Deploy on AWS using EC2 (virtual machines), ECS or EKS (containers), Lambda (serverless), Elastic Beanstalk (PaaS), or App Runner (managed containers). Each approach suits different application types and team skill levels.
Amazon Web Services offers multiple deployment approaches, each optimized for different application architectures, team skill levels, and operational requirements. Understanding the main options helps you choose the right deployment path for your project.
EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud) is the foundation of AWS compute. You launch virtual machine instances, choose the operating system and instance type (based on vCPU, RAM, and storage requirements), and deploy your application directly. EC2 gives you full control over the server environment but requires more operational management. It is the best choice for applications with specific OS requirements, legacy applications, or when you need maximum control. Our vCPU-based accounts (8–512 vCPU) are specifically designed for teams that need to launch large EC2 fleets.
Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) and Amazon EKS (Elastic Kubernetes Service) are the two managed container platforms. ECS is Amazon's own container orchestration service — simpler than Kubernetes and tightly integrated with other AWS services. EKS is managed Kubernetes, better for teams already familiar with Kubernetes or those building cloud-portable applications. Both work with Docker containers and can use EC2 or Fargate (serverless compute) as the underlying compute layer.
AWS Lambda is the serverless compute service where you write functions that execute in response to events (API calls, S3 uploads, database changes, scheduled triggers). Lambda automatically scales, charges only for execution time, and requires zero server management. It is ideal for event-driven applications, API backends with variable traffic, and data processing pipelines.
AWS Elastic Beanstalk is a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) that abstracts EC2, load balancers, and auto-scaling behind a simple deployment interface. You upload your application code and Beanstalk handles the infrastructure. It supports multiple language runtimes including Node.js, Python, Java, Ruby, Go, and Docker. It is the quickest path to production for teams who want AWS infrastructure without deep AWS expertise.
AWS App Runner is the most recent addition and provides the simplest container deployment experience — connect your container registry or source code repository and App Runner handles building, deploying, scaling, and load balancing automatically. It is the easiest option for containerized web applications.
For getting started, purchase one of our AWS accounts, log into the Management Console, and start with either Elastic Beanstalk or App Runner for the simplest deployment experience, or EC2 for full control.
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