual interface for data modelling, authorization, and managing app content. From here, you can easily create and manage users and groups, update their properties, and authenticate sign-ins without verification flows. Moreover, content editors and testers can update the app data and save the content as markdown to render rich texts. 

What is AWS Lambda?

Described as an event-driven platform, AWS Lambda is one of the most popular public cloud computing platforms designed specifically for creating and deploying server-side apps based on serverless architecture.

Events are essentially predefined actions that act as trigger to execute the code. Unlike Amplify, Lambda is often classified as a Function as a Service (FaaS) implementation, which allows you to run your code without having to provision or manage any servers. 

AWS Lambda Core Features 

• Easy implementation

One of the most sought after features of AWS Lambda is that developers can use its native or their preferred third-party libraries to import the app codes, which eliminates the hassles of learning a new language or framework. Code dependencies can be packaged into a different Lambda layer, which can be then shared across platforms.

• Container image deployment

Lambda also supports code packaging and deployment as container images, meaning developers can easily build Lambda based applications using their preferred container workflows. Moreover, there are virtually no downtimes or maintenance windows due to built-in fault tolerance.

• Automated administration

Similar to Amplify, Lambda manages the entire backend administration for your app stack, allowing your developers to focus on building the services and improving the code. For instance, it can update the OS, provision servers, deploy codes, and monitor and log key metrics of your app.

AWS Lambda Advantages

• Integrated security models

By default, your code on Lambda is run on a Virtual Private Cloud (VPC), and the platform allows you to configure access to resources with the help of custom control lists. Lambda comes with a built-in SDK for integrating with Amazon IAM that ensures your code is securely accessed by other AWS services.

• Automatic scaling

One of the major advantages of using a serverless architecture like Lambda is automatic scaling. Any code you import to Lambda is only executed in response to the predefined trigger, and Lambda will automatically provision and add servers to support the increased incoming requests without active input from your developers. Since there is no limit to the number of requests it can handle, your app performs consistently despite the traffic spikes.

AWS Amplify vs AWS Lambda

Conclusion

The choice between AWS Amplify and Lambda will depend extensively on the exact requirements of your project.

Amplify will be better suited if you need a backend hosting platform that will facilitate the development, delivery, and management of scalable mobile and web deployments.

On the other hand, Lambda will not allow you to host full-blown applications but is an excellent choice if you want to run a code without managing or provisioning the infrastructure.

Moreover, Amplify framework recently added support for Lambda functions, meaning developers can directly use Lambda layers with Amplify CLI.

If you cannot decide which one is better suited for your requirements, a leading app hosting company can provide you with valuable insights into the topic and help you make an informed decision.

FAQ