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I searched online but can't find a good answer to what the key differences are between AWS Lambda vs Heroku. I can for example write Node JS but when should I use Lambda and when Heroku?

chemook78
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    Please also see: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9802259/why-do-people-use-heroku-when-aws-is-present-what-distinguishes-heroku-from-aws – Taterhead May 23 '17 at 08:21

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AWS Lambda is for creating server side apps based on serverless architecture, while Heroku is a platform as a service (PaaS) which can be used to build and run server apps.

Heroku is a service which provides tools to deploy, manage, and scale server applications. You can use node.js, go, python, etc. for your server app which runs on a Heroku instance.

Here are the key differences:

  • On Lambda you pay for the computation time, while on Heroku you pay monthly.

  • Lambda instances are created on demand, while Heroku instance is always running.

  • Heroku provides add-ons which are easy to use to integrate third party services, such as MailGun and Redis, in your service.

If your service is just going to do something simple such as converting an image and saving it on a S3 bucket, you can use AWS Lambda, but if you are creating a complex service which is doing multiple different tasks, it is better to use Heroku and choose a language/framework which fits your needs.

You can learn more on serverless architecture here.

Sina Masnadi
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