9live vs AWS
AWS offers every building block, priced individually: EC2 or Lightsail instances, RDS for PostgreSQL, ElastiCache for Redis, EBS volumes, snapshots, load balancers and data transfer, plus the engineering time to configure and operate them. 9live provides an assembled, operated environment on dedicated hardware in Mumbai for one monthly price.
Side by side
| 9live | AWS | |
|---|---|---|
| What you buy | An operated environment with managed databases | Instances, volumes, databases, cache, load balancer, transfer |
| Compute | Dedicated vCPU | Burstable or dedicated instance families |
| Managed PostgreSQL | Included | RDS, billed per instance-hour plus storage and I/O |
| Redis | Included | ElastiCache, billed per node-hour |
| Data transfer out | 2 to 10 TB included | Billed per GB after a small free allowance |
| Operations | Patching, backups and monitoring by 9live | Your team or a managed service provider |
| Support | Engineers by email, WhatsApp or Slack | Paid support plans |
| Regions in India | Mumbai | Mumbai and Hyderabad |
Competitor details are summarised from their public documentation and pricing pages as of October 2026. Plans and features change, so check their site for current details.
A typical web application, monthly
| 9live | AWS | |
|---|---|---|
| Compute, about 12 vCPU and 32 GB | Included | EC2 general-purpose instances |
| Managed PostgreSQL | Included | RDS instance plus gp3 storage |
| Redis | Included | ElastiCache node |
| Load balancer and TLS | Included | Application Load Balancer, hourly plus usage |
| 1 TB outbound transfer | Included | Billed per GB |
| Backups and monitoring | Included | Snapshots, CloudWatch, setup time |
| Operations | Included | Engineering time |
| Monthly total | $249 (Grow) | Sum of the above |
Example for a web service and worker, a 4-vCPU PostgreSQL instance, Redis, about 1 TB of outbound transfer and day-to-day operations, in the Mumbai region. AWS cost depends on instance types and reservations, so the right-hand column describes components rather than prices.
9live is likely the better fit if
- You don't have, or don't want to hire, someone to operate AWS.
- Your bill is mainly a few instances, RDS and data transfer.
- You'd rather have a fixed monthly figure than track usage in Cost Explorer.
AWS is likely the better fit if
- You depend on AWS-specific services such as SQS, Lambda or S3 event pipelines.
- You need many regions or compliance programmes only AWS offers.
- You have AWS credits or an in-house cloud team.
Questions
Can we keep using S3 or SES?
Yes. Your application can call any AWS service over the internet. Many customers keep S3 and SES and move compute and databases to 9live.
Isn't Lightsail a simpler comparison?
Lightsail is simpler and cheaper than EC2, but it uses burstable shared CPU and its managed database options are limited. Once you need dedicated CPU and a fully featured PostgreSQL, the comparison is with EC2 and RDS.
Moving from AWS
Migration is included with every plan. We replicate your application and data and switch over at a time you choose.