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Amazon SQS

aws.amazon.com

Free plan WebAPI
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Spec score 8.7 #5 of 39 in Message Broker Software

What it is

Amazon SQS is a cloud message queuing service for microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications. It lets separate software components send, store, and receive messages, supporting decoupled and event-driven designs. Standard queues provide at-least-once delivery with best-effort ordering, while FIFO queues preserve order without introducing duplicates. Standard queues support nearly unlimited transactions per second for each API action; FIFO high-throughput mode supports up to 70,000 messages per second without batching. Messages can contain up to 256 KB, or larger payloads can use the Java Extended Client Library with Amazon S3. SQS accepts batches of up to 10 messages and retains messages for up to 14 days. Dead Letter Queues handle messages exceeding a configured receive count and must match the source queue type. Integrations include Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda, S3, and SNS fanout. Server-side encryption uses AWS KMS keys. The Free Tier is free for 1 million requests; separate S3, KMS, and data-transfer charges may apply.

Spec sheet

What it does
Amazon SQS is a fully managed queue service for moving messages between distributed application components, microservices and serverless workloads.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Purpose
Amazon SQS is a fully managed message queuing service for microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Intended users
AWS describes SQS use for organizations building microservices, distributed systems, and serverless applications, including startups, enterprises, nonprofits, and governments.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Integrations
AWS lists integrations with Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda, and S3, and describes fanout with SNS.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Security
Server-side encryption uses AWS KMS keys to encrypt messages when SQS receives them and decrypt them for authorized consumers.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Compliance
AWS says its compliance program supports 143 security standards and certifications, including PCI-DSS, HIPAA/HITECH, FedRAMP, GDPR, FIPS 140-3 and NIST 800-171.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Founded
2006Read 28 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Additional charges
S3 storage, AWS KMS calls, and cross-Region or internet data transfer may incur separate charges.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
API and CLI
AWS publishes a web-services API reference, developer guide and AWS CLI reference for SQS.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
AWS integrations
AWS documents integrations with Redshift, DynamoDB, RDS, EC2, ECS, Lambda and S3, plus SNS fan-out patterns.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Batching
Send, receive and delete operations can handle batches of up to 10 messages, reducing API-call overhead.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Batching and retention
SQS supports batches of up to 10 messages and retains messages for up to 14 days.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Company founded
LinkedIn describes Amazon Web Services as launched in 2006.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aw.linkedin.com
Company headquarters
Amazon Web Services, Inc. lists 410 Terry Avenue North, Seattle, Washington 98109-5210, United States.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Company legal name
AWS identifies the U.S. contracting entity as Amazon Web Services, Inc.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Company ownership and funding
Crunchbase lists Amazon Web Services, Inc. as a private Seattle company with 10001+ employees and one grant round funded by the BIRD Foundation.Read 15 Oct 2026 · crunchbase.com
Company size
LinkedIn lists 146,958 employees associated with Amazon Web Services.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aw.linkedin.com
Dead-letter queues
Dead-letter queues receive messages that exceed a configured receive count and support inspection and redrive to source queues.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Delivery delay limit
Message timers support delays from zero to a maximum of 15 minutes.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Encryption
Server-side encryption uses AWS Key Management Service keys to encrypt message bodies at rest and decrypt them for authorized consumers.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Failure handling
Dead Letter Queues can receive messages after their maximum receive count is exceeded, and must match the source queue type.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
FIFO queues
FIFO queues preserve message order and provide exactly-once processing, with default throughput up to 3,000 messages per second when batching is used.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Licence
Amazon SQS is proprietary software rather than an open-source product.Read 15 Oct 2026 · en.wikipedia.org
Limit: AWS ecosystem dependence
TrustRadius reviewers caution that SQS is less attractive for mixed environments because complete solutions tend to depend on the broader AWS stack.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
Limit: complexity and configuration
Gartner reviewers describe initial AWS implementation as complicated and slow, with rigid configuration and data limitations.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Limit: console monitoring
G2 reviewers mention difficult console navigation, inaccurate message counts and limited monitoring or dead-letter handling.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: debugging and FIFO throughput
G2 reviewers report that distributed-message debugging is difficult and FIFO queues have lower throughput than standard queues.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Limit: polling and observability costs
TrustRadius reviewers report that frequent polling can become expensive, queue monitoring is limited and console in-flight counts may be stale.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
Long polling
Long polling can wait up to 20 seconds for messages and costs the same as regular requests.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Message limits
A message payload can contain up to 256 KB; messages larger than that can use the Java Extended Client Library with Amazon S3.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Message retention
Queues retain messages for up to 14 days.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Message size quota
The current maximum SQS message size is 1 MiB; the extended client libraries can store payloads in S3 with payloads up to 2 GB.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
News: fair queues
AWS announced fair queues for multi-tenant standard queues on July 21, 2025.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
News: IPv6
AWS announced IPv6 support for SQS public API endpoints on April 21, 2025.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
News: larger payloads
AWS announced an increase of maximum SQS payload size from 256 KiB to 1 MiB on August 4, 2025.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Praise: asynchronous architecture
TrustRadius reviewers praise SQS for easy setup, useful SDKs and console, reliable asynchronous processing and Lambda integration.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
Praise: scale and security
Gartner reviewers praise AWS scalability, mature infrastructure, IAM controls and built-in security capabilities.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Praise: usability and integration
G2 reviewers repeatedly praise easy setup, straightforward console use, AWS integrations and scalability without infrastructure management.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Pricing model
SQS charges based on usage with no minimum fee; each API action counts as a request, and payloads are billed per 64 KB chunk.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Queue types
SQS offers Standard queues with at-least-once delivery and best-effort ordering, and FIFO queues that preserve message order without introducing duplicates.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Rating on G2
4.3 out of 5 from 143 reviews.Read 15 Oct 2026 · g2.com
Rating on Gartner Peer Insights
4.6 out of 5 from 5,320 ratings.Read 15 Oct 2026 · gartner.com
Rating on TrustRadius
9 out of 10 from 33 reviews and ratings.Read 15 Oct 2026 · trustradius.com
Regional infrastructure
AWS states that its cloud spans 124 Availability Zones in 39 geographic Regions.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
SDK coverage
AWS provides SQS SDK documentation and examples for C++, Go, Java, JavaScript, Kotlin, .NET, PHP, PowerShell, Python, Ruby, Rust, SAP ABAP and Swift.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Security credentials
AWS recommends IAM roles and temporary credentials for applications and AWS services accessing queues.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com
Self-hosting
SQS is delivered as an AWS managed service; the product pages describe console, API and SDK access rather than a self-hosted edition.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Standard queues
Standard queues provide nearly unlimited throughput, at-least-once delivery and best-effort ordering.Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Throughput
Standard queues support nearly unlimited transactions per second per API action; FIFO high throughput mode supports up to 70,000 messages per second without batching.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Use cases
SQS lets software components send, store, and receive messages, supporting decoupled and event-driven applications.Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Visibility timeout
Message visibility timeout defaults to 30 seconds and can be configured from zero seconds to 12 hours.Read 15 Oct 2026 · docs.aws.amazon.com

