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AWS App Runner

AWS App Runner turns source code or a container image into an automatically built, deployed, load-balanced, and scaled web service.

Explore pricing models, common use cases, infrastructure support, and the AWS services that commonly work with AWS App Runner.

AWS App Runner pricing and cost programs

Pricing model: Provisioned and active container compute

On-Demand
Available
Reserved Instances or reserved capacity
Not applicable
Savings Plans
Service-specific
Spot
Not applicable

Billing dimensions: Provisioned memory · Active vCPU and memory · Build time · Data transfer

Programs and modes: Automatic deployments · Provisioned container instances

App Runner charges for provisioned memory and active compute; underlying resource discounts are not assumed.

Free Tier: Service-specific — verify current offers

Pricing reviewed 2026-07-25. Reviewed against the linked official AWS pricing page. Recheck regional rates and program terms before purchase.

Official AWS pricing

Official AWS sources reviewed 2026-07-21.

Why implement AWS App Runner?

  • Reduces platform work for HTTP applications by managing builds, deployments, TLS endpoints, load balancing, health checks, and scaling.
  • Accepts either a supported source repository or an ECR image, making it useful for small teams that want a short path from code to a managed service.
  • Provides service logs and metrics while still supporting IAM roles, secrets, custom domains, and outbound VPC connectivity.

How to implement AWS App Runner

  1. Choose a source repository or ECR image and define the build command, start command, listening port, and automatic or manual deployment mode.
  2. Configure CPU, memory, health checks, auto scaling, environment values, secret references, and an instance role for AWS API access.
  3. Add a custom domain and observability; use a VPC connector only when the service needs private outbound access to VPC resources.

AWS App Runner best practices

  • Give the build access role and runtime instance role only the permissions each phase needs.
  • Store sensitive values in Secrets Manager or Systems Manager Parameter Store rather than plain-text environment variables.
  • Set realistic health checks and auto-scaling limits, review deployment and application logs, and account for the one-time startup latency of a new VPC connector.

AWS App Runner use cases and server impact

  • Stateless web applications
  • Public HTTP APIs
  • Containerized services that do not need Kubernetes or host control

Replaces web-server provisioning, deployment plumbing, load balancing, and routine scaling for supported stateless services.

Official implementation resources

Commonly paired AWS services

Planning guides that use AWS App Runner