Best Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers

Guide to Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers

Function as a Service (FaaS) providers offer a cloud computing model where developers can run individual functions or pieces of code without worrying about managing servers or infrastructure. This serverless approach allows developers to focus purely on writing the code, while the cloud provider takes care of scaling, infrastructure, and maintenance. FaaS is highly cost-efficient because users are only billed for the actual computation time their code runs, rather than for idle resources. The model is often used in conjunction with event-driven architectures, where functions are triggered by specific events, such as HTTP requests, file uploads, or database changes.

Some of the biggest players in the FaaS space include Amazon Web Services (AWS) Lambda, Microsoft Azure Functions, and Google Cloud Functions. These providers offer robust, scalable platforms that integrate seamlessly with other cloud services, such as databases, messaging queues, and storage solutions. AWS Lambda, for example, allows developers to run functions in response to a wide range of events, from changes in data stored in S3 buckets to direct API calls. The integration capabilities across these cloud platforms make FaaS an appealing choice for developers looking to build scalable, event-driven applications without managing infrastructure.

The key benefits of using FaaS providers include faster development times, automatic scaling, and reduced operational overhead. By abstracting away the complexity of server management, developers can deploy functions quickly and focus on business logic. However, FaaS is not without its challenges. Cold start latency, limited execution time per function, and potential complexity in managing distributed systems are some concerns that developers must consider when opting for serverless architecture. Despite these challenges, FaaS continues to gain traction as an efficient and flexible solution for modern cloud-based applications.

Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers Features

• Event-Driven Execution: FaaS functions are invoked by events, which can be HTTP requests, database updates, file uploads, or other events. The functions automatically scale based on the number of incoming events without the need for manual intervention. This event-driven model helps reduce resource consumption, as the function only runs when triggered, making it cost-efficient.
• Automatic Scaling: FaaS platforms automatically scale the execution of functions based on the number of incoming events or requests. If there’s a sudden spike in traffic, the provider will spin up additional instances of the function to handle the load, and it will scale back down when the demand decreases. This elasticity allows developers to focus on coding rather than managing the infrastructure and ensures that the application can handle varying traffic loads efficiently.
• Pay-as-You-Go Pricing: FaaS follows a pay-per-use model, meaning customers are billed only for the actual execution time of their functions, rather than for idle server capacity. This pricing structure reduces costs significantly, especially for applications with variable workloads, because you only pay for what you use.
• No Server Management: FaaS providers take care of the underlying infrastructure, including provisioning, scaling, and maintaining servers. Developers do not have to worry about server maintenance, patches, or updates. This abstraction allows developers to focus purely on writing code and deploying functions, removing the complexity of infrastructure management.
• Statelessness: Functions in FaaS are typically stateless, meaning they do not retain any data between executions. Each time a function is invoked, it starts from scratch, with no memory of previous executions. Statelessness ensures that functions are easily scalable and resilient to failures, as there is no dependency on the function's past execution state.
• Multi-Language Support: Most FaaS providers offer support for multiple programming languages (e.g., Node.js, Python, Go, Java, Ruby, etc.). Some platforms even allow custom runtimes for additional flexibility. Developers can write functions in the language they are most comfortable with or the one that best fits the requirements of their application.
• Built-in Integrations: FaaS platforms often come with out-of-the-box integrations with other cloud services like databases, message queues, authentication systems, and storage solutions. These integrations simplify the process of building complex, event-driven architectures without having to manually set up connections between services.
• Cold Start and Warm Start Handling: When a function is invoked for the first time or after a period of inactivity, it may experience a "cold start," which involves a delay as the function is initialized. FaaS providers aim to minimize cold starts or offer mechanisms to keep functions "warm" to reduce this delay. Managing cold starts is important for maintaining fast response times in time-sensitive applications.
• Security and Access Control: FaaS platforms typically offer robust security features such as role-based access control (RBAC), encryption at rest and in transit, and integration with Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems to secure function execution. These features help ensure that only authorized users or services can invoke functions and access sensitive data.
• Monitoring and Logging: Most FaaS providers offer built-in monitoring and logging features, which help developers track the performance of their functions, view execution metrics (e.g., latency, invocation count), and troubleshoot issues through logs. These features provide valuable insights into function performance and system health, which aids in debugging and optimizing functions.
• Version Control and Deployment Pipelines: FaaS platforms typically support versioning, allowing you to manage different versions of a function and roll back to a previous version if necessary. They also support automated deployment pipelines, making it easier to deploy new versions of functions. This makes it easy to manage updates, test new features, and ensure that the latest version of a function is deployed smoothly without disrupting production environments.
• Concurrency Management: FaaS platforms manage the concurrent execution of multiple function invocations, ensuring that each function is executed independently and does not block others. Some providers allow developers to set concurrency limits or control the concurrency behavior of their functions. This feature ensures that the platform can handle high loads efficiently, avoiding resource contention and ensuring that each function invocation is processed in a timely manner.
• Custom Domain and API Gateway: Some FaaS providers offer the ability to connect functions to custom domains and configure API gateways, allowing developers to expose their functions as HTTP endpoints with custom domain names. This makes it easier to build and expose RESTful APIs and microservices while leveraging FaaS benefits like automatic scaling and event-driven execution.
• Concurrency Limits and Throttling: FaaS platforms allow developers to define limits on how many instances of a function can run simultaneously to prevent overloading backend systems or exhausting cloud resources. This allows for better resource management and ensures that the system behaves predictably under high traffic conditions.
• Local Development and Testing: Many FaaS providers offer tools for local function testing and debugging before deployment. These tools allow developers to simulate the cloud environment on their local machines. This capability speeds up the development cycle and reduces the risk of bugs or issues during deployment.
• Environment Variables and Configuration Management: Developers can manage environment variables and function-specific configurations, allowing functions to behave differently based on the environment in which they are running (e.g., development, staging, production). This flexibility helps in creating functions that can be deployed across different environments with different settings, increasing portability and security.
• Global Distribution: Some FaaS platforms offer the ability to run functions across multiple geographic regions, providing low-latency access to end-users regardless of their location. This feature is crucial for applications with a global user base, as it ensures fast response times and high availability.
• Stateful Function Support (Persistent Storage): Although FaaS is typically stateless, some platforms provide options for managing state in the form of persistent storage solutions, such as databases, caches, or object storage. This allows developers to maintain the benefits of serverless while also handling scenarios where state is necessary (e.g., for user sessions or long-running tasks).

