Amazon SQS vs Trigger.dev
SEPT 2026 auditA comparison of Amazon SQS and Trigger.dev built from values read directly from each provider's own documentation, with the source recorded against every figure.
The short answer
Choose 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.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Choose Trigger.dev if…
Teams that want background jobs written as normal code with the bill expressed as compute credits rather than a per-message meter.
Editorial · Palash Bagchi · approved
Consider something else if…
- 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.
- Trigger.dev: Concurrency is the axis that forces an upgrade — 20 simultaneous runs on free, 50 on Hobby, then $10 a month per additional 50.
12 sourced criteria separate them — see where, with sources, below.
Pick the criteria you care about. The chart counts how many of them lean toward each provider — the same read as scanning the bars below, just totalled for the ones you chose.
Amazon SQS 0
Trigger.dev 0
At a glance.
| Criterion | Amazon SQS | Trigger.dev |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | ||
| Free tier | Yes | Yes |
| Entry paid plan | No paid plan or minimum fee; billed per request after the free 1 million requests a month. | $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits. |
| 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. | A monthly plan fee that is also a credit balance — the fee buys compute rather than sitting on top of it — with concurrency, preview branches, dashboards and schedules each priced as separate add-ons beyond the plan's allowance. |
| Queues | ||
| 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. | Credits rather than a message or execution count: $5 a month free, $10 included on Hobby and $50 on Pro, spent against compute. |
| 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. | 3 MB per trigger payload (each batch item up to 3 MB on SDK 4.3.1+); task outputs up to 10 MB; payloads over 512 KB offloaded to object storage. |
| Message retention | 4 days by default; configurable from 60 seconds up to 14 days per queue. | Log retention of 1 day on the free plan, 7 days on Hobby and 30 days on Pro, with the query period matching. |
| Concurrency | Approximately 120,000 in-flight messages per standard queue (received but not yet deleted); API call rate on standard queues is nearly unlimited. | 20 concurrent runs on the free plan, 50 on Hobby, and more on Pro at $10 a month per additional 50. |
| Compliance | ||
| SOC 2 | Listed as SOC-compliant on AWS's own compliance scope page. | SOC 2 Type II compliant; latest report available on request for Enterprise customers. |
| HIPAA | Listed as a HIPAA-eligible service on AWS's own reference page. | Meets HIPAA Business Associate requirements; a signed BAA is a paid add-on for running PHI workloads on Trigger.dev Cloud. |
| GDPR / data residency | 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. | Stated GDPR compliant; DPA forms part of the Terms of Service automatically on sign-up. |
| Encryption at rest | Server-side encryption of queue contents with SQS-managed keys (SSE-SQS) or AWS KMS keys (SSE-KMS). | Data encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with HTTPS/TLS. |
| Role-based access control | IAM identity-based policies on users, groups and roles plus resource-based queue policies control access to queues and actions. | Role-based access control (RBAC) and SSO listed as Enterprise plan features. |
| Private networking / VPC | Interface VPC endpoints (AWS PrivateLink) let a VPC reach SQS privately, including FIPS endpoints; HTTPS endpoints only. | AWS PrivateLink to resources in your own AWS VPC; a Pro and Enterprise feature enabled on request. |
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.
- Trigger.dev
- $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon SQS Pricing ↗
“With AWS SQS, you pay only for what you use and there is no minimum fee.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“Hobby $10/month [...] $10 / month credits included [...] Pro $50/month [...] $50 / month credits included”
Read 2026-09-06 · official 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.
- Trigger.dev
- A monthly plan fee that is also a credit balance — the fee buys compute rather than sitting on top of it — with concurrency, preview branches, dashboards and schedules each priced as separate add-ons beyond the plan's allowance.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- AWS Price List API — AWSQueueService, us-east-1 ↗
“"$0.50 per million Amazon SQS FIFO requests in Tier1 in US East" [...] "$0.40 per million Amazon SQS standard requests in Tier1" [...] "$0.10 per million Amazon SQS fair queue requests in US East"”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“$10 / month credits included [...] Then $10/month per 50 [...] Then $20/month per seat [...] Then $10/month per branch [...] Then $10/month per 1,000”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
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.
- Trigger.dev
- Credits rather than a message or execution count: $5 a month free, $10 included on Hobby and $50 on Pro, spent against compute.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- AWS Price List API — AWSQueueService, us-east-1 ↗
“"First 1,000,000 Amazon SQS Requests per month are free" [...] "$0.40 per million Amazon SQS standard requests in Tier1 in US East" [...] "$0.30 per million ... Tier2" [...] "$0.24 per million ... Tier3"”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“$5 / month free credits [...] $10 / month credits included [...] $50 / month credits included”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
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.
3 MB per trigger payload (each batch item up to 3 MB on SDK 4.3.1+); task outputs up to 10 MB; payloads over 512 KB offloaded to object storage.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon SQS Pricing — AWS ↗
“A single request can have from 1 to 10 messages, up to a maximum total payload of 1 MiB. [...] Each 64 KB chunk of a payload is billed as 1 request (for example, an API action with a 1 MiB payload is billed as 16 requests).”
Read 2026-09-06 · official docs
- Limits - Trigger.dev ↗
“Single trigger payload Must not exceed 3MB Batch trigger payload Each item can be up to 3MB (SDK 4.3.1+). Prior: 1MB total combined Task outputs Must not exceed 10MB”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
Message retention
4 days by default; configurable from 60 seconds up to 14 days per queue.
