How to ship an MVP on AWS Free Tier: a minimal stack, the steps in order, and how to avoid a surprise bill at the end of the month.


# ₱0 to MVP: AWS Free-Tier Startup Hacks

## _Build something real, in 2025_

---

**Ship your MVP this weekend on 1M+ free Lambda requests**

_A serverless stack, sized against the current AWS Free Tier_


Title Slide


# The numbers first

- Thomson Reuters runs 4,000 events per second, entirely serverless
- DynamoDB pricing dropped 50% in 2024
- 1M Lambda requests a month, free with no expiry
- Production apps in days, not months

---

## What that buys you

_Teams are shipping MVPs on this stack in a weekend_


Hook


# Agenda

- Problem, why, concepts
- Case study
- Demo steps
- Best practices
- Pitfalls, Q&A
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    ⌚ ~22 minutes + Q&A
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Agenda


# The Problem

- Cloud bills scare builders
- Too many choices
- **Analysis paralysis** 😵‍
- Security doubts
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      Result: Great ideas never ship
    </div>
  </div>


The Problem


# Why It Matters

- Validate ideas fast
- Build real, not slides
- Grow cloud skills
- Control costs early
  <TwoCol
    left={
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        <strong>Building beats planning</strong>
        <br />
        Real user feedback > Perfect mockups
      </div>
    }
    right={
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        <strong>Skills that pay</strong>
        <br />
        Cloud experience shows up on your CV
      </div>
    }
  />


Why It Matters


# What is an MVP?

## Minimum Viable Product

_The smallest version that tests your riskiest assumption_

---

### The MVP Formula:

1. Pick one user job and ignore the rest
2. Ship the simplest solution that tests it
3. Learn from real usage instead of opinions
4. Change what the data tells you to change

---

### Ship it, watch what happens, then change it


Key Concept: MVP


# AWS Free Tier 2025: Major Updates

## Always Free, no expiration

- **Lambda:** 1M requests + 400K GB-seconds monthly
- **DynamoDB:** 25GB storage (**50% cheaper pricing**)
- **S3:** 5GB + 20K GET + 2K PUT requests
- **CloudFront:** 1TB data out + 10M requests
- **SNS:** 1M publishes

---

## 12-month free, new accounts only

- EC2:** 750 hours t3.micro + **750 IPv4 hours
- **RDS:** 750 hours db.t3.micro + 20GB storage

---

## After July 15, 2025: New rules for account types


Key Concept: AWS Free Tier


# Modern Serverless Stack 2025

## Frontend

- **Next.js 15** + React 18 (SSR/SSG)
- **AWS Amplify** or **Vercel** deployment
- **S3 + CloudFront** for static assets

## Backend

- **Lambda** functions (Node.js/Python)
- **API Gateway v2** (HTTP APIs - 70% cheaper)
- **DynamoDB** with on-demand pricing

## Auth & Monitoring

- **Amazon Cognito** (50K free users)
- **CloudWatch** logs & monitoring

---

## Framework: SST (Serverless Stack)

_Deploy in minutes, not hours_


Key Concept: Architecture Choices


# Real Case Study: Autodesk Tailor

## Challenge: manage thousands of AWS accounts

## Solution: full serverless in one month

- **Frontend:** React + S3/CloudFront
- **API:** Lambda + API Gateway v2 (**70% cheaper**)
- **Database:** DynamoDB with warm throughput
- **Auth:** Cognito (enterprise SSO)
- **Monitoring:** CloudWatch + X-Ray

---

## Results

- **1 month** to production
- **Auto-scales** to handle spikes
- **99.9%** uptime
- **$0** server management

---

## Your turn: Start with this proven pattern


Case Study: Simple SaaS


# Demo Steps: Setup & Deploy

- Create AWS account
- Bootstrap Next.js app
- Connect repo in Amplify
- Deploy main branch
- Verify HTTPS domain

<Code language="bash">
npx create-next-app@latest my-saas
cd my-saas
git init && git add . && git commit -m "Initial commit"
git remote add origin <your-repo>
git push -u origin main
</Code>

