# Amazon SQS vs Inngest

Canonical: https://inetgeek.com/compare/amazon-sqs-vs-inngest/

Every value below is read from Amazon SQS's and Inngest's own documentation. See https://inetgeek.com/methodology/ for how.

## At a glance

| Criterion | Amazon SQS | Inngest |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | No paid plan or minimum fee; billed per request after the free 1 million requests a month. | $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top. |
| Pricing model | Per request, not per message: every API action counts, and a 1 MiB payload is billed as 16 requests. FIFO queues cost $0.50 per million against standard's $0.40 in us-east-1, and fair queue requests add $0.10 per million on top of the standard rate. | Per execution, where a step counts the same as a run, plus separate meters for events ingested, span data, scores and realtime connections. The pricing page ships a calculator because the execution count is not the run count. |
| Regions | 34 commercial AWS Regions plus 2 AWS GovCloud (US) Regions listed in the SQS service endpoints table. | All customer data hosted on AWS databases located in the United States; no other region offered on the security page. |
| Included per month | 1,000,000 requests a month free, permanently and across all regions. Beyond that, standard queues are $0.40 per million in us-east-1, falling to $0.30 above 100 billion and $0.24 above 200 billion. | 50,000 executions a month on the free Hobby plan and 1,000,000 on Pro, pay-as-you-go to 20M. An execution is one function run or one step, so a run with two steps counts as three. |
| Maximum message size | 256 KB per message. A single request carries 1 to 10 messages up to 1 MiB total, and each 64 KB chunk of payload is billed as one request. | 4 MiB per step-returned payload; 32 MiB total function run state; 10 MiB hard cap per event batch. |
| Message retention | 4 days by default; configurable from 60 seconds up to 14 days per queue. | Queue depth rather than a time window: 100,000 queued items on the free plan and 1,000,000 or more on Pro. Trace retention is 7 days on Pro and 90 on Enterprise. |
| Maximum delay | 15 minutes maximum per-message delay (message timer) or per-queue delay; default is 0 seconds. | Step sleeps up to 1 year on paid plans; the free plan supports sleeps up to 7 days. |
| Concurrency | Approximately 120,000 in-flight messages per standard queue (received but not yet deleted); API call rate on standard queues is nearly unlimited. | 5 concurrent steps on the free plan, 100 or more on Pro, custom on Enterprise. |
| SOC 2 | Listed as SOC-compliant on AWS's own compliance scope page. | SOC 2 Type II compliant; report available on request via the trust center. |
| HIPAA | Listed as a HIPAA-eligible service on AWS's own reference page. | HIPAA BAAs offered as an add-on for healthcare compliance (Enterprise column of the pricing table). |
| Encryption at rest | Server-side encryption of queue contents with SQS-managed keys (SSE-SQS) or AWS KMS keys (SSE-KMS). | All data in Inngest databases is encrypted at rest and in transit; optional encryption middleware lets you bring your own key. |
| Customer-managed keys | Supported via SSE-KMS: queues can use a customer managed KMS key created and policy-controlled in AWS KMS. | Bring-your-own-key via SDK encryption middleware that encrypts payloads client-side before they reach Inngest; not a server-side KMS option. |
| Role-based access control | IAM identity-based policies on users, groups and roles plus resource-based queue policies control access to queues and actions. | SAML, RBAC and audit trails listed as Enterprise plan features. |

## Where they differ

### Entry paid plan

- Amazon SQS: No paid plan or minimum fee; billed per request after the free 1 million requests a month. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/sqs/pricing/))
- Inngest: $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### Pricing model

- Amazon SQS: Per request, not per message: every API action counts, and a 1 MiB payload is billed as 16 requests. FIFO queues cost $0.50 per million against standard's $0.40 in us-east-1, and fair queue requests add $0.10 per million on top of the standard rate. ([source](https://pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/offers/v1.0/aws/AWSQueueService/current/us-east-1/index.json))
- Inngest: Per execution, where a step counts the same as a run, plus separate meters for events ingested, span data, scores and realtime connections. The pricing page ships a calculator because the execution count is not the run count. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### Regions

- Amazon SQS: 34 commercial AWS Regions plus 2 AWS GovCloud (US) Regions listed in the SQS service endpoints table. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/sqs-service.html))
- Inngest: All customer data hosted on AWS databases located in the United States; no other region offered on the security page. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/security))

### Included per month

- Amazon SQS: 1,000,000 requests a month free, permanently and across all regions. Beyond that, standard queues are $0.40 per million in us-east-1, falling to $0.30 above 100 billion and $0.24 above 200 billion. ([source](https://pricing.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/offers/v1.0/aws/AWSQueueService/current/us-east-1/index.json))
- Inngest: 50,000 executions a month on the free Hobby plan and 1,000,000 on Pro, pay-as-you-go to 20M. An execution is one function run or one step, so a run with two steps counts as three. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### Maximum message size

