Products · Product
AWS
Raised as a usability problem by 1,229 people on Hacker News over 19 years (2008–2026), in 992 threads.
No issue was raised by at least 3 people in 3 threads this year.
- 1Web console is hard to navigateUnreviewed
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- 1Web console is hard to navigateUnreviewed
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Every issue, all time, most people first
Hard to figure out which service combination to useUnreviewed
20082026- AWS service names are hard to remember unless used constantly2026-04-02
- Too many overlapping services make it overwhelming to get a basic layout2025-11-15
- Setting up an AWS account takes many confusing steps and services2024-04-07
Pricing and many services are confusing to figure outUnreviewed
20082026- Can't find prices on the pricing page2024-10-04
- AWS pricing and service naming are impenetrable, needing extensive documentation reading to understand2024-05-13
- AWS pricing is so confusing people can't tell what they'll pay2024-05-06
Auth and access rules are hard to make sense ofUnreviewed
20082026- IAM auth and access rules are hideously complex and confusing to work with2026-05-10
- AWS is so complicated that users need an AI tool to configure IAM permissions correctly2026-05-10
- IAM's auth and access rules are hideously complex and hard to make sense of2026-05-10
Confusing service names make it hard to know what they doUnreviewed
20082026- Confusing product names make it hard to tell what services do2026-05-12
- Hard to find services among confusing, unhelpful product names and icons2025-11-15
- Services menu fills the whole screen with cryptic names and ambiguous icons2025-10-29
Hard to trace which resources cause charges without third-party toolsUnreviewed
20082026- Hard to trace which resources cause charges; needs third-party tools to see2026-03-13
- Hidden dashboards left a running service charging money the user didn't know about2025-11-29
- Dashboard is so complicated it confuses customers into unexpected charges2025-09-07
Billing is confusing; can't tell what they are charged forUnreviewed
20082026- Charges are mysterious, so users can't tell what they'll be billed for2026-03-14
- Hidden extra costs force users to keep checking their bills2024-11-14
- Billing statements are too confusing to understand what was charged2022-12-25
Bucket permissions so complicated people can't lock them downUnreviewed
20082026- Setting sub-objects to private appears effective but public bucket settings still override it2021-12-31
- Bucket permission settings are confusing, with multiple overlapping access controls that are hard to test2020-07-23
- Users repeatedly expose buckets publicly because the interface makes mistakes easy2019-08-30
Error messages don't pinpoint which permission is missingUnreviewed
20082026- Permission errors are misleading, and fixes come from unrelated permissions by trial and error2025-03-30
- Permission errors often missing from CloudTrail logs, forcing support calls2024-07-10
- Hard to write policies allowing only needed actions; errors force digging through CloudTrail2024-03-15
Docs are a labyrinth of semi-outdated, hard-to-read materialUnreviewed
20082026- Docs are over-engineered and push users to pull in many extra billable services2026-08-28
- Confusing documentation and mixed old/new systems make deploying apps hard2024-06-01
- Docs are a labyrinth of semi-outdated, hard-to-read material2024-02-10
Setting up, connecting and managing services is overly complexUnreviewed
20082026- Setting up a bucket, IAM role and policies takes many steps2025-11-05
- Building anything beyond service calls becomes complex and ugly2024-02-13
- Setting up even common services like Lambda requires much complexity and work2023-06-22
Switching between many accounts is awkward and hard to manageUnreviewed
20082026- Spends more time juggling regions and logins across AWS accounts2024-10-29
- Forces logging in and out of each account to switch2023-12-29
- Switching AWS accounts requires several login-portal steps, breaking the user's flow2023-02-13
Obtuse error messages make complex stacks hard to troubleshootUnreviewed
20082026- Error messages are obtuse, making incidents almost impossible to troubleshoot once stacks get complex2024-03-18
- Stacks with cross-account dependencies fail with vague errors and little diagnostic help2024-03-18
- Hours lost to configuration, with unhelpful error messages when setup is wrong2022-10-23
Deployments take minutes with no progress or success informationUnreviewed
20082026- Deploys fail and take forever, and setting up roles and permissions is a nightmare2025-10-15
- Deployments randomly fail and the CLI is flaky, slowing developers down2023-02-28