Log retention of 1 day on the free plan, 7 days on Hobby and 30 days on Pro, with the query period matching.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon SQS message quotas - Amazon Simple Queue Service ↗
“Message retention By default, a message is retained for 4 days. The minimum is 60 seconds (1 minute). The maximum is 1,209,600 seconds (14 days).”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“1 day log retention 1 day query period [...] 7 day log retention 7 days query period [...] 30 day log retention”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
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.
- Trigger.dev
- 20 concurrent runs on the free plan, 50 on Hobby, and more on Pro at $10 a month per additional 50.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Amazon SQS standard queue quotas - Amazon Simple Queue Service ↗
“For most standard queues (depending on queue traffic and message backlog), there can be a maximum of approximately 120,000 in flight messages (received from a queue by a consumer, but not yet deleted from the queue).”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
- Pricing — Trigger.dev ↗
“20 concurrent runs [...] 50 concurrent runs [...] Then $10/month per 50”
Read 2026-09-06 · official pricing
SOC 2
- Amazon SQS
- Listed as SOC-compliant on AWS's own compliance scope page.
- Trigger.dev
- SOC 2 Type II compliant; latest report available on request for Enterprise customers.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- AWS Services in Scope for SOC ↗
“Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) listed with a checkmark on the SOC services-in-scope page.”
Read 2026-09-12 · official site
- Security | Trigger.dev ↗
“Yes, Trigger.dev is SOC 2 Type II compliant. Visit our Security Portal for more information. Our latest report is available upon request for our Enterprise customers.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official site
HIPAA
- Amazon SQS
- Listed as a HIPAA-eligible service on AWS's own reference page.
- Trigger.dev
- Meets HIPAA Business Associate requirements; a signed BAA is a paid add-on for running PHI workloads on Trigger.dev Cloud.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- AWS HIPAA Eligible Services Reference ↗
“Amazon Simple Queue Service (SQS) listed on the HIPAA-eligible services reference page.”
Read 2026-09-12 · official site
- Security | Trigger.dev ↗
“Yes. Trigger.dev meets HIPAA Business Associate requirements. To run tasks that process PHI on Trigger.dev Cloud you'll need a signed BAA with us, which is available as a paid add-on.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official 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.
- Trigger.dev
- Stated GDPR compliant; DPA forms part of the Terms of Service automatically on sign-up.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- GDPR — Amazon Web Services ↗
“AWS customers can use all AWS services to process personal data [...] in compliance with the GDPR. [...] Customers have control of their customer data. With AWS, customers can: Determine where their customer data will be stored, including the type of storage and geographic region of that storage.”
Read 2026-09-12 · official site
- Security | Trigger.dev ↗
“Yes, Trigger.dev is GDPR compliant. Visit our Security Portal for more information, or contact us to request data deletion.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official site
Encryption at rest
- Amazon SQS
- Server-side encryption of queue contents with SQS-managed keys (SSE-SQS) or AWS KMS keys (SSE-KMS).
- Trigger.dev
- Data encrypted at rest with AES-256 and in transit with HTTPS/TLS.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Encryption at rest in Amazon SQS - Amazon Simple Queue Service ↗
“SSE protects the contents of messages in queues using SQS-managed encryption keys (SSE-SQS) or keys managed in the AWS Key Management Service (SSE-KMS).”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
- Security | Trigger.dev ↗
“Yes, your data is encrypted at rest using AES-256 encryption, and in-transit using HTTPS/TLS encryption.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official site
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.
- Trigger.dev
- Role-based access control (RBAC) and SSO listed as Enterprise plan features.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Overview of managing access in Amazon SQS - Amazon Simple Queue Service ↗
“An account administrator can attach permissions policies to IAM identities (users, groups, and roles), and some services (such as Amazon SQS) also support attaching permissions policies to resources.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
- Pricing | Trigger.dev ↗
“All Pro plan features + Custom log retention Priority support Role-based access control (RBAC) SOC 2 report Penetration test report Single sign-on (SSO)”
Read 2026-09-13 · official pricing
Private networking / VPC
- Amazon SQS
- Interface VPC endpoints (AWS PrivateLink) let a VPC reach SQS privately, including FIPS endpoints; HTTPS endpoints only.
- Trigger.dev
- AWS PrivateLink to resources in your own AWS VPC; a Pro and Enterprise feature enabled on request.
Sources (2) →Sources ↓
- Internetwork traffic privacy in Amazon SQS - Amazon Simple Queue Service ↗
“An Amazon Virtual Private Cloud (Amazon VPC) endpoint for Amazon SQS is a logical entity within a VPC that allows connectivity only to Amazon SQS. [...] Amazon SQS also supports FIPS endpoints through PrivateLink using the com.amazonaws.region.sqs-fips endpoint service.”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
- Private networking - Trigger.dev ↗
“Connectivity is established over AWS PrivateLink , so traffic stays on the AWS backbone. Private networking is a Pro and Enterprise feature. If you'd like access, get in touch .”
Read 2026-09-13 · official docs
When these numbers change, hear about it. Sources are re-checked monthly; a repricing goes out as a short note.
Documented by only one.
These criteria are published by one provider and not the other. An absence here means we have not found a source, not that the feature is missing.
Questions this comparison answers.
Entry paid plan: Amazon SQS or Trigger.dev?
Amazon SQS: No paid plan or minimum fee; billed per request after the free 1 million requests a month.
Trigger.dev: $10/month for Hobby, which includes $10 of credits; Pro is $50/month including $50 of credits.
Should I choose Amazon SQS or Trigger.dev?
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 Trigger.dev if Teams that want background jobs written as normal code with the bill expressed as compute credits rather than a per-message meter.