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 Free LocalStack Pro MiniStack ⚡
Core services (S3, SQS, DDB…) Now paid ✅ ✅ Free
Lambda, IAM, SSM, EventBridge Paid ✅ ✅ Free
RDS (real DB containers) ❌ ✅ ✅ Real 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, SGs) Paid ✅ ✅ Free
EMR (clusters, steps, instance groups) Paid ✅ ✅ Free
EBS (volumes, snapshots, attach/detach) Paid ✅ ✅ Free
EFS (file systems, mount targets, access points) Paid ✅ ✅ Free
ALB / ELBv2 (LBs, listeners, rules + Lambda data plane) Paid ✅ ✅ Free
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 (restricted) Proprietary MIT
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