AWS Cloud9 Is No Longer Available to New Customers - What to Use Instead
AWS Cloud9 closed to new customers on July 25, 2024. This guide covers what happens to existing environments and how to choose and migrate to the AWS Toolkit or AWS CloudShell.
Cloud9 Today - Closed to New Customers, Supported for Existing Ones
AWS closed new customer access to AWS Cloud9 effective July 25, 2024. Since that date, new customers can no longer start using Cloud9 (AWS does not publicly define what distinguishes a new customer from an existing one). Existing customers can continue to use the service as normal, and AWS has stated that it will keep investing in security, availability, and performance improvements, but no new features are planned. The officially recommended migration paths are the AWS Toolkits for local IDEs and the browser-based AWS CloudShell (official migration guide). This article explains how to choose between the two, how to migrate, and how to safely shut down your existing Cloud9 environments.
Choosing a Migration Path - AWS Toolkit or CloudShell
The deciding factor is how you used Cloud9. If writing and debugging code was your main activity, the officially recommended successor is a local IDE such as VS Code or a JetBrains IDE combined with the AWS Toolkit extension. It replaces the core of Cloud9, namely the code editor, the debugger, and the AWS service integration, inside an IDE you already know. If you mainly ran the AWS CLI, deployed applications, or executed small scripts, AWS CloudShell is enough. It launches from the AWS Management Console, comes pre-authenticated, and costs nothing extra. Like Cloud9 it runs entirely in the browser, but unlike Cloud9 it does not include a full code editor. If you want to keep developing on an EC2 instance, connecting through VS Code Remote - SSH is another option. There is no direct successor to Cloud9 real-time collaborative editing, so use a collaboration extension on the IDE side if you need it.
Migrating to a Local IDE with the AWS Toolkit
The migration takes three steps. First, install the AWS Toolkit from the extension marketplace of your IDE (VS Code, IntelliJ, PyCharm, and others). Second, connect the IDE to your AWS account with your credentials (IAM Identity Center or a credential profile). Third, pull the code from your Cloud9 environment into your local machine through a Git repository and resume development. The AWS Toolkit integrates with CloudFormation and SAM, so you can debug Lambda functions locally, get assistance authoring SAM templates, and browse AWS resources from inside the IDE. Installing the SAM CLI locally lets you keep the exact workflow you used on Cloud9: creating a project with sam init, testing locally with sam local invoke, and deploying with sam deploy. You do have to set up the tools on your own machine, but the AWS Toolkit itself is free and there is no EC2 instance to wait for.
Migrating to AWS CloudShell for Terminal-Centric Work
AWS CloudShell is a browser-based shell environment launched from the AWS Management Console at no additional cost. Credentials are inherited automatically from your console session, so no access key setup is required. Alongside the AWS CLI, key tools such as git and the SAM CLI come pre-installed, and 1 GB of persistent storage per Region is provided in your home directory, so scripts and configuration files survive across sessions. If you used Cloud9 for terminal work (CLI operations, deployments, checking resources), migrating to CloudShell barely changes your routine. You can switch between Bash, PowerShell, and Z shell, and Node.js and Python runtimes are preconfigured.
Continuing with Cloud9 and Closing Environments Safely
Existing customers can keep using Cloud9. The familiar features still work, including the cost-saving auto-stop that shuts down the EC2 instance after a period of inactivity and the automatic injection of AWS Managed Temporary Credentials. Since no new features will be added, however, it is wise to plan a migration for the long term. When you migrate, first push the code in your environment to a Git repository, and also retrieve configuration files and working data from the EBS volume. Once the migration is complete, delete the Cloud9 environment (the EC2 instance and the EBS volume). EBS storage charges continue to accrue even while an EC2 instance is stopped, which is why the official migration guide recommends deleting your Cloud9 EC2 instances after migrating.
Summary
AWS Cloud9 closed to new customers on July 25, 2024, and today only existing customers can continue using it. For a new development environment, the officially recommended destinations are a local IDE with the AWS Toolkit if you mainly edit code, or AWS CloudShell if you mainly work in a terminal. Existing users should not expect new features either, so plan the move deliberately: back up your code to Git, verify your workflow on the new environment, and then delete the Cloud9 environment.
References (Official AWS Resources)
The primary sources for this page are the official AWS website and documentation. Check the official pages below for the latest specifications and pricing.
- AWS Cloud9 official page
- AWS Lambda official page
- AWS CodeCommit official page
- AWS Documentation (official)
If this page and the official documentation disagree, treat the official documentation as authoritative.