--- title: "VS AWS Managed Flink" description: "Compares AWS Managed Service for Apache Flink with Ververica: where the hidden costs come from (orchestration overhead, egress fees and single-cloud lock-in), and how existing Flink applications move to Ververica on AWS, Azure or your own infrastructure without code changes." lastUpdated: 2026-10-19T08:43:28.000Z source_url: html: "https://www.ververica.com/youre-overpaying-for-aws-flink" md: "https://www.ververica.com/youre-overpaying-for-aws-flink.md" --- # You're Overpaying for AWS Flink. See how companies cut their streaming data costs by 40% or more without rewriting a single line of code. ## What are the alternatives to Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink? Ververica is an enterprise Apache Flink platform and an alternative to Amazon Managed Service for Apache Flink. It runs in your own AWS or Azure account through BYOC, or on your own infrastructure, so you are not tied to one cloud, and existing Flink applications move across without code changes. ## AWS Managed Flink: Convenient. Expensive. Trapped. AWS Managed Service for Apache Flink looks affordable at first glance. The listed price is $0.11 per KPU-hour in US East (N. Virginia). Simple enough. But that is not your real bill. Your actual costs include storage fees at $0.10 per GB/month, mandatory orchestration overhead, and data transfer charges that add up fast. Every application you run requires an extra KPU just for AWS to manage it. That is an invisible tax on every workload. The real surprise comes when you try to leave. Moving just one petabyte of data out of AWS costs around $90,000 in egress fees. Your data becomes hostage to the exit price. **What is really costing you:** - **Orchestration overhead:** Every application needs an extra KPU you do not use - **Egress penalties:** AWS charges you to access your own data outside their network - **Single-cloud lock-in:** No leverage to negotiate, no flexibility to optimize ## The Hidden Costs AWS Does Not Highlight AWS packages open-source Apache Flink as a managed service. Which sounds great until you realize: ### You're locked to AWS Multi-cloud? Only if you rebuild everything. ### The bill scales aggressively Per KPU. Per GB ingested. Per GB transferred. Per snapshot. Per region. Plus support. ### Features lag months behind Open-source Flink releases new features. AWS gets around to packaging them. Eventually. ### Egress fees are brutal. Want to send data to Snowflake? That'll be $92K 🤯 per PB. ### Governance is bolted on. Not built in. Hope your auditor is patient. ### The kicker? We created Apache Flink. We know exactly how AWS is limiting you. ## Why Teams Switch to Ververica The VERA engine delivers 40% lower total cost of ownership compared to other managed Apache Flink services. You get better performance while spending less. That is not a trade-off. That is an upgrade. Deploy on AWS, Azure, or your own infrastructure. Multi-cloud flexibility means you are never locked into one vendor's pricing. When your contract comes up for renewal, you have options. Ververica was founded by the original creators of Apache Flink at the Technical University of Berlin. When you have a question, you are talking to the people who wrote the code. No one knows Apache Flink better. Your existing Flink applications work on Ververica without modification. Most customers are running in production within few weeks. No lengthy rewrite projects. No compatibility surprises. ## The Math Does Not Lie Here is how AWS Managed Flink compares to Ververica for a typical enterprise workload: | Feature | Ververica | AWS Managed Flink | | --- | --- | --- | | Created by Flink founders | ✓ | ✗ | | Performance | VERA engine: 2x faster | Standard Flink | | Deployment | Multi-cloud, hybrid, on-prem | AWS only | | Cost structure | Transparent compute + storage | Per KPU + ingestion + egress + storage | | Typical enterprise TCO | $100K-$130K/year | $180K-$240K/year | | Egress fees | Optimized multi-cloud architecture | $0.09/GB (locks you in) | | Vendor lock-in | Zero (100% Flink API compatible) | By design | | Enterprise governance | Built into platform core | Basic (add-ons available) | | Support | Direct from Flink creators | AWS support (3-10% of bill) | | Best for | Enterprise production at scale | Getting started quickly in AWS | ### Do I need to rewrite my Flink applications? No. Ververica is 100% Apache Flink API compatible. Your existing code runs unchanged. If it works on standard Flink, it works on Ververica. ### Can I still run on AWS? Yes. You can deploy Ververica directly in your own AWS account using the [Bring-Your-Own-Cloud option](https://www.ververica.com/product/deployment/byoc). You can also choose Azure or on-premises deployment. The choice is yours. ### How long does migration take? Most customers move from AWS Managed Flink to Ververica and reach production within 3 weeks. Since your code does not change, migration is primarily configuration and testing. ### What about support? Ververica was founded by the team that created Apache Flink at the Technical University of Berlin. The engineers have been building and optimizing Flink since the beginning. Enterprise support includes direct access to Flink experts.