- Provisioning or changing configuration is excruciatingly slow, losing whole days to trial and error2022-04-02
Cognito documentation insufficient, so setup took a day of fightingUnreviewed
20082026- Cognito's documentation is horrible and hard to get through2026-08-28
- Setup took two days due to incomprehensible docs, complex UI, and unclear errors2025-01-15
- Setting up login took two days; docs and setup are hard to follow2024-01-04
So complex that newcomers can't reasonably get startedUnreviewed
20082026- IAM is a big beast that newcomers can't grasp on first login2023-11-16
- Too much documentation, hard to find the right answer, some instructions wrong2023-07-31
- Setup is not straightforward and instructions are unintuitive for beginners2023-02-21
Spending limits hard to set up, so big bills can't be cappedUnreviewed
20082026- Scaling defaults make it hard to control spending, a UX problem for many users2025-09-09
- Cost-limiting settings are confusing and not apparent, so users get billed huge amounts2025-09-07
- No prompt for hard budget limit at signup, so services keep running and charges surprise users2025-04-18
Most icons are illegible, so readers can't tell what they showUnreviewed
20082026- Most AWS icons are illegible, so readers can't tell what they refer to2025-02-10
- Users struggle to tell what AWS services do from icons and old console elements2023-10-26
- Commenter cannot tell what the AWS icons represent despite a decade of use2023-08-31
Cannot see resources from multiple regions in one viewUnreviewed
20082026- Must switch regions via a dropdown to find resources you own2026-10-04
- Multi-region setups are too convoluted to deploy, debug, and maintain2023-03-13
- Requires configuration changes to work across regions, since it is set up per region2021-07-24
Web interface forces scripts to build routesUnreviewed
20082026- Undocumented differences between HTTP and REST API Gateway types cause confusing, frustrating setup2020-10-14
- Console-only features cannot be scripted, so infrastructure-as-code builders cannot use them2019-09-07
- Commenter finds the API Gateway interface very poor to use2018-12-03
Couldn't log in to one of two accounts after changing to same emailUnreviewed
20082026- Login is slow and unreliable, with errors requiring page refresh to get in2025-12-03
- Signup is very slow and refuses to create accounts for unclear reasons2025-07-12
- Support couldn't resolve the account after the email was changed, leaving the user unable to log in2021-12-10
Search doesn't work, forcing scrolling through hundreds of pagesUnreviewed
20082026- Search in paginated results is actively hostile and confusing to use2023-01-27
- Inconsistent navigation, pagination and search across different services2021-08-03
- Search only covers loaded page results, so existing services appear missing2019-12-01
Searching large S3 buckets takes 14 seconds in the consoleUnreviewed
20082026- Searching large S3 buckets is painfully slow, taking 14 seconds in the console2026-03-02
- Console shows folders that aren't real, so slow bucket loading is confusing2024-03-10
- S3 buckets take several seconds to appear, where they used to load instantly2021-06-03
Cannot log in with username and password, must use CLIUnreviewed
20082026- Navigating the AWS console to generate credentials is a constant pain2026-07-17
- Charged by an AWS account whose login the user can no longer remember2021-10-19
- Closing Amazon account left AWS services running and unstoppable, with no way to log in2021-01-16
Endless service dropdown list is overwhelming to scanUnreviewed
20082026- Over 200 services make the platform bloated and complicated to navigate2025-10-29
- Too many overlapping services and knobs make the cloud hard to navigate2023-12-27
- Couldn't find a service-only option despite searching for five minutes2022-11-07
Logs can't be easily processed with simple text toolsUnreviewed
20082026- Log viewer is maddening to use, with no specific problem stated2021-03-26
- Logs can't be easily examined or processed with simple text tools2020-06-04
- Logs are hard to query and analyze, a pain to use even with Insights2019-08-28
API Gateway setup is byzantine and cold starts take secondsUnreviewed
20082026- Page lags badly with many Lambdas because it loads them all before rendering2021-12-26
- Users wait a couple of seconds for mobile app responses when requests hit cold lambdas2018-12-19
- API Gateway setup is byzantine; cold starts make Lambdas take seconds to respond2017-10-03
Multiple confusing login forms, weak captchas, and no 2FA setup feedbackUnreviewed
20082026- Users get random captchas or permanent blocks with no clear reason or way to recover2025-08-29
