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What's the Difference Between AWS CloudHSM and AWS KMS?

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

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Comparisons
AWS CloudHSM
AWS KMS
Category

Security, Hardware Security

Security, Key & secrets management
Description

Managed hardware security module (HSM) on the AWS Cloud for generating and using encryption keys.

Managed creation and control of keys to encrypt or digitally sign data
Best for
  • Key management
  • SSL/TLS offloading
  • Document signing
  • Regulatory compliance
  • Data encryption
  • Digital signing
  • Key management
  • Regulatory compliance
Key features
  • FIPS 140-2 Level 3
  • PKCS#11
  • JCE
  • OpenSSL
  • Cluster high availability
  • Symmetric & asymmetric keys
  • Automatic key rotation
  • CloudTrail integration
  • Custom key stores
  • Multi-Region keys
Pricing model

Pay per HSM hour

Pay per key + API requests
Free tier

No

Yes
Expert take

“CloudHSM provides dedicated hardware security modules in your VPC for cryptographic key storage. Use it when compliance requires FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated hardware.”
— Riku Kobayashi, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]

“KMS integrates with 100+ AWS services for encryption at rest and in transit. Use AWS-managed keys for simplicity or customer-managed keys when you need rotation control, cross-account access, or audit granularity. Key policies are the primary access control; IAM policies are secondary.”
— Riku Kobayashi, re:Post Top Contributor [profile]
Product page

Learn more about AWS CloudHSM »

Learn more about AWS KMS »

When to use AWS CloudHSM or AWS KMS

Use AWS CloudHSM when:

  • Key management
  • SSL/TLS offloading
  • Document signing
  • Regulatory compliance

Learn more about AWS CloudHSM »

Use AWS KMS when:

  • Data encryption
  • Digital signing
  • Key management
  • Regulatory compliance

Learn more about AWS KMS »

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