{"slug":"aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))","title":"AWS Lambda vs Cloudflare Workers","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))","faqCount":5,"faqs":[{"question":"Which is cheaper for a production API handling 100M monthly requests?","answer":"It depends on traffic patterns. Lambda costs $0.20 per 1M requests ($20) plus compute time. At 100M requests with 256MB memory and 100ms average execution, that's approximately $20 + $1,667 = $1,687/month. Cloudflare Workers costs $0.50 per 1M requests ($50) plus $12.50 per 1M CPU milliseconds. At 100M requests × 50ms average = 5B CPU milliseconds = $62.50, totaling $112.50/month. Workers is significantly cheaper for this scenario due to lower compute pricing, but Lambda wins if you need variable memory allocation (up to 10GB) or execution longer than 30 seconds."},{"question":"Can I run Python on both platforms?","answer":"Lambda supports Python natively with first-class runtime support, full standard library access, and ability to import popular packages (NumPy, Pandas, SciPy) via Lambda Layers. Cloudflare Workers supports Python only via WebAssembly (WASM) compilation, which is more complex and less performant. For Python workloads, Lambda is substantially better suited."},{"question":"Which platform is better for real-time APIs with global users?","answer":"Cloudflare Workers is significantly better for global real-time APIs due to sub-millisecond cold starts and execution on 275+ edge locations worldwide, delivering responses from geographically close servers. Lambda's 100-300ms cold start latency and 15+ regional data centers cannot match this for latency-sensitive applications. However, if your API requires database connections to a central location, network latency to that database becomes the bottleneck regardless of platform choice."},{"question":"What workloads require Lambda over Workers?","answer":"Lambda is essential for: batch data processing (15-minute limit vs Workers' 30-second limit), machine learning inference requiring >128MB memory, complex workflows integrating with multiple AWS services (DynamoDB, S3, SQS, Kinesis), long-running background jobs, and applications requiring Java, C#, or Go runtime support. Workers cannot handle these scenarios due to architectural limitations."},{"question":"How do cold starts affect real-world performance?","answer":"Lambda's 100-300ms cold start means users experience occasional 200-400ms response times (accounting for network + processing). With concurrent traffic, AWS automatically scales but each new concurrent execution incurs a cold start. Cloudflare Workers' <1ms cold start is imperceptible, but the 30-second timeout means you cannot queue long operations. For user-facing applications prioritizing 99th percentile latency, Workers is superior; for backend systems needing reliability over raw speed, Lambda's predictability wins."}],"faqPageSchema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"FAQPage","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))#faq","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))","inLanguage":"en-US","name":"AWS Lambda vs Cloudflare Workers — FAQ","description":"Frequently asked questions about AWS Lambda vs Cloudflare Workers","dateModified":"2026-07-09T12:20:56.799Z","author":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/#organization","name":"A Versus B"},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/#organization","name":"A Versus B"},"isPartOf":{"@type":"Article","@id":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))#article"},"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","speakable":{"@type":"SpeakableSpecification","cssSelector":["#faq",".faq-item"]},"mainEntity":[{"@type":"Question","name":"Which is cheaper for a production API handling 100M monthly requests?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"It depends on traffic patterns. Lambda costs $0.20 per 1M requests ($20) plus compute time. At 100M requests with 256MB memory and 100ms average execution, that's approximately $20 + $1,667 = $1,687/month. Cloudflare Workers costs $0.50 per 1M requests ($50) plus $12.50 per 1M CPU milliseconds. At 100M requests × 50ms average = 5B CPU milliseconds = $62.50, totaling $112.50/month. Workers is significantly cheaper for this scenario due to lower compute pricing, but Lambda wins if you need variable memory allocation (up to 10GB) or execution longer than 30 seconds.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Can I run Python on both platforms?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Lambda supports Python natively with first-class runtime support, full standard library access, and ability to import popular packages (NumPy, Pandas, SciPy) via Lambda Layers. Cloudflare Workers supports Python only via WebAssembly (WASM) compilation, which is more complex and less performant. For Python workloads, Lambda is substantially better suited.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"Which platform is better for real-time APIs with global users?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Cloudflare Workers is significantly better for global real-time APIs due to sub-millisecond cold starts and execution on 275+ edge locations worldwide, delivering responses from geographically close servers. Lambda's 100-300ms cold start latency and 15+ regional data centers cannot match this for latency-sensitive applications. However, if your API requires database connections to a central location, network latency to that database becomes the bottleneck regardless of platform choice.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"What workloads require Lambda over Workers?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Lambda is essential for: batch data processing (15-minute limit vs Workers' 30-second limit), machine learning inference requiring >128MB memory, complex workflows integrating with multiple AWS services (DynamoDB, S3, SQS, Kinesis), long-running background jobs, and applications requiring Java, C#, or Go runtime support. Workers cannot handle these scenarios due to architectural limitations.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))"}},{"@type":"Question","name":"How do cold starts affect real-world performance?","acceptedAnswer":{"@type":"Answer","text":"Lambda's 100-300ms cold start means users experience occasional 200-400ms response times (accounting for network + processing). With concurrent traffic, AWS automatically scales but each new concurrent execution incurs a cold start. Cloudflare Workers' <1ms cold start is imperceptible, but the 30-second timeout means you cannot queue long operations. For user-facing applications prioritizing 99th percentile latency, Workers is superior; for backend systems needing reliability over raw speed, Lambda's predictability wins.","inLanguage":"en-US","url":"https://www.aversusb.net/compare/aws-lambda-vs-cloudflare-workers))"}}]}}