What Types of Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers Are There?

• Public Cloud FaaS Providers: These are large-scale platforms that provide FaaS as part of their broader cloud infrastructure offerings. They typically offer a range of cloud services like computing, storage, and networking alongside FaaS.
• Private Cloud FaaS Providers: These are FaaS solutions designed for businesses that need to host their functions on their own infrastructure or within a private cloud environment.
• Hybrid Cloud FaaS Providers: These providers offer solutions that enable businesses to deploy serverless functions in both public and private cloud environments.
• On-Premises FaaS Providers: These are FaaS solutions specifically designed for businesses that want to run serverless functions on their own hardware infrastructure.
• Edge FaaS Providers: These providers deliver serverless computing at the edge of the network, closer to the user or device.
• Open Source FaaS Providers: Open source FaaS platforms are often community-driven and allow developers to deploy serverless functions on their own infrastructure.
• Specialized FaaS Providers: These providers focus on specific types of workloads or niche use cases, offering specialized optimizations or services.
• Containerized FaaS Providers: These FaaS platforms enable functions to run inside containers, providing more flexibility in terms of runtime environments and dependencies.
• Event-Driven FaaS Providers: These providers allow serverless functions to be triggered by events such as data changes, HTTP requests, or messages from other services.
• Function Orchestration FaaS Providers: These FaaS providers offer capabilities to sequence, manage, and orchestrate multiple functions or microservices into more complex workflows.

Benefits of Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers

• Cost-Effective Billing: FaaS operates on a consumption-based pricing model. This means businesses only pay for the exact compute time used by functions, rather than paying for idle server time. This can significantly reduce operational costs, especially for unpredictable or sporadic workloads.
• Scalability and Elasticity: FaaS platforms automatically scale resources to meet demand without any manual intervention. As the number of incoming requests increases, the platform can spin up more instances of the function to handle the load.
• Reduced Operational Overhead: One of the major advantages of FaaS is that the developer does not have to manage or maintain servers. The underlying infrastructure is abstracted away, allowing developers to focus solely on writing code for specific business logic.
• Increased Development Speed: Since FaaS allows you to focus only on the individual functions you need, development becomes more modular. Developers can break down the application into smaller, more manageable pieces, leading to faster development cycles and easier debugging.
• Improved Fault Tolerance: Since each function is executed independently, failures in one function are less likely to impact the overall system. This isolation increases the reliability of your application.
• Enhanced Focus on Business Logic: With FaaS, developers can separate the business logic of their applications from the infrastructure. This allows them to focus more on writing code that drives business value rather than worrying about underlying infrastructure management.
• Greater Flexibility and Integration: Most FaaS providers support multiple programming languages, such as JavaScript, Python, Go, Java, and more, allowing developers to use the best language for their use case.
• Improved Security: The cloud provider typically handles infrastructure security, including firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and encryption. This reduces the need for manual security management on the part of the developer.
• Better Resource Utilization: FaaS ensures that resources are only allocated when needed. Idle resources (i.e., unused functions) do not incur any cost, meaning that businesses can avoid the inefficiency of running virtual machines or containers 24/7.
• Environmental Benefits: Since FaaS providers manage resource scaling dynamically, the computing resources are often shared efficiently, leading to better energy utilization compared to running individual servers.
• Rapid Scaling Without Infrastructure Planning: FaaS providers handle scaling automatically, which means you don't need to worry about managing the scaling of virtual machines or servers. You can focus on your application logic, while the platform takes care of scaling as needed.