- Captchas are hard to get right, with about a 50% failure rate2024-08-05
- Endless captchas block login when email is autotyped by a password manager tool2024-02-28
Reserved instances make billing complicated to understandUnreviewed
20082026- Standard reserved instances are inflexible and painful to manage when moving between instance families2022-02-03
- Reserved instance rules and billing have many hidden gotchas to learn before buying2018-12-13
- Reserved instances make billing complicated and hard to understand2018-01-27
Static hosting unintuitive because of bucket policiesUnreviewed
20082026- Configuring S3 in the AWS console is confusing and frustrating compared with Cloudflare R22026-04-13
- Setting up a public S3 bucket is so confusing it feels designed to cause mistakes2023-12-16
- Setting up S3 and CloudFront takes many steps and the AWS UI is confusing2016-11-23
Log search is extremely slow with lots of dataUnreviewed
20082026- Log search is very slow to return results2019-01-03
- Can't search across all log streams for a specific error string or trend errors over time2018-12-03
- Queries run slowly, making interaction with logs sluggish2018-11-28
Deployment logs often missing, so startup failures can't be diagnosedUnreviewed
20082026- Deployment logs often missing, so user can't diagnose why startup failed2024-03-03
- Deploys fail with missing logs, forcing repeated blind redeploys that each cost money2024-02-27
- Troubleshooting failures is hard; logs only downloadable when environment is OK2020-07-27
Hundreds of services make it hard to tell which are in useUnreviewed
20082026- Hundreds of services make it hard to tell which ones are in use2021-05-05
- Shows many services the user never uses, cluttering the view2020-03-08
- Hard to keep track of many different services2019-09-15
Lambda in VPCs works only half the time, and permissions are hardUnreviewed
20082026- Getting a simple Lambda-to-S3 task working requires navigating many hoops, IAM and VPC layers, and poor docs2021-05-24
- Basic API and lambda layer features are broken, causing team pain and conflicts2021-02-25
- Only one person knew how to work with the Lambda setup, blocking other teams2018-08-18
Page auto-scrolls past sections, making content hard to readUnreviewed
20082026- Opening paragraphs are filler, forcing the reader to scroll several screens to find content2023-09-01
- Reading has to restart every time user scrolls through a page2019-04-17
- Page auto-scrolls past sections, making it hard to read the content2017-08-16
Inconsistent, cluttered interfaces across services with unneeded itemsUnreviewed
20082026- Service is overly complex and full of dark patterns2026-05-10
- Admin UI makes the service appear more complex than it is2025-10-20
- UI is inconsistent across services and cluttered with unneeded things2025-05-26
Account locked after 90 days instead of offering a password changeUnreviewed
20082026- Account gets locked after 90 days instead of being taken to a password change screen2024-12-12
- Can't delete account or log in with correct password2024-01-27
- Account got flagged and locked out, then recovery required many hoops and days2023-10-26
Local development is raw, docs scarce, and setup hard to get rightUnreviewed
20082026- Horrible developer experience for building and deploying Lambda@Edge functions2021-10-21
- Local lambda development is raw, docs scarce, and setup is hard to get right2021-04-18
- Lambda is harder to use than Azure Functions and Google Cloud Functions; AWS tools have steep learning curves2018-08-08
Status page is inaccurate and not transparent about outagesUnreviewed
20082026- Status page is not transparent or accurate about outages2016-07-05
- Status page showed all services healthy during the outage, hiding the real cause2015-09-20
- Status page posts outages late, using a tiny info icon even when service is unusable2015-08-10
Timestamps shown inconsistently in local, UTC, ISO or US formatsUnreviewed
20082026- Can't tell whether displayed times are UTC, local, or region time2023-06-13
- Timestamps switch between UTC and local time across services, causing confusion about when requests arrived2022-12-14
- Other AWS services show dates without indicating which timezone they use, forcing users to guess2022-10-09
Impossible to tell actual monthly spend across discounts, plans and accountsUnreviewed
20082026- Impossible to tell actual monthly spend across discounts, plans and accounts2025-11-05
- Spend numbers can be out of date and misleading when troubleshooting2021-05-07
- No easy centralized view to see where money is being spent2018-11-27
Three retrieval fee tiers too complicated to understand or teachUnreviewed
20082026- Three retrieval fee tiers are too complicated to understand or teach2016-11-22
