devproscons

Terraform vs AWS Lambda

A side-by-side technical matrix of Terraform (DevOps & Cloud) and AWS Lambda (DevOps & Cloud) — summaries, strengths and structural trade-offs, symmetrically laid out.

DevOps & Cloud

Terraform

Terraform provisions cloud infrastructure declaratively from versioned configuration files, tracking real-world state to plan safe changes. It supports every major cloud through a large provider ecosystem.

Pros

  • Multi-cloud coverage. One language provisions AWS, GCP, Azure, and hundreds of providers. 0
  • Plan before apply. Every change previews exactly what will be created or destroyed. 0
  • Versioned infrastructure. Infrastructure changes go through code review like application code. 0
  • Module reuse. Shared modules encode team standards once and reuse everywhere. 0

Cons

  • State file fragility. Corrupted or conflicting state can block or damage deployments. 0
  • Drift headaches. Manual console changes diverge from code until re-imported. 0
  • License change. The 2023 BUSL license pushed some teams toward OpenTofu. 0
  • Slow feedback. Large plans take minutes, stretching iteration cycles. 0
DevOps & Cloud

AWS Lambda

AWS Lambda runs code in response to events without provisioning servers, billing per millisecond of execution. It integrates natively with the broader AWS ecosystem for triggers and permissions.

Pros

  • True pay-per-use. Idle functions cost nothing; billing is per-millisecond of execution. 0
  • Automatic scaling. Thousands of concurrent executions spin up without capacity planning. 0
  • Deep AWS integration. S3, SQS, and API Gateway trigger functions natively. 0
  • No server patching. AWS manages the runtime, OS, and security updates. 0

Cons

  • Cold start latency. Idle functions add hundreds of milliseconds on first invocation. 0
  • 15-minute ceiling. Long-running work must be split or moved elsewhere. 0
  • Vendor lock-in. Event formats and IAM wiring are AWS-specific. 0
  • Local testing friction. Faithfully emulating triggers and permissions locally is hard. 0
  • Cost cliffs at scale. Constant high traffic often costs more than containers. 0