Bref vs Bref Cloud
The open-source project.
The all-in one solution for running your PHP applications.
| Feature | Bref tier | Bref Cloud tier |
|---|---|---|
Hosting | AWS Lambda in your AWS account | AWS Lambda in your AWS account |
Real-time scaling AWS Lambda scales up/down automatically in a second or less. | Yes | Yes |
High-availability AWS Lambda runs your app redundantly in multiple data centers and automatically replaces instances that fail. | Yes | Yes |
PHP runtime for AWS Lambda | Yes | Yes |
Laravel and Symfony integrations | Yes | Yes |
No vendor lock-in | Yes | Yes |
| Feature | Bref tier | Bref Cloud tier |
|---|---|---|
Simple serverless.yml configuration | Yes | Yes |
Extensible via custom CloudFormation | Yes | Yes |
Deploy from your machine | Yes | Yes |
Deploy from CI/CD | Yes | Yes |
Deploy multiple environments (prod, staging…) | Yes | Yes |
AWS deployment security | Your responsibility Create a fine-tuned IAM role and use it via access keys (insecure), or SSO roles, or OIDC. | Automatic No direct AWS access needed, no action necessary. Bref Cloud transparently creates short-lived access keys. |
Simplified database creation and management | No | Coming soon |
| Feature | Bref tier | Bref Cloud tier |
|---|---|---|
Applications overview | No Use the AWS console and switch between AWS services, regions, and AWS accounts. | Yes All applications in one place. |
Logs viewer | No AWS CloudWatch (advanced) | Yes Search logs or view them in real-time. |
Metrics | No AWS CloudWatch (advanced) | Yes |
Queue jobs management | No | Yes |
Secrets management | No AWS SSM Parameter Store | Yes |
S3 files management | No AWS S3 console | Yes |
Healthchecks | No | Yes Laravel-only for now, more frameworks coming soon. |
| Feature | Bref tier | Bref Cloud tier |
|---|---|---|
Team member permissions | Your responsibility Create IAM roles with fine-tuned permissions (advanced), or use "administrator access" (simple, but very insecure). Then give access to team members via AWS access keys (simple but insecure) or via IAM Identity Center (advanced). | Yes Invite teammates to Bref Cloud with read-only, write, or admin access. No AWS access needed. |
Strong isolation between environments | Your responsibility Create separate AWS accounts (e.g. prod, dev…). Then, set up AWS Organizations and IAM Identity Center so that team members can access them securely via "IAM assume role". | Yes Create separate AWS accounts (e.g. prod, dev…). Then access them in one place via Bref Cloud. |
Audit log | No AWS CloudTrail (advanced) | Yes |
| Feature | Bref tier | Bref Cloud tier |
|---|---|---|
Priority bugfixes on GitHub | No | Yes |
Expert support & consulting | No | Yes |