Cloud Vendor Lock-In

This cluster centers on discussions about vendor lock-in risks with cloud providers like AWS, Azure, and others, debating its severity, real-world impacts, and strategies for avoidance or mitigation.

📉 Falling 0.5x DevOps & Infrastructure
3,002
Comments
20
Years Active
5
Top Authors
#1778
Topic ID

Activity Over Time

2007
3
2008
4
2009
31
2010
28
2011
31
2012
73
2013
53
2014
94
2015
95
2016
177
2017
186
2018
230
2019
326
2020
319
2021
295
2022
266
2023
298
2024
220
2025
255
2026
18

Keywords

ISP CPU IMHO AI LLM IT HN IBM AWS i.e lock cloud vendor lock aws vendor cloud provider locked provider cost company

Sample Comments

mk89 Sep 7, 2019 View on HN

Unfortunately that's true.In general, that's something that should be known in advance when someone chooses a cloud provider. As I mentioned, there is no one-site-fits-all solution. :/ Vendor lock-in is a serious issue for some enterprise companies, and in such cases you could propose something like a hybrid cloud. It's an expensive effort that could save your butt in the future.

JamesAdir Jul 5, 2022 View on HN

How is it any different than being locked to AWS/Azure/Oracle/Google?

missedthecue Nov 27, 2021 View on HN

It's vendor lock in."Hey should we build our company on cloudflare? Their egress cost is cheaper""No, AWS has far more features and besides, we get enough bandwidth for free because we're a small startup"Fast forward 5 years, your company has grown and is buying a 10 terabytes a month of egress, but you can't switch platforms now, you're too far dug in and integrated with AWS.

andrew_ Nov 5, 2021 View on HN

Is "Vendor lock-in" a good argument anymore? I've never been with a company that's moved cloud providers, and I'd bet it's a pretty rare case.

TheBlight May 16, 2020 View on HN

Avoiding vendor lock-in is the only quasi-sane reason I can think of.

oneplane Apr 21, 2022 View on HN

Unless you intend to create your own CPU architecture, your own internet and your own human population, by your logic, you are always "locked in". Regarding negotiating positions, those are governed by contracts and by money, the same as with any other company.There is no real lock-in other than the requirements of your own implementation. A lambda on AWS can just as easily be run on Kubernetes, but that means that on top of running the code that you wanted to run, you now have to r

benterix Sep 1, 2025 View on HN

Similar here - but in my case the reason is because of vendor lock-in - they spent years getting into AWS and any thought of getting out seems dreadful.

MongooseStudios Jun 27, 2025 View on HN

Don't forget a healthy dose of vendor lock-in!

rplnt Mar 26, 2014 View on HN

Yeah, I don't see why would anyone wanted to lock in with them. With AWS and others, it's not that hard to switch if you planned for it. There are open PaaS solutions (or at least one), why not use those? If the provider screws you, deploy your own (or pay someone else do it).

crdoconnor May 17, 2015 View on HN

Does nobody else look at this and worry about the vendor lock in implications?If your app is dependent upon a technology like this, it's much harder to move to a different platform than if just used, say, EC2.