https://ministack.org/ MiniStackMiniStack Services Compare Features Star The free LocalStack replacement LocalStack is no longer free. MiniStack is. 33 AWS services on a single port -- with real Postgres, Redis, and Docker containers. No account, no license key, no telemetry. View on GitHub Docker Hub $docker run -p 4566:4566 nahuelnucera/ministackcopy 33 AWS Services ~2s Startup ~30MB RAM at idle 150MB Docker Image 763 Tests passing [?][?] LocalStack moved core services behind a paid plan. If you relied on LocalStack Community for local dev and CI/CD, MiniStack is your free, MIT-licensed drop-in replacement. No sign-up, no API key, no telemetry. ministack -- bash # Start MiniStack $ docker run -p 4566:4566 nahuelnucera/ministack # Works with any AWS tool -- no config changes $ aws --endpoint-url= http://localhost:4566 s3 mb s3://my-bucket make_bucket: my-bucket # Real database -- RDS spins up actual Postgres $ aws --endpoint-url= http://localhost:4566 rds create-db-instance \ --db-instance-identifier mydb --engine postgres \ --master-username admin --master-user-password secret Real Postgres container running on localhost:15432 # Real Redis via ElastiCache $ aws --endpoint-url= http://localhost:4566 elasticache \ create-cache-cluster --cache-cluster-id my-redis --engine redis Real Redis container running on localhost:16379 --------------------------------------------------------------------- 33 Services Everything you need, locally Core AWS services plus real infrastructure -- RDS runs actual databases, ElastiCache runs real Redis, ECS starts real Docker containers, Athena executes real SQL via DuckDB (when installed). S3 Buckets, objects, versioning, encryption, lifecycle, CORS, Object Lock, replication REST/XML SQS Queues, FIFO, DLQ, batch, visibility JSON+Query SNS Topics, subscriptions, fanout to SQS, batch publish Query/XML [?] DynamoDB Tables, CRUD, query, scan, transactions, TTL, GSI JSON [?] Lambda Real Python execution, warm workers, SQS event source mapping, Layers REST/JSON IAM Users, roles, policies, groups, instance profiles, OIDC Query/XML STS CallerIdentity, AssumeRole, GetSessionToken Query/XML Secrets Manager CRUD, versioning, rotation, resource policies JSON CW Logs Groups, streams, retention, subscription filters, metric filters, Insights JSON SSM Params String, SecureString, paths, labels, tags JSON EventBridge Buses, rules, targets, Lambda dispatch, archives, permissions JSON Kinesis Streams, split/merge shards, consumers, encryption, monitoring JSON CW Metrics Metrics, alarms, composite alarms, dashboards, alarm history Query/CBOR [?] SES Send email/raw/templated, identities, configuration sets Query/XML Step Functions Full ASL engine, sync execution, task tokens, all state types JSON API Gateway v2 HTTP APIs, Lambda proxy, path params, execute-api data plane REST/JSON API Gateway v1 REST APIs, resources, methods, integrations, stages, MOCK, Lambda proxy format 1.0 REST/JSON RDS Real Postgres/MySQL containers Real Docker ElastiCache Real Redis/Memcached containers, users, user groups Real Docker ECS RunTask starts real containers, capacity providers Real Docker Glue Catalog, crawlers, jobs, triggers, workflows Real Exec Athena Real SQL via DuckDB (optional), data catalogs, prepared statements DuckDB Firehose Delivery streams, PutRecord/PutRecordBatch, S3 delivery, encryption, tags REST/JSON Route53 Hosted zones, record sets (CREATE/UPSERT/DELETE), health checks, tags, alias records REST/XML Cognito User pools, auth flows, TOTP MFA, identity pools, federated credentials JSON [?] EC2 Instances, VPCs, subnets, security groups, route tables, ENIs, elastic IPs, NAT gateways, NACLs, flow logs, VPC peering, DHCP options, egress-only IGWs Query/XML [?] EMR Clusters, steps, instance groups/fleets, bootstrap actions, tags -- Pro-only on LocalStack JSON EBS Volumes, snapshots, attach/detach, modify, copy -- Pro-only on LocalStack Query/XML EFS File systems, mount targets, access points, lifecycle, backup policy -- Pro-only on LocalStack REST/JSON [?][?] ALB / ELBv2 Load balancers, target groups, listeners, rules, Lambda targets + live data-plane routing -- Pro-only on LocalStack Query/XML ACM Request, import, describe certificates; DNS validation records; SANs; tags JSON [?] SES v2 SendEmail, identities, configuration sets, account suppression -- REST API REST/JSON [?] WAF v2 WebACLs, IP sets, rule groups, resource associations, LockToken enforcement -- Pro-only on LocalStack JSON --------------------------------------------------------------------- Comparison LocalStack vs MiniStack Same developer experience. Fraction of the cost and footprint. Feature LocalStack LocalStack MiniStack [?] Free Pro Core services (S3, SQS, DDB...) Now paid Free Lambda, IAM, SSM, EventBridge Paid Free Real RDS (real DB containers) Postgres/ MySQL ElastiCache (real Redis) Real Redis ECS (real Docker) Real Docker Athena (real SQL) DuckDB (optional) Glue Catalog + Jobs API Gateway v2 (HTTP APIs) + data plane API Gateway v1 (REST APIs) + data plane Firehose S3 delivery Route53 Cognito (user pools + identity) Paid Free EC2 (instances, VPC, subnets, Paid Free SGs) EMR (clusters, steps, instance Paid Free groups) EBS (volumes, snapshots, attach Paid Free /detach) EFS (file systems, mount Paid Free targets, access points) ALB / ELBv2 (LBs, listeners, Paid Free rules + Lambda data plane) SNS-SQS fanout + SQS-Lambda ESM Startup time ~15-30s ~15-30s ~2s Memory at idle ~500MB ~500MB ~30MB Docker image ~1 GB ~1 GB 150 MB License BSL Proprietary MIT (restricted) Price Now paid $35+/mo $0 forever --------------------------------------------------------------------- Built different Real infrastructure, not mocks Where it matters most -- RDS, ElastiCache, and ECS run real Docker containers. No fake endpoints, no stubbed responses. Real databases via RDS CreateDBInstance spins up an actual Postgres or MySQL Docker container. Connect with psycopg2 -- it's a real database. Real Redis via ElastiCache CreateCacheCluster starts an actual Redis container. Use redis-py, run SUBSCRIBE, use it as your session store. Real containers via ECS RunTask pulls and starts real Docker containers via the Docker socket. Test your ECS task definitions locally. Real SQL via Athena Queries execute via DuckDB when installed. Query S3 data with actual SQL, get actual result sets back. Falls back to mock results without it. Full SDK compatibility Works with boto3, AWS CLI, Terraform, CDK, Pulumi -- any tool that speaks the AWS API. MIT licensed forever No BSL, no feature gates, no "community" vs "pro". Every service is free. Fork it, embed it. MIT is MIT. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Stop paying for local development One command. 33 services. Real infrastructure. Free. GitHub Docker Hub $docker run -p 4566:4566 nahuelnucera/ministackcopy Built by Nahuel * GitHub * MIT License * 2026