Ministack (Replacement for LocalStack)

MiniStack

The free LocalStackreplacement
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.

$docker run -p 4566:4566
    nahuelnucera/ministackcopy





  ⚠️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, replicationREST/XML
  
  
    📨
    SQS
    Queues, FIFO, DLQ, batch, visibilityJSON+Query
  
  
    📢
    SNS
    Topics, subscriptions, fanout to SQS, batch publishQuery/XML
  
  
    🗃️
    DynamoDB
    Tables, CRUD, query, scan, transactions, TTL, GSIJSON
  
  
    ⚡
    Lambda
    Real Python execution, warm workers, SQS event source mapping, LayersREST/JSON
  
  
    🔐
    IAM
    Users, roles, policies, groups, instance profiles, OIDCQuery/XML
  
  
    🎫
    STS
    CallerIdentity, AssumeRole, GetSessionTokenQuery/XML
  
  
    🔑
    Secrets Manager
    CRUD, versioning, rotation, resource policiesJSON
  
  
    📊
    CW Logs
    Groups, streams, retention, subscription filters, metric filters, InsightsJSON
  
  
    📐
    SSM Params
    String, SecureString, paths, labels, tagsJSON
  
  
    🚌
    EventBridge
    Buses, rules, targets, Lambda dispatch, archives, permissionsJSON
  
  
    🌊
    Kinesis
    Streams, split/merge shards, consumers, encryption, monitoringJSON
  
  
    📈
    CW Metrics
    Metrics, alarms, composite alarms, dashboards, alarm historyQuery/CBOR
  
  
    ✉️
    SES
    Send email/raw/templated, identities, configuration setsQuery/XML
  
  
    🔄
    Step Functions
    Full ASL engine, sync execution, task tokens, all state typesJSON
  
  
    🌐
    API Gateway v2
    HTTP APIs, Lambda proxy, path params, execute-api data planeREST/JSON
  
  
    🔌
    API Gateway v1
    REST APIs, resources, methods, integrations, stages, MOCK, Lambda proxy format 1.0REST/JSON
  
  
    🐘
    RDS
    Real Postgres/MySQL containersReal Docker
  
  
    🔴
    ElastiCache
    Real Redis/Memcached containers, users, user groupsReal
      Docker
  
  
    🐳
    ECS
    RunTask starts real containers, capacity providersReal Docker
  
  
    🧪
    Glue
    Catalog, crawlers, jobs, triggers, workflowsReal Exec
  
  
    🔍
    Athena
    Real SQL via DuckDB (optional), data catalogs, prepared statementsDuckDB
  
  
    🚒
    Firehose
    Delivery streams, PutRecord/PutRecordBatch, S3 delivery, encryption, tagsREST/JSON
  
  
    🌐
    Route53
    Hosted zones, record sets (CREATE/UPSERT/DELETE), health checks, tags, alias recordsREST/XML
  
  
    🔒
    Cognito
    User pools, auth flows, TOTP MFA, identity pools, federated credentialsJSON
  
  
    🖥️
    EC2
    Instances, VPCs, subnets, security groups, route tables, ENIs, elastic IPs, NAT gateways, NACLs,
      flow logs, VPC peering, DHCP options, egress-only IGWsQuery/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 LocalStackQuery/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 LocalStackQuery/XML
  
  
    🔐
    ACM
    Request, import, describe certificates; DNS validation records; SANs; tagsJSON
  
  
    ✉️
    SES v2
    SendEmail, identities, configuration sets, account suppression — REST APIREST/JSON
  
  
    🛡️
    WAF v2
    WebACLs, IP sets, rule groups, resource associations, LockToken enforcement — Pro-only on
      LocalStackJSON
  






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.

$docker run -p 4566:4566
    nahuelnucera/ministackcopy