What Is AWS, and How Does It Compare With a VPS or VDS?

Think of a VPS as renting one apartment, while AWS is more like renting space in an entire building with lots of specialized facilities. You can rent a basic server through AWS, but you can also use managed databases, storage, networking, backups, and other components without running everything yourself. For a straightforward server, Lightsail is simpler; EC2 offers more control but also requires more networking and billing knowledge.

AWS is a large cloud platform made up of many different services, including virtual machines, databases, queues, load balancers, containers, monitoring, and AI tools. A VPS or VDS usually gives you one virtual server with a predictable set of resources. AWS can provide something similar, but its main advantage is that you can combine many managed services and scale them as needed. AWS Lightsail is probably the easiest place to start if you want a VPS-like experience. Be careful with pricing, though, because some AWS services can create unexpected charges if they aren’t configured or shut down properly.