# AWS Lambda vs Modal

**Leader by Vioscale score:** AWS Lambda

| Attribute | AWS Lambda | Modal |
|---|---|---|
| **Vioscale score** | 66.5 (73% (medium)) | 55.2 (74% (medium)) |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | A serverless compute service that automatically scales in response to demand and reduces to zero during idle periods. Execute code triggered by events from AWS services and external applications with built-in security, monitoring, and support for multiple programming languages. | A serverless cloud platform designed for running AI inference, training, batch processing, and interactive development. It automatically scales compute resources on demand, offers integrated logging and metrics, and provides a Python-native SDK for defining infrastructure as code. |
| features.capabilities | `{"hosting":"cloud","triggers":"220+ AWS services including S3, DynamoDB, Kinesis, SQS, API calls, event streams","languages":"Python, Node.js, Java, C#, Go, Ruby, custom runtimes","cold_start":"provisioned","cli_and_iac":true,"http_trigger":true,"durable_state":true,"scale_to_zero":true,"custom_runtime":true,"observability_builtin":true}` | `{"hosting":"cloud","triggers":"HTTP, cron/scheduled, events","languages":"Python","cold_start":"low","cli_and_iac":true,"http_trigger":true,"durable_state":true,"scale_to_zero":true,"custom_runtime":true,"scheduled_cron":true,"edge_distributed":true,"runtime_substrate":"container","observability_builtin":true}` |
| integrations.count | 220 | 2 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"AWS S3"},{"name":"AWS DynamoDB"},{"name":"AWS Kinesis"},{"name":"AWS SQS"},{"name":"AWS EventBridge"},{"name":"Amazon MSK"},{"name":"AWS CloudWatch"},{"name":"AWS X-Ray"}]` | `[{"name":"AWS Marketplace"},{"name":"GCP Marketplace"}]` |
| market.availability | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"US","primaryMarkets":["US"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"usage","summary":"Pay-per-use billing with free tier included.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/?nc2=h_pr_ec2","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T16:36:41.740Z","billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"usage","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Starter","summary":"$0 base + usage, $30/month compute credit","features":["Up to 3 workspace seats","100 containers","10 GPU concurrency","200 deployed apps","Limited Scheduled and Web Functions","Real-time metrics and logs","Region selection","1-day log retention","5 deployed cron jobs","3 version deployment rollbacks"],"minSeats":1,"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","note":"free monthly compute credit","amount":30,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"containers":"100","deployed_apps":"200","gpu_concurrency":"10","log_retention_days":"1"}},{"free":false,"name":"Team","summary":"$250/month base + usage + $100/month compute credit","features":["Unlimited workspace seats","5000 containers","50 GPU concurrency","1000 deployed apps","Unlimited Scheduled Functions","Custom domains","Static IP proxy","Deployment rollbacks with custom versions","Environment-level budgets","30-day log retention","Unlimited cron jobs"],"commitment":"monthly","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":250,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},{"kind":"fixed","note":"free monthly compute credit","amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"containers":"5000","deployed_apps":"1000","gpu_concurrency":"50","log_retention_days":"30"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing with volume discounts and compliance features","features":["Unlimited seats","Volume-based pricing discounts","Custom GPU concurrency limits","Embedded ML engineering services","Environment-level budgets","Private Slack support","Audit logs","Okta SSO","HIPAA Business Associate Agreement","Custom log retention"],"commitment":"annual","description":"For organizations prioritizing security, support, and compliance","contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"gpu_concurrency":"custom","log_retention_days":"custom"}}],"summary":"Pay-as-you-go based on GPU/CPU seconds and memory used. Starter free tier with $30/month credit; Team at $250/month base; Enterprise custom pricing with compliance options.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://modal.com/pricing","retrievedAt":"2026-08-14T09:18:19.521Z","startingPrice":{"amount":100,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | low | high |
| pricing.transparent | no | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | - |
| security.fedramp | yes | - |
| security.gdpr | yes | - |
| security.hipaa | yes | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | yes |

## Capabilities (Serverless & Edge Platforms)

| Capability | AWS Lambda | Modal |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| Execution substrate | - | Container |
| Language / runtime breadth | Python, Node.js, Java, C#, Go, Ruby, custom runtimes | Python |
| **Reach** |  |  |
| Runs at global edge PoPs | - | ✓ |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Scale to zero | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Performance** |  |  |
| Cold-start profile | Provisioned concurrency | Low |
| **Limits** |  |  |
| Max execution duration | - | - |
| **Integration** |  |  |
| Event source breadth | 220+ AWS services including S3, DynamoDB, Kinesis, SQS, API calls, event streams | HTTP, cron/scheduled, events |
| HTTP endpoint trigger | ✓ | ✓ |
| Cron / scheduled invocations | - | ✓ |
| **State** |  |  |
| Durable state / workflow primitive | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Flexibility** |  |  |
| Bring-your-own runtime / container | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Hosting | Cloud only | Cloud only |
| **Ops** |  |  |
| Built-in logs / metrics / tracing | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| CLI + IaC / framework support | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: Vioscale. Generated 2026-09-01T15:00:23.663Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*