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What is the difference between AWS EC2 and Lambda?
Coding Now Expert •
Jun 13, 2026 •
50 views
**EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud):** Virtual servers you manage
- You control OS, software, scaling
- Always running → pay for uptime
- Best for long-running apps, databases, custom environments
**Lambda:** Serverless functions
- No server management
- Runs only when triggered → pay per execution
- Auto-scales to zero
- Best for event-driven tasks, APIs, background jobs
Rule of thumb: EC2 for predictable workloads, Lambda for unpredictable/bursty loads.