- Amazon SQS: 256 KB per message. A single request carries 1 to 10 messages up to 1 MiB total, and each 64 KB chunk of payload is billed as one request. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/sqs/pricing/))
- Inngest: 4 MiB per step-returned payload; 32 MiB total function run state; 10 MiB hard cap per event batch. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/docs/usage-limits/inngest))

### Message retention

- Amazon SQS: 4 days by default; configurable from 60 seconds up to 14 days per queue. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/quotas-messages.html))
- Inngest: Queue depth rather than a time window: 100,000 queued items on the free plan and 1,000,000 or more on Pro. Trace retention is 7 days on Pro and 90 on Enterprise. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### Maximum delay

- Amazon SQS: 15 minutes maximum per-message delay (message timer) or per-queue delay; default is 0 seconds. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/quotas-messages.html))
- Inngest: Step sleeps up to 1 year on paid plans; the free plan supports sleeps up to 7 days. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/docs/usage-limits/inngest))

### Concurrency

- Amazon SQS: Approximately 120,000 in-flight messages per standard queue (received but not yet deleted); API call rate on standard queues is nearly unlimited. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/quotas-queues.html))
- Inngest: 5 concurrent steps on the free plan, 100 or more on Pro, custom on Enterprise. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### SOC 2

- Amazon SQS: Listed as SOC-compliant on AWS's own compliance scope page. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/services-in-scope/SOC/))
- Inngest: SOC 2 Type II compliant; report available on request via the trust center. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/security))

### HIPAA

- Amazon SQS: Listed as a HIPAA-eligible service on AWS's own reference page. ([source](https://aws.amazon.com/compliance/hipaa-eligible-services-reference/))
- Inngest: HIPAA BAAs offered as an add-on for healthcare compliance (Enterprise column of the pricing table). ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

### Encryption at rest

- Amazon SQS: Server-side encryption of queue contents with SQS-managed keys (SSE-SQS) or AWS KMS keys (SSE-KMS). ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/sqs-server-side-encryption.html))
- Inngest: All data in Inngest databases is encrypted at rest and in transit; optional encryption middleware lets you bring your own key. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/docs/learn/security))

### Customer-managed keys

- Amazon SQS: Supported via SSE-KMS: queues can use a customer managed KMS key created and policy-controlled in AWS KMS. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/sqs-server-side-encryption.html))
- Inngest: Bring-your-own-key via SDK encryption middleware that encrypts payloads client-side before they reach Inngest; not a server-side KMS option. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/docs/learn/security))

### Role-based access control

- Amazon SQS: IAM identity-based policies on users, groups and roles plus resource-based queue policies control access to queues and actions. ([source](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/AWSSimpleQueueService/latest/SQSDeveloperGuide/sqs-overview-of-managing-access.html))
- Inngest: SAML, RBAC and audit trails listed as Enterprise plan features. ([source](https://www.inngest.com/pricing))

## Which should you choose?

Pick Amazon SQS if AWS-resident systems that want a queue with a permanent free million requests a month and no capacity to plan — SQS scales without a throughput setting to choose.

Pick Inngest if Multi-step workflows that need durable execution and retries between steps, rather than a bare queue you write a consumer for.

Consider something else: Amazon SQS — Billing is per request rather than per message, and a 1 MiB payload counts as sixteen, so chatty polling or large messages cost far more than the message count suggests.

Consider something else: Inngest — Every step is a billable execution, so a three-step workflow costs three times what the run count implies, and the free plan allows five concurrent steps.

## Documented by only one

- Dead letter queue: Amazon SQS: Supported
- ISO 27001: Amazon SQS: Covered under AWS's account-wide ISO/IEC 27001:2022 certification — not scoped per-service the way SOC, HIPAA and PCI DSS are on AWS's own site.
- GDPR / data residency: Amazon SQS: AWS customers can process personal data on all AWS services in compliance with GDPR, and choose the storage type and geographic region for their data.
- PCI DSS: Amazon SQS: Listed as PCI DSS-compliant on AWS's own compliance scope page.
- Private networking / VPC: Amazon SQS: Interface VPC endpoints (AWS PrivateLink) let a VPC reach SQS privately, including FIPS endpoints; HTTPS endpoints only.

## Questions this comparison answers

**Entry paid plan: Amazon SQS or Inngest?**

Amazon SQS: No paid plan or minimum fee; billed per request after the free 1 million requests a month.
Inngest: $99/month for Pro, described as a starting price with usage above the included allowance billed on top.

**Should I choose Amazon SQS or Inngest?**

Pick Amazon SQS if AWS-resident systems that want a queue with a permanent free million requests a month and no capacity to plan — SQS scales without a throughput setting to choose.
Pick Inngest if Multi-step workflows that need durable execution and retries between steps, rather than a bare queue you write a consumer for.