Types of Users That Use Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers

• Developers: Developers are often the primary users of FaaS platforms, as they leverage these services to deploy, manage, and scale serverless applications. These users seek to minimize the overhead of managing infrastructure while maintaining flexibility in writing and deploying code. FaaS enables developers to focus solely on the business logic without worrying about servers or runtime environments.
• DevOps Engineers: DevOps professionals use FaaS platforms to automate and streamline deployment pipelines. They utilize serverless functions for continuous integration and delivery (CI/CD), infrastructure management, and scalability testing. FaaS providers help them ensure that applications can be deployed efficiently and scale automatically according to traffic demands.
• Data Scientists and Analysts: Data scientists often use FaaS for running data processing tasks such as batch jobs, data transformations, and model predictions. They prefer FaaS platforms because of the ability to quickly execute isolated functions on demand, without having to worry about managing clusters or virtual machines. This is especially useful for processing large datasets or running complex machine learning models.
• Startups and Small Businesses: Startups and small businesses often choose FaaS due to its cost-effectiveness and scalability. Since FaaS allows for pay-per-use pricing, these organizations avoid upfront infrastructure costs and can scale resources as needed, depending on traffic or usage patterns. It allows them to focus on growing their product without having to invest in IT infrastructure.
• Enterprises: Large enterprises use FaaS to support specific workloads, such as microservices, event-driven architectures, and customer-facing applications that need to scale quickly. Enterprises leverage the flexibility, rapid deployment, and ability to handle unpredictable traffic spikes, helping them optimize operational efficiency. FaaS enables them to break down monolithic systems into more manageable microservices.
• System Architects: System architects use FaaS to design and implement scalable, modular, and decoupled systems. They choose serverless functions when they want to architect solutions that don't require provisioning or managing infrastructure while still ensuring scalability. This allows them to experiment with different architectures like event-driven and microservices architectures.
• eCommerce and Online Businesses: eCommerce platforms and online businesses use FaaS to handle dynamic workloads such as processing user requests, managing inventory updates, running promotional campaigns, or handling transactional data. FaaS provides the ability to handle varying traffic loads, from low to high, with ease, making it ideal for businesses that experience sudden spikes in demand during sales events or promotions.
• Mobile App Developers: Mobile app developers integrate FaaS to manage backend functions, such as processing notifications, handling real-time data synchronization, managing authentication, or interacting with external APIs. Serverless functions help them quickly iterate on features without managing backend infrastructure, and they pay only for the usage consumed by the app.
• Gaming Developers: Game developers utilize FaaS for handling backend services like player matchmaking, real-time multiplayer interactions, and leaderboards. FaaS platforms are highly scalable and can easily manage the burst traffic that games often experience. Developers appreciate the agility and responsiveness of FaaS, enabling them to provide a seamless gaming experience to users.
• Marketing and Content Delivery Teams: Marketing teams use FaaS to trigger automated processes such as data collection, A/B testing, user engagement, or content delivery. For example, FaaS can be used to handle user interactions on landing pages, process form submissions, or dynamically generate content, all while scaling according to demand.
• Internet of Things (IoT) Developers: IoT developers use FaaS to process data from connected devices and trigger actions based on that data. Serverless computing is well-suited for IoT scenarios because it can efficiently handle bursts of data from thousands or millions of devices. Developers use FaaS to quickly process incoming data and trigger actions such as device updates or data analysis without worrying about managing the underlying infrastructure.
• SaaS Providers: Software as a Service (SaaS) companies use FaaS to scale their applications based on user demand and optimize backend performance. By breaking down their applications into smaller, isolated functions, they can efficiently scale specific parts of the system that require additional resources without scaling the entire service, leading to improved performance and reduced costs.
• Content Creators and Media Services: Content creators in media, video streaming, and news platforms use FaaS to process and deliver content on-demand. Whether it’s generating video thumbnails, transcribing audio, or resizing images, FaaS platforms allow content creators to automate such tasks and scale according to the number of users accessing their content.
• Cloud Architects and Consultants: Cloud architects and consultants guide organizations in adopting serverless technologies like FaaS. They help companies choose the best FaaS providers, architect serverless applications, and integrate FaaS into existing infrastructure. Their work involves identifying areas where serverless computing can replace traditional infrastructure models and provide cost savings and scalability.
• Financial Institutions and FinTech Companies: Financial institutions use FaaS to process transactions, handle real-time data analysis, manage trading systems, and automate compliance checks. The ability to scale and execute functions in response to fluctuating demand makes FaaS a valuable option in the finance sector, where high availability, security, and speed are crucial.
• Health Tech Companies: Health tech companies use FaaS for processing medical data, triggering notifications, running machine learning models for diagnostics, and integrating with third-party health services. Serverless computing allows these companies to comply with regulations like HIPAA while maintaining the scalability needed to support fluctuating usage, especially during high-demand periods or public health crises.
• Research and Academic Institutions: Researchers and academic institutions use FaaS to execute experiments, run simulations, process large data sets, and perform statistical analyses. The ability to offload computational tasks to serverless functions enables them to focus on their research without worrying about the complexities of managing large-scale computing resources.

