A First Look at AWS App Runner

AWS App Runner, launched in May 2021, is a managed cloud service designed to simplify container deployment for web applications and APIs without the need for intricate infrastructure management. It leverages Amazon ECS and Fargate under the hood but abstracts these complexities away from the user, providing features like simple autoscaling, load balancing, and SSL-enabled endpoints. App Runner supports two operational modes: build mode, which automatically builds applications from GitHub for Python and Node.js, and container mode, which deploys Docker-compatible images from AWS ECR registries. While it offers ease of use compared to services like AWS Lambda and Google Cloud Run, it doesn't allow scaling down to zero instances, requiring at least one active instance at all times. However, it provides more resources and easier cost estimation than some alternatives. Developers can integrate App Runner with CI/CD tools like Semaphore to automate continuous deployment, making it particularly appealing for small-scale projects or those new to containerized applications.