LocalStack sunset March 2026 · Floci is the free alternative

Floci vs LocalStack

LocalStack's community edition required an auth token starting March 2026 and froze security updates. Floci is the MIT-licensed, no-auth, drop-in replacement.

Get Floci Free → Read the Docs →
138×
Faster startup
24 ms vs ~3.3 s
91%
Less memory
13 MiB vs 143 MiB idle
47
AWS services
All free, all unlocked
100%
SDK pass rate
1,925/1,925 tests
At a Glance

The key differences, fast.

Everything you need to know before switching, summarized in two cards.

Floci
PriceFree forever
Auth tokenNever required
LicenseMIT
Security updatesActive
Startup~24 ms
Image size~90 MB
LocalStack Community
PriceAuth token required (March 2026)
Auth tokenRequired for all use
LicenseRestricted / BSL
Security updatesFrozen (March 2026)
Startup~3.3 s
Image size~1.0 GB
Feature Comparison

Every detail, side by side.

All feature dimensions compared across pricing, performance, services, SDKs, and IaC.

Feature Floci LocalStack Community
Pricing & Licensing
PriceFree foreverAuth token required (since March 2026)
CI/CD usageUnlimitedAuth token required / restricted
LicenseMITRestricted / BSL
Security updates✓ Active✗ Frozen (March 2026)
Performance
Startup time~24 ms~3.3 s
Idle memory~13 MiB~143 MiB
Docker image size~90 MB~1.0 GB
Native binary✓ ~40 MB✗ JVM only
Compute Services
Lambda (Docker runtimes)✓ Full — real containers✓ Partial
ECS (clusters, services, tasks)✓ Real Docker tasks✗ Not available
EKS (clusters + real k3s)✓ Live k8s API✗ Not available
EC2 (Docker + IMDS + SSH + UserData)✓ Real containers✗ Not available
CodeBuild (real buildspec execution)✓ Real Docker builds✗ Not available
CodeDeploy (Lambda traffic shifting)✓ Full + auto-rollback✗ Not available
Data & Storage
S3 (versioning, Object Lock, events)✓ Full✓ Partial
DynamoDB + Streams✓ Full✓ Partial
RDS (PG + MySQL + MariaDB + IAM auth)✓ Real Docker engines✗ Not available
ElastiCache (Redis/Valkey + IAM auth)✓ Real Docker engine✗ Not available
MSK (Kafka via Redpanda)✓ Real Kafka✗ Not available
Athena (real SQL via DuckDB sidecar)✓ Real queries✗ Not available
Glue Data Catalog✓ Full✗ Not available
Data Firehose (NDJSON delivery)✓ Full✗ Not available
Networking & Security
API Gateway v2 / HTTP API✓ Full✗ Not available
ELB v2 (ALB / NLB)✓ Full✗ Not available
IAM (users, roles, policies, groups)✓ 68+ ops⚠ Partial
STS (all 7 operations)✓ 7/7 ops⚠ 4/7 ops
Cognito (user pools, JWKS, SRP auth)✓ Full✗ Not available
KMS (sign, verify, re-encrypt)✓ Full⚠ Partial
SDK & IaC Compatibility
Java SDK v2✓ 889/889⚠ Partial
Node.js SDK v3✓ 360/360⚠ Partial
Python boto3✓ 264/264⚠ Partial
Go SDK v2✓ 136/136⚠ Partial
AWS CLI v2✓ 145/145⚠ Partial
Rust SDK✓ 86/86⚠ Partial
Terraform / OpenTofu✓ 28/28⚠ Partial
AWS CDK v2✓ 17/17⚠ Partial
Benchmarks

Performance that actually matters.

Real numbers from a 1,925-test AWS SDK compatibility suite. Floci Native vs LocalStack Community 4.14.0.

Startup Time
Floci Native24 ms 138× faster
LocalStack3,300 ms
Idle Memory
Floci Native13 MiB 91% less
LocalStack143 MiB
Lambda Throughput (req/s)
Floci Native289 req/s 2.4× faster
LocalStack120 req/s
138×
Faster startup
24 ms vs 3.3 s
91%
Less memory
13 MiB vs 143 MiB
~90 MB
Docker image
vs 1.0 GB LocalStack
100%
SDK pass rate
1,925/1,925 tests
Docker Image Size
Floci Native~90 MB
LocalStack~1.0 GB
Migration

Switch from LocalStack in seconds.

Already using LocalStack? Switch in 30 seconds.

# docker-compose.yml — only one line changes
services:
  localstack:          # rename optional
    image: floci/floci:latest   # ← was: localstack/localstack
    ports:
      - "4566:4566"  # same port, nothing else changes

Zero application code changes required. Same port. Same credentials. Same SDK endpoint.

Get Floci Free → Read the Docs →