AWS Lightsail is the "simple" corner of AWS: fixed monthly bundles instead of EC2's per-second, per-gigabyte meters. It's a good product. But "simple" hides a few things worth knowing before you pick a bundle.
Here's what each Linux bundle includes (prices from AWS's Lightsail pricing page, checked November 2026), the catches, and when Lightsail is the right call.
The Linux bundles (with a public IPv4 address)
| Price/mo | Memory | vCPUs | SSD | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $5 | 0.5 GB | 2 | 20 GB | 1 TB |
| $7 | 1 GB | 2 | 40 GB | 2 TB |
| $12 | 2 GB | 2 | 60 GB | 3 TB |
| $24 | 4 GB | 2 | 80 GB | 4 TB |
| $44 | 8 GB | 2 | 160 GB | 5 TB |
| $84 | 16 GB | 4 | 320 GB | 6 TB |
Each bundle includes a static IPv4 address, DNS management, a browser SSH terminal and basic monitoring.
Catch 1: those vCPUs are burstable
Every general-purpose bundle shows 2 vCPUs up to 8 GB, but they are burstable. You get a baseline share of CPU and build up credits while idle. Sustained load above the baseline spends the credits, and once they're gone, the instance is throttled back to the baseline.
That's fine for a blog, a small API or a staging box. It's a problem for anything that pegs the CPU for long stretches: builds, video or image processing, a busy database, or running an LLM on CPU. Watch the CPU utilization graph in the Lightsail console for the first week. It shows when you leave the sustainable zone and start using burst capacity.
Catch 2: memory is the real limit
At the low end, RAM runs out before CPU does. 512 MB on the $5 bundle is tight for anything with a database. A WordPress site with MariaDB is happier on 1–2 GB. If you plan to run Docker Compose with a few services, start at 2 GB ($12) and check free -h under real traffic.
Catch 3: transfer allowances aren't the same everywhere
The transfer column above is for most regions. AWS notes that some regions get half the transfer allowance, and traffic above the allowance is billed per GB. If you serve large downloads or video, check the allowance for your region on the pricing page before you choose it.
The IPv6-only option is cheaper
If your users and clients all reach you over IPv6, AWS also sells IPv6-only bundles that skip the public IPv4 address: $3.50 for 512 MB and $5 for 1 GB. Check carefully before you choose one. Plenty of networks, APIs and CI runners are still IPv4-only, and a site that's unreachable from them isn't saving you money.
When Lightsail is the right choice
- You're already on AWS and want the server near S3, RDS or other services in the same account.
- You want a static IPv4 address included without thinking about it.
- You want AWS's regions and support contract behind a small server.
When to look elsewhere
- Sustained CPU work: look for non-burstable vCPUs.
- More RAM per dollar: at 4 GB and 8 GB, many VPS providers charge noticeably less than $24 and $44.
- Short-lived servers: if you create and delete servers often, hourly billing matters more than a flat monthly bundle.
We put Lightsail side by side with our own plans, size for size, including where Lightsail wins: VeloxaHost vs AWS Lightsail. There's also a VPS cost calculator for your own numbers.
Disclosure: we run VeloxaHost, a VPS host. Lightsail prices are from AWS's pricing page in November 2026. Check it before you buy, because prices and allowances change.
Top comments (0)