Clawctl
Clawctl
vs
AWS

Clawctl vs Amazon Web Services (EC2)

The enterprise cloud standard

AWS EC2 is the most popular cloud computing platform, offering scalable virtual servers. The Free Tier provides 12 months of t2.micro instances, making it popular for learning and development.

Setup Time

30-60 minutes

Starting Price

Free - $20/mo

Setup Difficulty

medium

Security

DIY Required

Feature Comparison Score

8
Clawctl
1
Tie
3
AWS

Feature-by-Feature Comparison

FeatureClawctlAWS
Setup time60 seconds30-60 minutes
Monthly cost (basic)$49$10-20
Gateway authenticationBuilt-inDIY (API Gateway)
Audit loggingAutomaticDIY (CloudWatch)
Sandboxed executionBuilt-inDIY (complex)
Kill switchOne-clickManual
Human-in-the-loopBuilt-inNot available
SSL/TLSAutomaticDIY (ACM + ALB)
ScalabilityManagedUnlimited (DIY)
Full server accessSandboxedFull root
AWS integrationsVia APIsNative
Compliance reportsIncludedExtra cost

Pros & Cons

Clawctl

Pros

  • 60-second deployment
  • Built-in security & audit logging
  • Human-in-the-loop approvals
  • Zero maintenance required
  • One-click kill switch

Cons

  • Fixed monthly cost ($49+)
  • Sandboxed (no full system access)
  • Newer platform (growing ecosystem)

AWS

Pros

  • Industry standard with massive ecosystem
  • Free Tier for 12 months
  • Highly scalable infrastructure
  • Native integration with 200+ AWS services
  • Global regions for low latency

Cons

  • Steep learning curve
  • Complex pricing model
  • Security is entirely DIY
  • No AI agent-specific features
  • Requires ongoing maintenance

When to Choose Each Option

Choose Clawctl if...

  • You want production-ready security out of the box
  • You need human-in-the-loop approvals for AI actions
  • You don't have dedicated DevOps resources
  • You want audit logging without configuration
  • Time to market is critical

Choose AWS if...

  • You have AWS expertise in-house
  • You need deep AWS service integration
  • You're building a larger system beyond just AI agents
  • You need specific compliance certifications (FedRAMP, etc.)
  • Budget is the primary constraint

AWS is Best For

Developers learning cloud infrastructure
Teams with existing AWS expertise
Applications requiring specific AWS services
Large-scale deployments with complex requirements

AWS is Not Ideal For

Quick prototyping without DevOps experience
Small teams without dedicated ops
Production AI agents needing security guardrails

Pricing Breakdown

Clawctl

$49/mo

Starter plan with full security stack. Team plan from $149/mo.

  • All security features included
  • No hidden costs
  • Predictable monthly billing

AWS

Free - $20/mo

Free Tier: 750 hrs/mo t2.micro for 12 months. After: t3.micro ~$8/mo, t3.small ~$15/mo. Plus data transfer costs.

  • Security setup: extra time/cost
  • Maintenance: your responsibility

Migration Path

Migrating from AWS to Clawctl is straightforward. Export your agent configuration and environment variables, then deploy with `clawctl deploy`. Your existing AWS resources (databases, S3) can still be accessed via secure egress.

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