Install AWS Locally: The Best Free & Open Source AWS Alternatives (Windows & Linux Guide)
Learn how to run AWS services like EC2, S3, and Lambda locally without a credit card using free and open-source tools like LocalStack, OpenStack, MinIO, and more.
tags: aws, devops, opensource, linux, cloud
Hey Techies! 👋
It’s been a long time—hope you all are doing well. 🌤️
I’m Sreeju, a student who's passionate about DevOps and cloud computing. Recently, I had a wild idea...
I wanted to learn AWS, but... the free tier needs a credit card, and yeah—I didn’t have one. 💳❌
So I asked myself:
"Can I run AWS services locally?"
Turns out… YES! 💥
There are open-source alternatives and local AWS emulators that you can install on your Windows, Ubuntu, or other Linux distros. Here’s what I discovered 👇
💎 Gem: LocalStack – Mock AWS Locally for Free!
LocalStack is an AWS cloud emulator that runs entirely on your machine via Docker.
✅ Supported AWS services:
- Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, API Gateway, EC2, SNS, SQS, CloudWatch, and more!
- Compatible with Terraform, AWS CLI, CDK, and more!
🌐 Website:
🛠️ How to Install LocalStack
🪟 For Windows Users
Prerequisites:
- Install Docker Desktop
- Install AWS CLI for Windows
Run LocalStack:
Download LocalStack binary:
LocalStack Windows InstallerRun via PowerShell:
.\localstack.exe start
🐧 For Ubuntu/Debian/Linux Users
Prerequisites:
sudo apt update
sudo apt install docker.io -y
sudo systemctl enable docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker
Install LocalStack:
wget https://github.com/localstack/localstack/releases/latest/download/localstack
chmod +x localstack
./localstack start
You can still use it through CLI
🖥️ LocalStacheadingk Desktop GUI (Recommended)
Cross-platform GUI to manage AWS-like services locally.
Download:
https://app.localstack.cloud/download
Linux AppImage:
chmod +x LocalStack-Desktop*.AppImage
./LocalStack-Desktop*.AppImage
🔥 Why This Is Awesome
With this stack, you can:
- Learn AWS architecture without spending ₹₹₹
- Build and test Lambda/S3/DynamoDB apps locally
- Practice DevOps workflows using real tools
- Skip the credit card drama
🌐 Top Open-Source AWS Alternatives You Can Run Locally
1. OpenStack – (Alternative to EC2, S3, EBS, VPC, etc.)
- Full IaaS stack to create your own private cloud.
- https://www.openstack.org/
2. Ceph – (Alternative to AWS S3 & EBS)
- Distributed storage: object, block, and file.
- https://ceph.io/
3. MinIO – (Alternative to AWS S3)
- Lightweight, blazing-fast object storage that speaks S3 API.
- https://min.io/
4. Apache CloudStack – (Alternative to EC2 & Networking)
- Cloud orchestration for VMs, networks, and storage.
- https://cloudstack.apache.org/
5. Kubernetes + Kubeflow / OpenShift – (Alternative to EKS/ECS)
- Container orchestration & ML pipelines.
- https://kubernetes.io/
6. Terraform – (Alternative to AWS CloudFormation)
- Infrastructure as Code for any cloud.
- https://www.terraform.io/
7. Apache Kafka – (Alternative to AWS Kinesis)
- Distributed event streaming platform.
- https://kafka.apache.org/
8. PostgreSQL / MariaDB – (Alternative to AWS RDS)
- Reliable, open-source databases.
- https://www.postgresql.org/
- https://mariadb.org/
9. Prometheus + Grafana – (Alternative to CloudWatch)
- Powerful monitoring and alerting toolkit.
- https://prometheus.io/
- https://grafana.com/
10. OpenNebula / Proxmox VE – (Alternative to EC2 & VMs)
- Virtualization + private cloud platforms.
- https://opennebula.io/
- https://www.proxmox.com/
🙌 Let’s Connect!
- Follow me on GitHub
- Say hi on LinkedIn
- ☕ Support me on BuyMeACoffee (optional)
📢 Over to You!
- Have you tried running AWS services locally?
- Got any tools you love that I missed?
- Wanna build your own "Mini-AWS"?
Drop your thoughts below ⬇️
Let’s geek out together! 🤓
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