What's the Difference Between AWS CloudFormation and AWS Proton?
Compare AWS CloudFormation and AWS Proton side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.
Compare side-by-side
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Comparisons
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AWS CloudFormation
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AWS Proton
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Category
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Management & Governance, Infrastructure as code |
Management & Governance, Platform Engineering |
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Description
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Infrastructure-as-code service for AWS resources |
Automated infrastructure provisioning and deployment for container and serverless applications. |
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Best for
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Key features
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Pricing model
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No additional charge; pay for resources created |
No additional charge; pay for underlying resources |
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Free tier
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Yes |
Yes |
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Expert take
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“CloudFormation is the native IaC tool that supports every AWS resource on day one of launch. Use Change Sets to preview changes before applying, Drift Detection to find manual modifications, and StackSets to deploy the same template across hundreds of accounts and regions.” |
“Proton gives platform teams a way to define approved infrastructure templates that developers self-service deploy. It enforces standards without bottlenecking delivery teams.” |
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Product page
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When to use AWS CloudFormation or AWS Proton
Use AWS CloudFormation when:
- Infrastructure as code
- Environment replication
- Disaster recovery
- CI/CD
Learn more about AWS CloudFormation »
Use AWS Proton when:
- Platform engineering
- Self-service infrastructure
- Standardized deployments
- Developer productivity
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