AWS Amplify vs Kinsta (2026): Pricing, Features & Verdict
AWS Amplify is our pick, scoring 7.2/10 against 7.1/10 for Kinsta on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria. Its biggest advantage: higher Cost score (7/10 vs 3/10). For 10 users, AWS Amplify is free, against $35/mo for Kinsta; only AWS Amplify has a free plan.
Last updated: November 2026
A
AWS Amplify
7.2/10
AWS Amplify is a pay-as-you-go platform from Amazon Web Services for hosting web apps from Git and building full-stack backends on AWS.
Kinsta
7.1/10
Premium managed WordPress hosting on Google Cloud, with Cloudflare CDN, daily backups, staging and an API, sold to businesses, agencies and enterprises.
Feature-by-Feature Comparison
| Feature | A AWS Amplify | |
|---|---|---|
| Scores | ||
| Overall Rating | 7.2/10 | 7.1/10 |
| Integration | 9/10 | 6/10 |
| Support | 5/10 | 9/10 |
| Cost | 7/10 | 3/10 |
| Customization | 7/10 | 5/10 |
| Security | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Reliability | 8/10 | 9/10 |
| Ease of Use | 5/10 | 8/10 |
| Analytics | 6/10 | 7/10 |
| Scalability | 9/10 | 7/10 |
| Pricing | ||
| Free plan | Yes | No |
| Cheapest paid plan | Contact for pricing | $35/mo Single 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| Estimated cost for 10 users | Free Free Tier | $35/mo Single 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| Features | ||
| API and CLI | ||
| Content Delivery Network | ||
| Free SSL Certificates | ||
| Git Deployments | ||
| Multiple Regions | ||
| Uptime SLA | ||
| Automatic Backups | Not listed | |
| DDoS Protection | Not listed | |
| Managed Databases | Not listed | |
| Managed WordPress | Not listed | |
| Object Storage | Not listed | |
| Serverless Functions | Not listed | |
AWS Amplify vs Kinsta cost by team size
AWS Amplify costs less at every team size we checked.
| Team size | AWS Amplify | Kinsta |
|---|---|---|
| 1 user | FreeFree Tier | $35/moSingle 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| 5 users | FreeFree Tier | $35/moSingle 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| 10 users | FreeFree Tier | $35/moSingle 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| 25 users | FreeFree Tier | $35/moSingle 35k (or Single 20GB) |
| 50 users | FreeFree Tier | $35/moSingle 35k (or Single 20GB) |
The plan that fits each team size, billed monthly, before add-ons and usage charges. Each cost opens that tool's pricing calculator for the team size.
Who AWS Amplify and Kinsta suit
| Audience | AWS Amplify | Kinsta |
|---|---|---|
| Developers | 8/10Built for front-end and full-stack developers, with a TypeScript backend, framework libraries and Git-based CI/CD, though it takes AWS knowledge. | 7/10Developers get SSH, Git, WP-CLI-style tooling and a REST API, but Kinsta itself hosts only WordPress. |
| Enterprise | 7/10Compliance programs including SOC, PCI, ISO and HIPAA, WAF integration and IAM controls suit organisations standardised on AWS. | 8/10The Enterprise tier comes with a 99.99% SLA, SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications and custom terms. |
| Small Business | 4/10Setup and IAM complexity make it harder for non-technical small teams than simpler hosts. | 5/10Small businesses get quality hosting, but reviewers say $35 a month is a big jump from budget hosts. |
| Agencies | Not rated | 9/10The Agency plans offer hosting credits, free hosting for the agency's own site and an unbranded WordPress admin, and multisite plans go up to 40 installs. |
| E-commerce | Not rated | 8/10Isolated containers, edge caching and 24/7 expert support suit revenue-critical WooCommerce stores. |
| Marketing Teams | Not rated | 8/10Marketing teams that run WordPress sites get managed updates, staging and analytics in one dashboard. |
| SaaS Companies | 7/10Wildcard subdomains, Cognito auth and real-time AppSync data support multi-tenant SaaS apps on AWS. | Not rated |
| Startups | 7/10No seat fees and a 12-month free tier help early teams, but reports of surprise charges call for watching billing closely. | Not rated |
Which One Should You Choose?
AWhy choose AWS Amplify
- Has a free plan (Kinsta does not)
- Lower estimated cost for 10 users: Free vs $35/mo
- Higher Cost score (7/10 vs 3/10)
- Higher Integration score (9/10 vs 6/10)
Why choose Kinsta
- Higher Support score (9/10 vs 5/10)
- Higher Ease of Use score (8/10 vs 5/10)
Pros & Cons
AAWS Amplify
Pros
- No per-seat fees: team access is free and you pay only for builds, storage, transfer and SSR usage.
- Gen 2 lets developers define Cognito auth, AppSync and DynamoDB data and Lambda functions in TypeScript, then extend them with any AWS resource through the CDK.
- Git branches map to environments, pull requests can get preview deployments, and deployments are atomic.
- AWS publishes a 99.95% monthly uptime SLA with tiered service credits.
- Amplify is in scope for SOC, PCI, ISO, HIPAA, HITRUST and other AWS compliance programs, and integrates with AWS WAF.
Cons
- Reviewers on G2 and Capterra say the learning curve is steep and debugging complex apps is hard.
- Comparison articles say IAM setup and configuration are much heavier than on Vercel or Netlify.
- Next.js support has documented gaps: no on-demand ISR, no Edge API routes, a 5.72 MB response size cap and a 220 MB build output limit for SSR apps.
- Bills spread across many AWS services are hard to predict, and some users report unexpected charges from resources left running.
- Some reviewers find Gen 2 restrictive when an app strays from its expected path, and the Gen 1 versus Gen 2 split confuses them.
Kinsta
Pros
- Every plan includes Cloudflare integration with a 300-location CDN, edge caching and DDoS filtering.
- Reviewers praise the 24/7 support from WordPress engineers, available in five languages.
- Holds SOC 2 Type II and ISO 27001 certifications, plus GDPR and CCPA compliance.
- A REST API covers sites, environments, backups, caching, domains and DNS, which helps agencies automate their work.
- Migrations are free and handled by Kinsta's team, and every plan includes staging and daily backups.
Cons
- Plans start at $35 a month for a single site, far more than shared hosting costs.
- Single-site plans include only 10 to 15GB of storage.
- Users on Reddit and Trustpilot often complain about visit-based billing, which counts unique IPs per day.
- Some plugins are not allowed on the platform.
- Hosts only WordPress; application, database and static site hosting have moved to Sevalla.
Not sold on either?
Frequently Asked Questions
AWS Amplify scores higher on our Hosting & Infrastructure criteria: 7.2/10 against 7.1/10 for Kinsta. The largest gap is in Cost: 7/10 for AWS Amplify and 3/10 for Kinsta.
AWS Amplify costs less for 10 users: free on its Free Tier plan, against about $35/mo on its Single 35k (or Single 20GB) plan for Kinsta, billed monthly.
AWS Amplify has a free plan; Kinsta does not list one.