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    ✅ Result: Live HTTPS site in ~5 minutes
  </div>
</div>


Demo Steps: Setup & Deploy


# Demo Steps: Auth & Data

- Add Cognito user pool
- Create REST API
- Add Lambda function
- Create DynamoDB table
- Wire calls in Next.js
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        🔐 Auth Flow
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        Sign up → Confirm → Sign in → JWT token
      </div>
    </div>
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        💾 Data Flow
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        API call → Lambda → DynamoDB → Response
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>


Demo Steps: Auth & Data


# MVP Best Practices 2025

## Cost Management (Critical)

- Set AWS Budgets to alert you at 80% of Free Tier usage
- Enable Cost Explorer and check daily spend
- Add CloudWatch billing alarms for SMS alerts
- Clean up resources as soon as you are done with them

---

## New: Gamified Learning Credits

- Complete AWS tutorials to earn extra credits
- Deploy sample apps for bonus allowances
- Attend AWS events for Free Tier extensions

---

## Deployment Strategy

- **Infrastructure as Code** (AWS CDK/SST)
- **GitHub Actions** CI/CD
- **Blue/green deployments** with Lambda versions


Best Practices


# Expensive Mistakes to Avoid

## Critical (Can close account)

- Exceeding Free Plan limits, which closes the account automatically
- Not monitoring usage, so a surprise bill closes it for you
- IPv4 address charges, now covered for 750 hours
- Running EC2 in a region the Free Tier does not cover

---

## Costly Surprises

- DynamoDB cold starts: use the warm throughput setting
- API Gateway v1 costs 70% more than v2
- Data transfer charges: keep services in the same AZ
- A forgotten NAT Gateway is $45 a month, each

---

## Security Risks

- Public S3 buckets: turn on Block Public Access
- Keys hardcoded into GitHub: use AWS Secrets Manager


Common Pitfalls


# Resources & Links

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  <div>
    <h3 className="text-lg font-bold mb-4">🔗 Essential Links</h3>
    <ul className="space-y-2 text-sm">
      <li>
        • <strong>AWS Free Tier:</strong> aws.amazon.com/free
      </li>
      <li>
        • <strong>Free Tier FAQs:</strong> aws.amazon.com/free/free-tier-faqs/
      </li>
      <li>
        • <strong>Amplify + Next.js:</strong>{' '}
        docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/getting-started-next.html
      </li>
      <li>
        • <strong>Serverless Web App:</strong>{' '}
        aws.amazon.com/serverless/build-a-web-app/
      </li>
      <li>
        • <strong>DynamoDB Guide:</strong>{' '}
        docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb/latest/developerguide/GettingStartedDynamoDB.html
      </li>
      <li>
        • <strong>Well-Architected:</strong>{' '}
        aws.amazon.com/architecture/well-architected/
      </li>
    </ul>
  </div>
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    <div className="w-32 h-32 bg-gray-200 dark:bg-dark-300 rounded-none mx-auto mb-4 flex items-center justify-center text-4xl">
      📱
    </div>
    <div className="text-lg font-bold">QR Code</div>
    <div className="text-sm text-gray-600 dark:text-dark-600">
      Scan for all resources
    </div>
    <div className="text-sm mt-2 font-mono">example.com/aws-mvp</div>
  </div>
</div>


Key Takeaways


# Questions?

---

### Scan QR for resources

**📱**

**example.com/aws-mvp**

_All starter code and resources_



# Your 48-Hour Action Plan

## Today (30 minutes)

- Create an AWS account for the 12-month and Always Free tiers
- Set up billing alerts before you deploy anything
- Clone the SST starter

## Tomorrow (2 hours)

- Deploy your first API on Lambda and API Gateway
- Add authentication with Cognito
- Connect a DynamoDB table

## Weekend (4 hours)

- Build the one feature that makes you different
- Deploy to production on a real domain
- Get your first user feedback, then validate or pivot

---

## Two days of work gets you a real deployment

**And the AWS experience is yours to keep**

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# Resources

github.com/sst/examples for production-ready templates

aws.amazon.com/free to track your usage


Presenter Notes