AWS Pros and Cons for WordPress users. Should you make the move?

AWS Pros and Cons for WordPress.

If you have a WordPress website and are thinking of checking out AWS for your hosting, then you should be aware of these AWS Pros and Cons for WordPress:

Pros	Cons
Beginner-Friendly.  Lightsail was created to help new users get started with AWS.  The Lightsail Management Console is similar to cPanel on other self-hosting provider’s dashboards as it gives quick and easy access to all core AWS configuration options.  This makes it easy for users to  configure their server, set up their static IP addresses as well as their DNS (Domain Name System) settings. Best of all, this can be done without any support. This all means that an individual can set up and maintain a WordPress website without the need for a systems administrator. AWS created Lightsail to make it easy for new users without any AWS experience to get their WordPress sites and other applications up and running on the web in minutes.	Overkill. Unless your website is getting high volumes of traffic, i.e. 600,000 visits or more per day, then you will be much better served using another hosting provider.  AWS is just too expensive with plenty of caveats for most WordPress website owners and small businesses to make it worth it.  It truly is overkill as far as hosting is concerned.
Flexibility.  If your website outgrows its Lightscale subscription plan and you need more resources, then you can upgrade your RAM and storage capacity at any time by migrating to a new Lightsail plan (Amazon calls them “instances”).  However, AWS Lightsail also allows you to downgrade to your plan if you need less resources as well. This allows you to “cut costs”.	Access to Technical Support is not included, but an extra charge. All AWS Lightsail users have access to their Basic Support package, which includes official AWS documentation, white papers, as well as support forums.  This Basic Support package also includes 24/7 customer service. However, “customer service” is not “technical support”. If you need technical support, then you’ll need to buy an additional “Support Plan”.
It Has a Set Monthly Limit. In all Lightsail plans, you pay a predetermined hourly rate for the resources your site consumes up to the maximum monthly cost of your subscription.  Here is a link to AWS Lightsail’s current pricing. You should know that prices are considerably higher if you decide to use a Windows Server than the Linux and UNIX servers.  Of particular note is that any outbound data transfers that go above your plan’s data transfer allowance are subject to extra charges as well.	Your plan doesn’t “Auto-Scale”. AWS Lightsail allows you to upgrade or downgrade your plan at any time, it won’t do it for you.   If for example, your website uses more resources than your plan allows, you will be hit by overage charges. Overage charges can be significantly more, than if you were to upgrade your plan to a higher resource plan.  The same also holds true if you have a plan where your website(s) don’t require that many resources, you will be needlessly wasting money on resources that you don’t use.  Therefore, you will need to carefully monitor your website’s usages and upgrade or downgrade where needed manually. There are no Auto-Scaling features in your Lightsail console that you can pre-set.
	Data Mining. Amazon can use whatever data your website generates for its own purposes. Just like they do with their consumer and ecommerce businesses.
	Use of Data and Privacy. AWS could even allow foreign companies and foreign governments for that matter to access and use your data without your knowledge.
	Data Loss Prevention Policies. AWS does not offer compensation due to data breach losses. AWS will, however, compensate customers with credits due to service outages. Therefore, you will need to implement your own backup strategies for your own as well as your clients data.  In addition, since AWS doesn’t offer any compensation for data loss and damages due to data loss, it’s best that you incorporate extra security and insurance measures for protection.

As you can see from the AWS Pros and Cons table, a strong case could be made on whether or not you should use AWS for your WordPress website’s hosting needs.

However, in my opinion the vast majority of WordPress websites would do much better self-hosting their WordPress sites from other hosting providers and plans.

Let’s go over a few more FAQs regarding AWS Pros and Cons and how they can relate to your WordPress website.

When should you not use AWS?

As I’ve mentioned above, the majority of WordPress websites out there would be much better off self-hosting their websites on other hosting providers.

Why? Because unless your website is getting upwards of a million visitors a day, then there is no need for you to host your WordPress website on AWS. 

Considering the Cons that I had listed above along with AWS hosting costs, choosing not to host your WordPress website on AWS is a no brainer.

How can I host my WordPress site on AWS?

To host your WordPress website on AWS, all you need to do is go to this link and sign up for the AWS lightsail plan. 

This AWS lightsail plan link can walk you through all the steps in getting your WordPress website up on AWS’s cloud platform and Virtual Private Servers in no time.

Actually, hosting your WordPress website on AWS is surprisingly easy. In fact, you don’t need any technical support at all to get your WordPress website on AWS. 

That is also good news, because as I’ve mentioned above on the Cons list, AWS does not include technical support with their Lightsail plan. 

Any technical support you get from AWS is an extra charge. 

Although AWS does provide plenty of documentation, white papers as well as forums that you can refer to, any hand holding or direct technical support will require you to pay for it and it’s not included with any lightsail plan.

Is AWS easy?

AWS is surprisingly easy. If you click this link here, it will take you to the step-by-step process of onboarding your WordPress website on AWS.

Is AWS good for small business?

Personally, I think that unless your website or your small business is getting in the high 6 figure range in the amount of visitors and traffic on a daily basis, then your small business would be much better served with other hosting providers and plans. Using AWS would be overkill.

Does AWS require coding?

To host a basic WordPress website on the AWS lightsail plan, you do not need to know any coding.

Who is AWS’s biggest competitor?

AWS’s biggest competitor seems to be Google Cloud. Especially when it comes to hosting WordPress websites.

How much does AWS cost per month?

Here are the AWS Lightsail plans and pricing for its Linux/Unix Servers:

Here are the AWS Lightsail plans and pricing for its Windows based Servers:

For more details on AWS Lightsail plans and pricing click here.

AWS Pros and Cons. Should you make the move? Conclusions.

As you can see, AWS has plenty of hosting pros, but quite a few cons as well.

For the majority of WordPress websites, hosting on AWS just won’t give you a good bang for the buck. 

Although if you’re fortunate enough to have high 6 figure daily traffic numbers, then hosting your WordPress website on AWS may be worth it.

I know what you might be thinking, at first glance AWS Lightsail pricing doesn’t seem too bad nor too expensive. 

However, you need to read the fine print on what’s included and what is not included with AWS Lightsail plans. 

When you compare similar plans from other hosting providers whether they offer Shared Hosting, WordPress Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS or even Dedicated Server hosting options, you will find that you get much better deals from other hosting providers, especially considering traffic volumes, than you ever will with AWS. 

So in my opinion, in regards to WordPress websites, AWS pros definitely do not outweigh the cons.