Amazon Web Services

Amazon Web Services (AWS) is the cloud computing platform run by Amazon. It rents out computing, storage, databases, networking, analytics and AI services on demand, so teams can run software without buying and operating their own servers and data centres.

AWS describes itself as offering a very broad catalogue of services and the largest global infrastructure footprint. Its infrastructure page lists 39 geographic regions and 124 availability zones, with further regions announced for Saudi Arabia and Chile. In India, AWS operates the Asia Pacific (Mumbai) and Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) regions.

Key features

• Global regions and availability zones. Each region is made of separate availability zones, so applications can be spread across isolated data centres for resilience.
• Compute in many shapes. Virtual machines, containers and serverless functions let teams choose how much of the underlying platform they manage themselves.
• Storage and databases. Object, block and file storage sit alongside managed relational and non-relational database services.
• Data, analytics and AI. AWS groups much of its current offering around data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and migration and modernisation.
• Edge network. The CloudFront content delivery network has more than 750 points of presence, according to AWS.
• Local and Wavelength Zones. AWS lists 46 Local Zones and Wavelength Zones that place infrastructure closer to users and telecom networks.
• Free and paid account plans. New customers can start on a free plan with credits, then move to a paid plan with access to the full range of services.

Who it is for

AWS suits organisations of every size, from a solo developer testing an idea to large enterprises running regulated workloads. It is most useful for teams that need a wide choice of managed services, several geographic regions or data residency in specific countries, including India. Small teams with a single web application may find a simpler platform faster to set up, but AWS gives room to grow without moving providers.

Pricing at a glance

AWS charges pay-as-you-go rates per service, so there is no single plan price. New customers get $100 in credits at sign-up and can earn up to $100 more, for up to $200 over six months. The free plan gives access to more than 90 services with no charges and no overages; the account closes after six months or when credits run out, whichever comes first, unless you upgrade. The paid plan opens every service at pay-as-you-go rates. More than 30 services stay free within monthly usage limits on both plans. Prices as checked on 7 October 2026; confirm on the vendor's pricing page.

Things to consider

• Cost visibility takes effort. Each service is billed separately, so set budgets and alerts early and review bills regularly.
• Learning curve. The size of the catalogue means time spent learning identity and access management, networking and service choices before production use.
• Free plan time limit. The free plan account closes after six months or when credits are used up, so plan the move to a paid plan if you intend to keep workloads running.
• Region choice matters. Pick regions for latency and data residency, and check that the services you need are offered there.

Getting started

1. Read the AWS Free Tier page and create an account on the free plan.
2. Secure the root user with multi-factor authentication and create separate users or roles for daily work.
3. Choose a home region, for example Mumbai or Hyderabad for users in India, using the global infrastructure overview.
4. Set a budget alert, then deploy a small test workload before moving production systems.