--- title: "AWS Amplify vs while: the French alternative for your AI agent" url: https://while.sh/en/comparisons/while-vs-amplify/ author: "Grégoire Mougeolle, co-founder of Nextmap" updated: 2026-11-02 --- # AWS Amplify vs while: which one to choose when your AI agent deploys? AWS Amplify deploys your sites and Next.js apps on every push, on AWS's CDN. With while, your AI agent deploys the app, its PostgreSQL database and its access settings, in France, and sensitive actions, like deleting a production database, wait for your approval. ## What changes between AWS Amplify and while | What matters | AWS Amplify | while | |---|---|---| | Who it's for | Sites and Next.js or Nuxt apps, on AWS's CDN (source 1) | People who build their apps with an AI agent, solo or as a team | | Your AI agent | AWS's general MCP server, which calls the whole API within your IAM permissions (source 2) | Connected over MCP, with OAuth: it deploys, creates the database, reads the logs and fixes things | | What protects production | Your agent's AWS permissions, an optional read-only mode, and your approval in your AI tool (source 8) | Sensitive actions, like deleting a production database, wait for a person | | The database | No managed PostgreSQL: Amplify connects to an existing PostgreSQL database (source 3) | PostgreSQL in while, backed up every day, with point-in-time recovery | | Who opens your app | A username and a password per branch, with no code (source 4) | Everyone, a password, or the company account with the Pro plan | | In France | Yes, one region in France (source 5) | Yes, with Nextmap, a French company | | To get started | Free up to a cap, for 12 months at most, then pay-as-you-go (source 6) | A trial without an account. Then €0 to get started, and €13.75 per month for an app and its database | ## Amplify, your sites on AWS's CDN Amplify deploys your site or your Next.js app on every push, with a preview for each pull request and no downtime during the update, and serves it from more than 600 locations around the world (sources 1 and 7). You can protect a branch with a password without a line of code (source 4). ## With while, your AI agent does the rest - **No server to maintain.** No system to update, no disk to watch, no certificate to renew: your agent deploys, and the rest is taken care of. - **Your databases are backed up for you.** Every day, with point-in-time recovery, and a production backup tested every day. - **Nothing serious happens without you.** Deleting a production database waits for your approval, before it runs, and every action is recorded in a signed activity log. - **Your keys stay secret.** Your app uses them, your agent never sees them. - **Your colleagues sign in with the company account.** Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, on the Pro plan, with no sign-in page to code. ## Moving from AWS Amplify to while ### Take over your app > You, to your agent: Move our Amplify app to while. Your agent takes over your code, writes while.yaml and deploys the app. ### Copy your database > You, to your agent: Copy our database to while. Your agent exports the database with `pg_dump`, then loads it into while. ### Carry over your variables > You, to your agent: Carry over our environment variables. Your agent carries your settings over to while. You enter your secret keys yourself: it never sees them. ## Which one to choose - **Choose AWS Amplify** if your team already lives in AWS, and your app is a site or a Next.js app served all around the world. - **Choose while** if your app, its API and its database must run in the same place, in France, deployed by your AI agent without breaking anything. ## Next steps - [Deploy a Next.js app](/en/guides/deploy-nextjs/) - [Compare the Vercel alternatives](/en/comparisons/vercel-alternatives/) ## Sources 1. [AWS Amplify Hosting, overview](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/welcome.html), 2026-11-02 2. [AWS, the AWS MCP server is generally available](https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/the-aws-mcp-server-is-now-generally-available/), 2026-11-02 3. [Amplify, connecting to an existing PostgreSQL or MySQL database](https://docs.amplify.aws/react/build-a-backend/data/connect-to-existing-data-sources/connect-postgres-mysql-database/), 2026-11-02 4. [Amplify Hosting, password-protecting a branch](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/amplify/latest/userguide/access-control.html), 2026-11-02 5. [AWS Amplify, regions](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/amplify.html), 2026-11-02 6. [AWS Amplify, pricing](https://aws.amazon.com/amplify/pricing/), 2026-11-02 7. [AWS Amplify Hosting, product page](https://aws.amazon.com/amplify/hosting/), 2026-11-02 8. [AWS, the Agent Toolkit (permissions, read-only)](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/agent-toolkit/latest/userguide/what-is-agent-toolkit.html), 2026-11-02 ## Questions ### Does my Python or Go API run on Amplify? Amplify hosts sites and Next.js or Nuxt apps (source 1). A Python or Go API, or a container, goes elsewhere at AWS. On while, everything runs in the same place. ### Does Amplify host in France? Yes, one region is in France (source 5). So does while, with Nextmap, a French company. ### Can my agent move from Amplify to while? Yes. It takes over your code, writes while.yaml, copies the database and carries over your settings.