How Much Do Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers Cost?

The cost of Function as a Service (FaaS) providers varies depending on factors such as the number of function executions, execution duration, and the resources required for each function. Typically, FaaS platforms charge based on the number of invocations, with each function execution counted as one invocation. The cost may also be influenced by the execution time, measured in milliseconds, as well as the allocated memory or CPU power for running the function. Some providers may have free tiers or usage limits before charging, making it affordable for small-scale operations or testing environments.

In addition to the basic pricing structure, FaaS costs can increase based on additional services like storage or network usage. As a pay-as-you-go model, customers are only charged for what they actually use, which can offer cost savings for applications with unpredictable workloads or low traffic. However, for high-frequency or resource-intensive tasks, costs may accumulate quickly. It is important for businesses to monitor their usage and adjust resource allocations accordingly to avoid unexpected expenses, as well as to evaluate any pricing changes that providers may implement over time.

What Software Can Integrate With Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers?

Function as a Service (FaaS) providers are designed to support the execution of small, single-purpose functions in the cloud without requiring the user to manage infrastructure. Several types of software can integrate with FaaS providers to enhance their functionality and provide solutions for various use cases.

Cloud-native applications and microservices are among the primary types of software that integrate with FaaS platforms. Microservices, which involve breaking down an application into smaller, independently deployable services, can rely on FaaS to handle specific tasks like image processing, data transformation, or database querying without the need to manage servers. This modular approach makes FaaS an ideal choice for microservice-based architectures, allowing developers to focus on the business logic of individual functions.

Automation tools, such as those used for continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD), also benefit from FaaS integration. FaaS can be used to automate specific parts of a pipeline, such as running tests or deploying applications when a new code commit occurs. These tools can trigger functions that automatically scale based on the need, saving both time and resources.

Event-driven architectures commonly leverage FaaS because it allows for the seamless processing of events generated by applications. These events might include changes to data in a database, the arrival of new files, or user interactions. The software handling these events can use FaaS to trigger specific functions in response, without worrying about the underlying infrastructure.

Third-party integrations, such as those for payment gateways, social media APIs, and messaging services, also work well with FaaS. A FaaS function can be used to interface with an external service, process the data, and send the result to the next step in a workflow. For example, when a user makes a payment on an ecommerce site, FaaS could handle the verification and follow-up actions like sending receipts or updating inventory.

Data processing and analytics software frequently integrates with FaaS as well. Functions can be written to handle specific data operations, such as aggregating logs or performing machine learning inference, without the overhead of managing a full server-based environment. This setup is ideal for large-scale, distributed data processing, where functions are triggered in response to new data being ingested.

Web applications and mobile apps commonly integrate with FaaS to offload specific backend tasks such as authentication, authorization, or sending notifications. These applications can send HTTP requests to FaaS providers, where the functions process the request and return a result, all without maintaining a dedicated backend server.

FaaS can integrate with a wide range of software types, including cloud-native apps, microservices, automation tools, event-driven systems, third-party services, and data processing platforms. This flexibility allows organizations to scale efficiently and only pay for the compute resources used, making it a powerful solution for many modern software architectures.

