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LocalStack

LocalStack is a local cloud emulator that lets developers and homelabbers build and test cloud applications on their machine by creating local environments…

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LocalStack is a local cloud emulator that lets developers and homelabbers build and test cloud applications on their machine by creating local environments that mirror Amazon Web Services and Snowflake behavior, without provisioning real infrastructure for faster infrastructure-as-code validation, integration testing, and data pipeline work in automated testing workflows.

Platform availability

Available on 2 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox (not listed)
  • Helm
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

65/100 Good

Maintained
91last commit 15 days ago
Popular
2928 GitHub stars
Easy to install
452 install platforms, install notes, Docker image
Light to run
801 GB minimum RAM, runs on ARM

Availability: platform listings confirmed today, links checked 16 days ago

GitHub stars
28
Open issues
1
Last commit
2026-09-28
Latest release
v2026.8.2
License
Apache-2.0
Activity
rising

Checked 7 days ago - source: GitHub (localstack/localstack-cli)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 1 GB RAM. ARM (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is supported.

Checked 15 days ago - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Install LocalStack CLI before starting Install the LocalStack command-line interface (CLI) with Homebrew or pip because it is the control command used to launch the Docker image. If you skip it, commands like `localstack start -d` will not run, and the local AWS (Amazon Web Services) endpoint will not start. source
  • Start LocalStack with Docker Run `localstack start -d` to start LocalStack as a background Docker process, which provides the local AWS (Amazon Web Services) endpoint your app expects. If you skip it, no LocalStack services are listening, so app requests fail. source
  • Add an AWS profile for LocalStack Set an AWS (Amazon Web Services) credentials and config profile with dummy keys and a region, such as `ls-sandbox`, so AWS clients know how to talk to LocalStack. If you skip it, application calls may fail with missing credentials or region errors. source

Fetched 15 days ago - each note links to its source

Alternatives (9)

  • Amazon Web Services - A pay-as-you-go cloud computing platform with services in networking, compute, storage, and IoT, accessible via global server farms.
  • Harvester - Harvester is the next generation of open-source hyperconverged infrastructure solutions designed for modern cloud-native environments.
  • Linode - Delivers Linux-based cloud infrastructure with scalable VM, GPU, and storage options, predictable pricing, API access, global locations, an…
  • Microsoft Azure - The Azure cloud platform is more than 200 products and cloud services designed to help you bring new solutions to life—to solve today’s cha…
  • OpenStack - OpenStack OpenStack is a global collaboration of developers and cloud computing technologists producing the ubiquitous open source cloud co…
  • Proxmox Virtual Environment - Proxmox Virtual Environment is a complete and easy to use Open Source virtualization platform for running Virtual Appliances and Virtual Ma…
  • SmartOS - SmartOS is a hypervisor lean enough to run entirely in memory, powerful enough to run as much as you want to throw at it.
  • WolfStack - Server management platform for the Wolf software suite.
  • Xen - Xen.org, home of the Xen hypervisor, the powerful open source industry standard for virtualization.

Checked 12 days ago - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Should I still use the old localstack CLI?

No, the old localstack CLI is deprecated and no longer receives updates. Use the lstk CLI and migrate local scripts or CI workflows to it.

How do I configure an AWS client to target LocalStack?

Add an AWS profile with dummy credentials and a region, such as ls-sandbox, and configure the client to use that profile. Missing credentials or a region can cause calls to fail.

Can clients use the Kubernetes Service name for LocalStack?

Yes, but host-based access such as S3 virtual-host addressing will not work with the Service name. Verify the LocalStack DNS server is running if DNS resolution fails.

Why can CI fail when pulling LocalStack images?

LocalStack moved its images behind authentication after archiving the public repository. CI must pull with a token, or the pull will fail.

Answers sourced from dev.to, docs.localstack.cloud, github.com, github.com

Community

Collected 15 days ago - public community threads