- Retrieval policies are nearly impossible to manage and explain2015-03-12
- Retrieval pricing is so confusing the user can't predict what a restore will cost2012-09-04
Must repeatedly close nagging modals on every page refreshUnreviewed
20082026- Popups take up much of the screen and never go away, requiring repeated clicks2023-12-02
- Must repeatedly close nagging modals and popups on every page refresh2021-12-26
- Too many tabs, modals, and clicks to change basic settings2017-03-27
Fine-grained complexity exposed, making services hard to learnUnreviewed
20082026- Services claimed to abstract complexity but require deep query execution knowledge to avoid costly bills2022-02-23
- Too much fine-grained complexity exposed, making it hard to learn services2020-05-27
- Steep learning curve makes the service hard to figure out2019-02-08
Confusingly grouped services make it hard for newcomers to find thingsUnreviewed
20082026- New users are instantly overwhelmed by too many services and options2020-04-24
- Newcomers spend hours on access setup and find the service confusing and off-putting2017-10-23
- Too many services with confusing grouping makes it hard for new users to find what they need2016-09-30
Must remember AWS CLI help works differently from other toolsUnreviewed
20082026- AWS docs make CLI commands extremely hard to find2023-03-25
- AWS tooling and services have rough edges, and helper tools cover only a few services2020-01-02
- Inconsistent help access; must remember AWS CLI differs from other tools2018-10-09
Terminating an instance has no prompt, so a wrong pick deletes productionUnreviewed
20082026- Terminating an instance happens with no prompt or warning, so a wrong selection deletes production2019-09-13
- Couldn't figure out how to delete instances; console kept complaining2018-08-10
- Stopping an instance silently deletes data users expect to keep, contrary to convention2017-02-11
Launching fleets is harder in the console than finding the AMI via CLIUnreviewed
20082026- Console is hard to use for launching fleets; finding the Ubuntu AMI is easier there than via CLI2018-01-27
- EC2 console is a mess; finding what you need is nearly impossible2016-03-23
- Could not find the AMI; launching it through the AWS marketplace outside the console is confusing2013-11-06
Failed updates roll back after long waits, slowing troubleshootingUnreviewed
20082026- Service updates take 15+ minutes and CDK/CloudFormation changes sometimes fail to apply2024-02-11
- Failed updates roll back after long waits, and troubleshooting them is slow2021-10-07
- Template updates take 1.5 hours, then fail on DNS change and roll back2020-12-03
Permissions are inconsistent and some lack resource-level controlUnreviewed
20082026- Policy attachments are scattered, making it near impossible to tell actual permissions2025-07-02
- Easy to make permission mistakes; hard to tell what untagged resources are used for2025-05-06
- Permissions are confusing and inconsistent, and some lack fine-grained resource-level control2020-08-09
Account cancelled without explanation, requiring multiple new accountsUnreviewed
20082026- Locked out of account after 2FA added; couldn't pay bill, had to mail notarized forms2026-01-14
- Account cancelled without explanation; support contact required creating multiple new accounts2021-11-24
- Cancelled account still kept accruing charges years later with no clear sign it was still active2021-05-05
Configuring VPC for simple SSH access takes daysUnreviewed
20082026- VPC feels over-engineered and daunting for a solo engineer to set up2022-11-12
- AWS VPC is an awkward mess compared to GCP networking2016-12-16
- Took days to configure VPC for SSH access; too complicated for a simple setup2016-05-24
Status icons misleading, showing mostly green as only today is visibleUnreviewed
20082026- Status icons use inconsistent colors despite identical 'Increased error rates' messages, confusing readers2017-02-28
- Green status icon shows healthy even during a serious incident, misleading readers2015-09-23
- Status icons are misleading, showing mostly green since only the current day is visible2015-02-15
Finding the easy option takes far more time than it shouldUnreviewed
20082026- UI needs much polish and trial-and-error, making tasks take far longer than the core work2026-05-10
- Finding the easy option for a task takes far more time than it should2022-11-06
- Tasks take 1-2 minutes to start, forcing long waits while iterating2022-09-02
Unreviewed issues were grouped by machine: Claude Haiku labelled each comment as a usability complaint, named what it's about and summed up the problem in a line, and a small model grouped similar problems. Nobody has checked them by hand. Expect mistakes.
