AWS has 200+ services. Surely that covers everything?
After couple of years of building on AWS, here are the services I keep wishing existed.
1. AWS LocalDev — An Official Local Emulator
I want to test Lambda, DynamoDB, and S3 locally. My options are LocalStack (third-party), SAM CLI (limited), or just deploying and hoping for the best.
What should exist: An official aws localdev CLI that spins up local versions of core services. Docker-based, fast, maintained by AWS.
My workaround: LocalStack + acceptance that my AWS bill includes "testing in dev."
2. AWS SimpleCron — Scheduled Tasks Without the Ceremony
I need to run a script daily at 3 AM. AWS wants me to create a Lambda, EventBridge rule, IAM role, and CloudWatch logs.
That's six steps for a cron job.
What should exist: Paste a script, set a schedule, done. No Lambda packaging. No IAM rabbit holes.
My workaround: Lambda + EventBridge and pretending 15 minutes of setup is "best practice."
3. AWS CostGuard — Prevention, Not Just Detection
Cost Anomaly Detection tells you after something explodes your bill. A misconfigured NAT Gateway cost my team $2,000 over a weekend. Alert came Monday.
What should exist: Actual guardrails that stop runaway costs — hard limits per service, automatic shutoffs.
My workaround: AWS Budgets, obsessive dashboards, and checking billing every morning like a nervous habit.
4. AWS DatabaseBranch — Git for Databases
I want to test a migration. With RDS, that means snapshot → restore → test → delete. Total time: 45 min to 2 hours.
PlanetScale and Neon branch databases in seconds.
What should exist: aws rds create-branch — instant copy, test migrations, delete when done, pay for minutes.
My workaround: RDS snapshots and accepting that database testing takes half a day.
The Pattern
AWS builds primitives. Customers assemble them.
Powerful for complex use cases. But simple things feel unnecessarily hard.
Every gap here has a workaround. But workarounds aren't products — they're tech debt with good intentions.
What AWS service do you wish existed? Drop it in the comments.
Top comments (0)