Plans and prices

Free Tier Free monthly 1 million Amazon SQS requests per month · unused usage does not roll over Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Standard queues Priced on request Usage-based pricing · At-least-once delivery · Best-effort ordering Read 20 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
FIFO queues Priced on request Usage-based pricing · Exactly-once processing · Ordered message groups Read 20 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Amazon SQS Free Tier Free 1 million requests per month Free usage calculated monthly across Regions except GovCloud · Unused free usage does not roll over Read 30 Sep 2026 · aws.amazon.com
Pay-as-you-go Price not published per request; no minimum fee standard, FIFO and fair-queue request charges · 64 KB payload chunks count as requests · data-transfer charges may apply Read 15 Oct 2026 · aws.amazon.com

Every Amazon SQS plan and price →

Strong points and limits

Strong points

  • Free Tier includes 1 million requests
  • Standard queues offer nearly unlimited API transactions
  • FIFO queues preserve message order
  • Dead Letter Queues support failure handling
  • Integrates with major AWS services

Limits

  • Messages normally support up to 256 KB
  • Retention is limited to 14 days
  • S3, KMS, and transfer charges may apply
  • FIFO high throughput requires its specific mode

Who it suits

SQS suits organizations building microservices, distributed systems, or serverless applications, including startups, enterprises, nonprofits, and governments. It is intended for AWS-based cloud deployments using API or web access.

Verdict

Amazon SQS covers managed queuing, selectable delivery guarantees, ordering options, batching, retention, encryption, and dead-letter handling. Its free allowance is defined, while several related AWS services and transfers can create additional charges.

Where Specifiction places it

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