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What's the Difference Between AWS Cloud9 and AWS CloudShell?

Compare AWS Cloud9 and AWS CloudShell side by side — features, pricing, and ideal use cases to help you choose the right product.

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Comparisons
AWS Cloud9
AWS CloudShell
Category

Developer Tools, IDE / dev environment

Developer Tools, Shell
Description

Cloud-based integrated development environment (IDE) for writing, running, and debugging code.

Browser-based shell environment pre-authenticated with your console credentials for managing AWS resources.
Best for
  • Cloud development
  • Pair programming
  • Serverless development
  • Teaching
  • Quick CLI access
  • Script execution
  • Resource management
  • Troubleshooting
Key features
  • Browser-based IDE
  • Terminal access
  • Collaborative editing
  • AWS CLI integration
  • Lambda debugging
  • Pre-authenticated
  • Persistent storage
  • Pre-installed tools
  • Multiple shells
  • File upload/download
Pricing model

No additional charge; pay for underlying EC2

No additional charge
Free tier

Yes

Yes
Expert take

“Cloud9 is useful when you need a pre-configured development environment accessible from any browser, or for pair programming with real-time collaboration. The underlying EC2 instance has the AWS CLI and SDKs pre-installed with your IAM credentials available automatically.”
— Riku Kobayashi, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

“CloudShell gives you a browser-based terminal with the AWS CLI, SDKs, and 1GB persistent storage pre-configured. No local setup needed for quick administrative tasks.”
— Didier Durand, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]
Product page

Learn more about AWS Cloud9 »

Learn more about AWS CloudShell »

When to use AWS Cloud9 or AWS CloudShell

Use AWS Cloud9 when:

  • Cloud development
  • Pair programming
  • Serverless development
  • Teaching

Learn more about AWS Cloud9 »

Use AWS CloudShell when:

  • Quick CLI access
  • Script execution
  • Resource management
  • Troubleshooting

Learn more about AWS CloudShell »

AWS product comparisons

Read about AWS products side-by-side

Displaying 1-8 (21)
2026-07-30

What's the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon Neptune?

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What's the difference between Amazon RDS and Amazon Redshift?

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2026-07-30

What's the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon DynamoDB?

Both are fully managed AWS database services, but they serve fundamentally different data models and access patterns. Aurora is a relational database for structured data with relationships; DynamoDB is a NoSQL key-value store built for single-digit millisecond performance at any scale.
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2026-07-30

What's the difference between Amazon DocumentDB and Amazon Neptune?

Both handle semi-structured data, but they're optimized for different query patterns. DocumentDB stores and queries JSON documents; Neptune stores and traverses relationships between entities.
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2026-07-30

What are the differences between Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon DocumentDB?

Both are fully managed NoSQL databases on AWS, but they serve different data models. DynamoDB is a key-value store optimized for known access patterns at massive scale; DocumentDB is a document database for flexible JSON schemas with MongoDB compatibility.
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What's the difference between Amazon DynamoDB and Amazon Keyspaces?

Both are fully managed, serverless-capable NoSQL databases on AWS. DynamoDB is AWS-native with its own API and data model; Keyspaces is Apache Cassandra-compatible, letting you use existing Cassandra drivers, tools, and expertise.
Learn more
2026-07-30

What's the difference between Amazon ElastiCache and Amazon MemoryDB?

Both are Redis-compatible, fully managed in-memory services on AWS. ElastiCache is designed as a caching layer in front of another database; MemoryDB is designed as a primary database that combines in-memory speed with Multi-AZ durability.
Learn more
2026-07-30

What's the difference between Amazon Aurora and Amazon RDS?

Both are fully managed relational database services on AWS, but Aurora is a cloud-native engine built for higher performance and availability, while RDS gives you familiar open-source and commercial engines with less operational overhead than self-managed.
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