The newest 50 complaints
- Documentation is a maze of marketing pages hiding useful reference material2026-10-31
- Docs are hard to read because AI-generated phrasing and prompt leakage distract the reader2026-10-30
- Every task forces admins to context switch across several separate consoles2026-10-20
- No search, so user must manually scroll through the whole list to find courses2026-10-19
- Hidden default hard limits are hard to find and nearly undocumented2026-10-04
- Must switch regions via a dropdown to find resources you own2026-10-04
- Found AWS unusable for the person until an AI tool managed it2026-09-08
- Logging into the console is an incredible chore, and the team couldn't do their jobs2026-09-02
- Reading the docs left the author overwhelmed, turning a time-saver into a quagmire2026-08-28
- Cognito's documentation is horrible and hard to get through2026-08-28
- Docs are over-engineered and push users to pull in many extra billable services2026-08-28
- Docs are either too high-level or bloated, making it hard to find needed steps2026-08-28
- Restricting how much is spent is a real pain compared to OpenRouter2026-08-16
- Working with the APIs is painful, described as some of the worst UX2026-08-04
- Took ten minutes to find the phone support banner, which is hidden away2026-07-17
- Navigating the AWS console to generate credentials is a constant pain2026-07-17
- Support can't help without an account number, and the user can't find which account is billing them2026-07-17
- Deploying a simple app requires many setup steps and tools, and failed updates are hard to debug2026-06-27
- Branch view and pull request interface are terrible to use2026-06-20
- Can't write egress rules that target a service by name; policies are messy2026-06-15
- Can't tell whether the retention setting set to 'none' actually takes effect2026-06-11
- Delete prompts differ by resource, forcing users to type different words each time2026-06-02
- Developers find DynamoDB's API annoying and idiosyncratic to work with2026-05-21
- Hideous complexity and stupid UI in every layer2026-05-14
- Getting logs for debugging is a hassle2026-05-13
- Confusing product names make it hard to tell what services do2026-05-12
- Setting up and configuring AWS services causes friction and frustration the commenter pays for2026-05-11
- The interface looks difficult and is somewhat complex at first2026-05-11
- Making a GPU instance via terminal and Terraform is terrible; UI is worse2026-05-11
- Price is not shown when launching a machine, so the user must look it up in a separate table without specs2026-05-10
- Unclear how IAM and policy rules interact; flow chart incomplete, no full spec2026-05-10
- IAM's auth and access rules are hideously complex and hard to make sense of2026-05-10
- AWS is so complicated that users need an AI tool to configure IAM permissions correctly2026-05-10
- Using the AWS web console is a worse experience than the API or CLI2026-05-10
- Interface is difficult to use, though the CLI works better2026-05-10
- Data engineering tools layered on Glue need IAM plus extra RBAC, making setup messy2026-05-10
- AWS console UI feels soulless and poorly designed compared to alternatives2026-05-10
- Pricing is hidden behind an unlabeled gear icon and 44 unsearchable column names2026-05-10
- Pricing information is missing or poorly presented in the console, with a default table left uncustomized2026-05-10
- IAM auth and access rules are hideously complex and confusing to work with2026-05-10
- Console warns about root access for a trivial policy and blocks copy-paste, forcing OCR2026-05-10
- Developers designing the UX produce flows that are horrendously bad for users2026-05-10
- UI needs much polish and trial-and-error, making tasks take far longer than the core work2026-05-10
- Service is overly complex and full of dark patterns2026-05-10
- UX makes even basic tasks hard to get done2026-05-10
- AWS services are messy and require learning many idiosyncrasies to use2026-04-28
- Users must hunt through hundreds of product-region combinations to find a service being billed2026-04-27
- Bedrock has very poor latency, often hanging 20+ seconds, too slow for the UI2026-04-21
- Getting approved to send emails through it is nearly impossible now2026-04-16
- Configuring S3 in the AWS console is confusing and frustrating compared with Cloudflare R22026-04-13