Function as a Service (FaaS) Providers Trends

• Increased Adoption of Serverless Architectures: FaaS enables developers to focus solely on writing code, abstracting away the need to manage servers, networks, or infrastructure.
• Support for Multiple Programming Languages: FaaS providers are expanding the range of programming languages they support, allowing developers to choose from Python, JavaScript, Go, Java, and more.
• Improved Developer Experience: Tools and integrations are improving to make serverless development faster and more efficient.
• Event-Driven Architectures: FaaS is increasingly popular for implementing event-driven architectures, where functions are triggered by specific events such as file uploads, database changes, or HTTP requests.
• Growing Support for Multi-Cloud and Hybrid Cloud Deployments: Organizations are opting for multi-cloud or hybrid cloud setups, using FaaS providers across different cloud platforms to avoid vendor lock-in and improve resilience.
• Focus on Performance Optimization: Providers are continuously working to reduce cold start times, which is a significant challenge in FaaS. Improvements in execution speed and latency are leading to better overall performance.
• Integration with Other Serverless Services: FaaS is not just about running code; it’s often integrated with a range of other serverless services like databases (e.g., Amazon DynamoDB, Google Firestore), storage (e.g., AWS S3, Azure Blob Storage), and messaging systems (e.g., AWS SNS, Google Pub/Sub).
• Increased Security and Compliance Features: As FaaS adoption grows, providers are adding more security features, including encryption at rest, improved IAM (Identity and Access Management), and enhanced logging capabilities to help meet compliance standards (GDPR, HIPAA, etc.).
• Observability and Monitoring Tools: The growing complexity of serverless applications is driving the demand for advanced observability and monitoring tools. Providers are offering better integrations with monitoring services (like AWS CloudWatch or Datadog) to track function execution, performance, and failures.
• FaaS for Machine Learning and AI Workloads: The use of FaaS is expanding into machine learning (ML) and AI, where serverless architectures are ideal for running ML inference jobs in response to events or API requests.
• Edge Computing Integration: There is a rising trend of integrating FaaS with edge computing, where functions are executed closer to the user, reducing latency and improving performance. Major cloud providers are introducing edge-computing support, allowing for serverless functions to run on edge nodes, making applications faster and more resilient.
• Vendor Lock-In and Interoperability Challenges: While FaaS offers a lot of flexibility, concerns about vendor lock-in remain, as it can be difficult to move applications between providers due to platform-specific configurations and services.
• Evolving Cost Models: Providers are continuously adjusting cost structures to make serverless more cost-effective, including offering new pricing models based on resource usage like memory, CPU, and duration of execution.
• Serverless Databases: The rise of serverless databases is complementing FaaS, where databases automatically scale up or down based on demand, without requiring the management of server instances.
• Greater Focus on Cost Optimization Tools: As serverless applications grow in complexity, managing and optimizing costs becomes a key priority. Providers are offering better tools to monitor and manage resource consumption and cost control.

How To Select the Right Function as a Service (FaaS) Provider

Selecting the right Function as a Service (FaaS) provider requires careful consideration of several factors to ensure the solution fits your business needs. One of the first aspects to look at is the provider’s performance and scalability. You want to choose a service that can scale effortlessly with your workload, whether it's handling small requests or massive traffic spikes. The provider should offer quick execution times and the ability to automatically scale the number of functions to match demand.

Next, consider the provider's pricing structure. Since FaaS typically operates on a pay-as-you-go model, it's important to understand how the pricing works based on the number of executions, execution duration, and resource usage. Some providers may have a free tier, which can be useful for small applications or testing, but knowing the costs as your usage grows will help avoid surprises.

Another key factor is integration with your existing infrastructure. Make sure the FaaS provider integrates well with the tools and services you’re already using, such as databases, storage solutions, or other cloud-native services. This reduces complexity and accelerates development. Look for providers that offer broad language support and allow you to work with the languages and frameworks you are most comfortable with.

Security is also a priority when selecting a FaaS provider. Evaluate the security features they offer, such as identity and access management, data encryption, and compliance with industry standards like GDPR or HIPAA, especially if you’re working with sensitive data. Ensuring the provider has strong security practices is essential to protect both your application and your users.

Lastly, consider the provider's documentation and developer support. A good FaaS provider should offer comprehensive documentation and customer support to help troubleshoot issues and guide you through best practices. This is especially important if you’re new to serverless computing. Access to active communities and forums can also be a valuable resource as you build and deploy your functions.

On this page you will find available tools to compare function as a service (FaaS) providers prices, features, integrations and more for you to choose the best software.