AWS EC2 vs Lambda Labs
AWS
VS
Lambda
🏆 Quick Verdict
Lambda Labs for dedicated GPU workloads with 57% cost savings
AWS EC2 for enterprise features, spot instances, and multi-service integration
💰 Pricing Comparison
AWS EC2
H100 80GB (p5.48xlarge)
$98.32/hr
A100 40GB (p4d.24xlarge)
$32.77/hr
V100 16GB (p3.2xlarge)
$3.06/hr
Minimum Billing
Per second
VS
Lambda Labs
H100 80GB (1x)
$2.14/hr
A100 40GB (1x)
$1.20/hr
RTX 6000 Ada (1x)
$0.95/hr
Minimum Billing
Per hour
Monthly Cost Comparison (720 hours)
⚡ Feature Comparison
| Feature | AWS EC2 | Lambda Labs |
|---|---|---|
| GPU Models Available | H100, A100, V100, T4, A10G | H100, A100, RTX 6000 Ada |
| Spot/Preemptible Instances | ✓ Up to 90% discount | ✗ Not available |
| Reserved Instances | ✓ 1-3 year commitments | ✗ On-demand only |
| Global Availability | ✓ 25+ regions worldwide | Limited (US primarily) |
| Auto-scaling | ✓ Full auto-scaling | ✗ Manual only |
| Persistent Storage | ✓ EBS volumes | ✓ 10TB included |
| Pre-installed ML Stack | Deep Learning AMIs | ✓ Lambda Stack included |
| API Access | ✓ Full AWS SDK | ✓ REST API |
| Enterprise Support | ✓ 24/7 with plans | Business hours |
| SLA Guarantee | ✓ 99.99% uptime | Best effort |
| Compliance Certifications | ✓ SOC, HIPAA, PCI | Limited |
| Startup Time | 2-5 minutes | ✓ <60 seconds |
💻 Developer Experience
AWS EC2 Launch
# AWS CLI - Complex but powerful
aws ec2 run-instances \
--image-id ami-0abcd1234 \
--instance-type p4d.24xlarge \
--key-name my-key \
--security-groups my-sg \
--subnet-id subnet-abc123 \
--block-device-mappings file://mapping.json \
--tag-specifications 'ResourceType=instance,Tags=[{Key=Name,Value=GPU-Server}]'
# Requires: VPC setup, security groups, IAM roles, etc.
Lambda Labs Launch
# Lambda Cloud API - Simple and direct
curl -X POST https://cloud.lambdalabs.com/api/v1/instances \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $API_KEY" \
-d '{
"instance_type": "gpu_1x_h100",
"region": "us-west-1",
"ssh_key": "ssh-rsa AAAAB3..."
}'
# Ready to use with pre-installed ML stack
🎯 Use Case Recommendations
Choose AWS EC2 When:
- You need spot instances for cost savings
- Enterprise compliance is required
- Multi-region deployment is necessary
- Integration with other AWS services
- Auto-scaling is critical
- 24/7 support with SLA needed
- Long-term reserved pricing wanted
Choose Lambda Labs When:
- Lowest on-demand GPU pricing matters
- Quick startup time is important
- Simple, straightforward billing
- Pre-configured ML environment needed
- H100 availability is critical
- No DevOps overhead wanted
- Persistent storage included
📊 Real-World Cost Examples
Scenario 1: Training LLaMA 70B (168 hours)
| Configuration | AWS EC2 | Lambda Labs | Savings |
| 8x A100 40GB On-Demand | $5,505 | $1,613 | 71% cheaper |
| 8x A100 40GB Spot (AWS) | $1,651 | $1,613 | Similar cost |
Scenario 2: 24/7 Inference Server (Monthly)
| Configuration | AWS EC2 | Lambda Labs | Savings |
| 1x A100 40GB | $3,277/mo | $864/mo | 74% cheaper |
| 1x A100 Reserved 1-yr | $1,966/mo | $864/mo | 56% cheaper |
🎯 Final Recommendations
For Startups & Researchers:
Lambda Labs - Unbeatable on-demand pricing, no DevOps overhead, fast iteration
For Enterprises:
AWS EC2 - Enterprise features, compliance, global scale, integrated ecosystem
For Cost-Optimizers:
Hybrid Approach - Use AWS Spot for batch jobs, Lambda for persistent workloads
For ML Teams:
Lambda Labs for development, AWS for production deployment