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How They Work
SST
SST is a framework built on AWS CDK for deploying serverless applications. You define infrastructure using CDK constructs in TypeScript, and SST generates CloudFormation templates that provision AWS resources like Lambda, API Gateway, and DynamoDB.
SST provides helpful abstractions over CDK and features like Live Lambda development for debugging. However, you still need to understand AWS services, IAM policies, and CloudFormation concepts.
Encore
Encore provisions infrastructure in your cloud account based on your application code. You define databases, Pub/Sub, and other resources as TypeScript or Go objects. When you deploy, Encore creates the corresponding AWS or GCP resources.
No CDK knowledge required. Encore abstracts away cloud-specific details while still deploying to your own account. This means less AWS expertise needed, and the flexibility to deploy to either AWS or GCP.
Infrastructure Ownership
Both Encore and SST deploy to your own cloud account. With SST, your infrastructure lives in your AWS account as CloudFormation stacks. With Encore, resources are provisioned in your AWS or GCP account.
The difference is in abstraction level. SST exposes AWS primitives through CDK constructs, so you're still thinking in terms of Lambda functions, API Gateway stages, and DynamoDB tables. Encore abstracts these details so you think in terms of APIs, databases, and queues.
Encore also supports GCP alongside AWS, giving you cloud flexibility without code changes.
Learn more about infrastructure ownership →Local Development
SST's Live Lambda development lets you set breakpoints and debug Lambda functions locally while they connect to real AWS resources. This requires an AWS connection during development.
Encore runs encore run and automatically provisions local PostgreSQL, Pub/Sub emulation, and cron scheduling. A local dashboard shows distributed tracing and architecture diagrams. No cloud connection needed.
Encore's approach is faster for day-to-day development and works fully offline.
Learn more about local development →Automatic Infrastructure
SST requires you to define infrastructure using CDK constructs. You need to understand how Lambda, API Gateway, DynamoDB, and other AWS services work, then wire them together correctly with IAM policies.
Encore provisions infrastructure from your code. Declare a database as a TypeScript object, and Encore creates RDS when you deploy. Same for Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and object storage. No CDK or CloudFormation knowledge required.
import { SQLDatabase } from "encore.dev/storage/sqldb";
const db = new SQLDatabase("users", {
migrations: "./migrations",
});
// Encore provisions RDS/Cloud SQL automaticallyDatabases, Pub/Sub, Cron Jobs, Object Storage, and more. See all primitives →
Built-in Observability
SST relies on AWS CloudWatch for logs and metrics. For distributed tracing, you'd integrate AWS X-Ray or third-party tools like Datadog yourself. This requires additional configuration and instrumentation.
Encore includes distributed tracing, metrics, and structured logging out of the box. Every request is traced across services automatically. No instrumentation code needed.
This works locally too. Run your app and get full tracing in the local development dashboard.
See observability docs →AI-Assisted Development
With SST, infrastructure lives in CDK constructs separate from application logic. AI agents like Cursor and Claude Code struggle with the context split between application code, CDK stacks, and CloudFormation details.
Encore defines infrastructure as TypeScript objects alongside your application code. AI agents see everything in one context: your APIs, databases, queues, and how they connect. This makes AI-generated code accurate, reviewable, and safe to deploy.
Built-in guardrails, auto-documentation, and observability ensure your systems stay maintainable, even when AI writes most of the code.
Learn about AI-assisted development →Customer stories
See how teams are shipping faster with Encore.
"Encore is our foundation for all new development. Since adopting it, we've seen a 2-3x increase in development speed."
"Encore is an unfair advantage. At Pave we've moved 2x faster than we did at Monzo."
"We've reduced time spent on DevOps by 95%, and we're now on track to save $60K annually."
Feature Comparison
See how Encore and SST differ across key capabilities.
Frequently asked questions
Common questions about Encore vs SST.
Encore provisions infrastructure in your own AWS or GCP account with built-in observability, automatic IAM, and infrastructure-from-code using TypeScript or Go. SST builds on AWS CDK to deploy serverless applications to your AWS account, but requires understanding AWS services, CDK patterns, and CloudFormation concepts.
Encore is purpose-built for backend development with built-in databases, Pub/Sub, cron jobs, and distributed tracing out of the box. SST is focused on serverless Lambda-based architectures and requires you to understand AWS services and CDK constructs. For teams wanting to avoid AWS complexity, Encore provides a significantly better developer experience.
Both deploy to your own AWS account, giving you infrastructure ownership. The difference is in how you define infrastructure: SST uses AWS CDK constructs that map directly to CloudFormation, while Encore uses simple TypeScript or Go objects that abstract away cloud-specific details. Encore also supports GCP alongside AWS.
SST has Live Lambda development that lets you debug Lambda functions locally while connecting to real AWS resources. Encore provides automatic local development with databases, Pub/Sub, and distributed tracing included with a single command, with no AWS connection required. Encore's approach is faster and works offline.
Encore provides built-in observability with distributed tracing, automatic IAM policies, type-safe APIs, and auto-generated documentation without requiring cloud-specific expertise. SST requires understanding CloudFormation, CDK patterns, and the underlying cloud services. Both support multiple clouds (Encore: AWS/GCP, SST: AWS/Cloudflare).
Encore is designed specifically for microservices with automatic service discovery, type-safe API calls, distributed tracing across services, and auto-generated architecture diagrams. SST can build microservices with Lambda, but you need to configure service communication, IAM policies, and observability yourself using AWS primitives.