AWS vs Coolify for Solo Developers

Quick Comparison

AWS Overview

AWS is the largest cloud platform with 200+ services. EC2 for compute, S3 for storage, RDS for managed databases, Lambda for serverless, CloudFront for CDN, and hundreds more. It powers a huge portion of the internet, from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

For solo developers, AWS offers almost too much. The console is overwhelming. Pricing is opaque. Simple tasks like deploying a web app require navigating security groups, VPCs, IAM policies, and load balancers. AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Lightsail simplify things, but they're still more complex than purpose-built developer platforms.

The 12-month free tier is generous: 750 hours of t2.micro EC2, 5GB S3 storage, and limited RDS usage. It's enough to experiment and learn without spending money.

Coolify Overview

Coolify is open-source PaaS software you install on any Linux server. It gives you a web dashboard for deploying apps from Git, one-click database provisioning, automatic SSL via Let's Encrypt, and Docker-based orchestration with Traefik as the reverse proxy.

The value proposition is straightforward: get the deployment experience of platforms like Vercel, Render, or Railway without paying their per-service fees. Install Coolify on a $4/month Hetzner VPS, and you have unlimited app deployments, unlimited databases, and a clean dashboard to manage everything.

I set up Coolify on a VPS and the installation was smooth. The web UI walks you through connecting GitHub, deploying apps, and adding databases. It takes about 30 minutes to go from bare server to deployed application.

Key Differences

They're different categories of tools. AWS is a cloud infrastructure provider. Coolify is deployment software. You can run Coolify on an AWS EC2 instance. The real comparison is AWS's managed deployment services (Elastic Beanstalk, App Runner, Lightsail) versus Coolify running on a cheap VPS.

Cost structure. AWS charges per service, per hour, with data transfer fees, storage costs, and a dozen variables. A basic web app with RDS costs $30-80/month depending on configuration. Coolify on a Hetzner CX22 costs $4/month total, running unlimited apps and databases on one server. The cost difference is 7-20x for equivalent functionality.

Complexity. Deploying on AWS requires understanding VPCs, security groups, IAM roles, and service-specific configurations. Even Lightsail, AWS's simplified offering, has more complexity than Coolify. Coolify's dashboard abstracts Docker, Traefik, and SSL into a clean interface. Connect a repo, click deploy. For solo developers who want to ship fast, Coolify's simplicity is a major advantage.

Managed service ecosystem. AWS has managed versions of nearly everything: RDS for databases, ElastiCache for Redis, SES for email, SQS for queues, CloudWatch for monitoring. Coolify deploys these as Docker containers without managed features like automatic failover, backups, or read replicas. If you need enterprise-grade managed services, AWS provides them. Coolify provides convenience, not managed services.

Scalability. AWS scales to millions of users across global regions with load balancers, auto-scaling groups, and managed services designed for massive traffic. Coolify scales by upgrading your VPS or adding more servers with multi-server support. For hobby projects and early-stage startups, both are fine. For products expecting rapid, unpredictable growth, AWS's elastic scaling is more capable.

Vendor lock-in. Coolify runs on any Linux server. Migrating means copying your data and re-installing Coolify elsewhere. AWS services create lock-in through proprietary APIs, managed services, and integrations that don't transfer to other providers. Moving off AWS is significantly harder than moving off Coolify.

When to Choose AWS

• You need specialized managed services (ML, analytics, IoT, queuing)
• Enterprise compliance requirements mandate AWS (HIPAA, FedRAMP)
• Your project could scale to millions of users
• The 12-month free tier fits your timeline
• You need global infrastructure across many regions

When to Choose Coolify

• You want to deploy apps without paying per-service platform fees
• Budget is a primary concern and you want the most value per dollar
• A clean web dashboard for managing deployments appeals to you
• You're running multiple side projects and want one flat hosting cost
• Vendor lock-in is a concern and you want portability

The Verdict

For solo developers building web applications, Coolify on a cheap VPS beats AWS on almost every practical metric: cost, simplicity, deployment speed, and time-to-production. You get 90% of the deployment experience at 10% of the cost.

AWS makes sense when you need its unique capabilities: managed ML services, enterprise compliance, or truly elastic scaling across global regions. For a SaaS MVP, a blog, or an API, those requirements are rare.

My recommendation: start with Coolify on a Hetzner or DigitalOcean VPS. Ship your product, validate your idea, and start generating revenue. If your product grows to the point where you need AWS's specialized services, you'll have the revenue to justify the cost. Don't start with enterprise infrastructure for a project that might not find users.