All three foundations can support the same file-portal scope: sign-in, listing, reading, and uploading. In one first-person comparison, each was built against the same Amazon FSx for NetApp ONTAP S3 Access Point, and each returned the same values for the same test inputs. The choice then comes down to what each foundation does by default, how well it supports local work, and how much it leaves behind when you delete the stack. The comparison’s author recommends Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0 for production-leaning defaults and dependency management, AWS Blocks for work that can run locally without an AWS account, and Amplify Gen 2 when backend definition and hosting should live in one workflow. Those are the author’s observations from one environment, not a universal ranking.
The full comparison is published as What a stack deletion leaves behind, Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0, AWS Blocks and Amplify Gen 2 compared (File Portal Part 7) on DEV Community.
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What the comparison tested
The author implemented four features on each foundation: sign-in, list, read, and upload. The API procedures were listFiles, readFile, and uploadFile. Every test held the target to the same conditions: a prefix containing 13 objects, the same 1,615-byte file served as text/markdown; charset=utf-8, and the same 24-byte write. All three returned the same values.
Initial live starter deployments were run on 2026-09-13, and the four-feature comparison on 2026-09-14. The region was ap-northeast-1, with one exception: the CloudFront web ACL for the Nx setup was created in us-east-1.
#1 Best Overall
The author states that the data path below the S3 Access Point was identical across all three and that switching tools did not rebuild or alter the FSx for ONTAP side. The comparison therefore measures the application foundation, not the storage layer underneath it.
The three foundations
Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0
AWS describes Nx Plugin for AWS as an open-source toolkit for scaffolding full-stack AWS applications. According to AWS’s announcement, “The plugin is available under the Apache 2.0 license at no additional charge; you pay only for the AWS resources your applications use.” The charge statement covers the plugin only; the AWS resources a project creates are billed separately.
Version 1.0 standardized generator names and options and moved the toolchain to Nx 23.2, ESM, and Biome, according to the v1.0.0 release notes. The comparison’s author chose it for production-leaning defaults and for Nx-based dependency management across a multi-project workspace.
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AWS defines a Block as a module that provides a complete feature: cloud resources, a runtime API, and a local implementation, as described in What is AWS Blocks? That local implementation is what made Blocks the author’s choice for running the application on a workstation without an AWS account.
Rank #3
The author flagged two cautions from the testing period. Blocks was in preview at that time, so its status may have changed since. The author also advises treating a Block ID as immutable after deployment. AWS’s Amplify integration documentation describes how Blocks connect to an Amplify Gen 2 project through four mechanisms.
Amplify Gen 2
In the comparison, Amplify Gen 2 is treated as one workflow that combines backend definition, a sandbox environment, and hosting. The portal used for this test was already running in production before the comparison began. For that reason, the author did not include Amplify Gen 2 in the fresh-build deployment time or resource counts, and those figures should not be read as a three-way benchmark.
Defaults that come with each setup
Each generated configuration carried its own security and identity defaults. These observations apply to the specific configurations the author tested, not to every project these tools produce.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0 | Cognito Plus, MFA required | Two web ACLs on the application path, plus one in a separate us-east-1 stack (three ACLs total) | Four | Not stated in the comparison |
| AWS Blocks production preset | No Cognito; AuthBasic (DynamoDB and JWTs) | Not stated in the comparison | One | Two of four DynamoDB tables dedicated to auth; all four tables protected from deletion |
| Amplify Gen 2 starter | Cognito, Essentials tier | None by default | None by default | Not stated in the comparison |
Monthly floor with zero requests
The author recorded a zero-request monthly floor for each setup: Nx Plugin for AWS from $25, the AWS Blocks production preset at $1, and the Amplify Gen 2 starter at $0. Prices came from the AWS Price List API for ap-northeast-1 on 2026-09-07 and exclude FSx for ONTAP. They are dated, configuration-dependent examples, not current quotes.
| Foundation | Zero-request monthly floor (ap-northeast-1, 2026-09-07) | Charged components in the tested setup |
|---|---|---|
| Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0 | $25 | Three WAF web ACLs with six rules ($21); four KMS keys ($4) |
| AWS Blocks production preset | $1 | One KMS key ($1) |
| Amplify Gen 2 starter | $0 | No charged components in the tested setup |
Deployment footprint
A Japanese-language write-up of the same four-feature test, by the same author in 2026, reports the following for fresh deployments. These two rows are the only deployment measurements available; Amplify Gen 2 is excluded because its portal was already running.
| Foundation | Deployment time | Resources created | Business Lambda functions |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0 (sandbox) | 307 seconds | 100 | Five |
| AWS Blocks (production preset) | 318 seconds | 82 | One |
| Amplify Gen 2 | Not stated (already-running portal excluded) | Not stated | Not stated |
What remains after deleting the stack
The most practical difference the comparison found is what survives a stack deletion. The author deleted the deployed resources and then checked what was left.
AWS Blocks sandbox
- Five CloudWatch log groups remained.
AWS Blocks production preset
- Four DynamoDB tables remained, protected from deletion.
- Eight log groups remained.
- One KMS key remained in a waiting period.
Nx Plugin for AWS 1.0
- One Cognito user pool remained.
- One DynamoDB table remained.
- Four KMS keys remained.
- Two IAM roles remained.
- Seven log groups remained.
Amplify Gen 2
The comparison does not state the leftovers for Amplify Gen 2.
The Tool Desk
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The five KMS keys still waiting for deletion (one from Blocks production and four from Nx) were not billed while in the PendingDeletion state, according to the author.
Quick Recap
How to choose
- Decide whether the team must run the application locally without an AWS account. If so, the comparison’s use case points to AWS Blocks, which provides a local implementation for each Block.
- Decide whether you want Nx generators and multi-project dependency management. If yes, the Nx Plugin’s scaffolding and the author’s production-leaning defaults fit that need.
- Decide whether backend definition and hosting should be one workflow. If yes, Amplify Gen 2 matches the author’s framing.
- Check the generated configuration, region, and date before budgeting. The floors above come from one region and one date and will move with your own WAF rules, key counts, and usage.
- Plan the teardown before you deploy. List the deletion-protected tables, the Lambda log groups outside CloudFormation, the KMS keys, and the IAM role order, and confirm each one is removed or intentionally kept.
Limits of this evidence
- The results come from one environment, one region (ap-northeast-1, with a us-east-1 WAF exception for Nx), and one set of templates.
- Equal outputs apply to the shared test data: one prefix, one file, one write. They do not prove identical behavior under other workloads.
- The pricing snapshot is from 2026-09-07 and excludes FSx for ONTAP. Current costs can differ by region, usage, and resource choices.
- AWS Blocks was in preview during testing, and the status of its features may have changed.
- The comparison is a first-person account by one author. It is not an AWS performance study or an independent benchmark.
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