20 Best AWS Migration Tools for Every Purpose

Moving your digital operations to the AWS cloud is a trendy strategic maneuver for scalability, resilience, and innovation. But let's be real: the migration process is not a simple endeavor. The complications begin way before your first data transfer, when you're starting to assess your resources. 

The good news is that you can perform a successful migration from 0 to 100  with the right toolkit of AWS migration tools. Let's take a look at the top-tier tools, from specialized third-party engines to AWS's own native services. We'll break down their features, what they're best for, and give you the lowdown on pricing.

1. Ispirer SQLWays & InsightWays

When your migration involves more than moving servers from point A to point B, you need specialized firepower. This is particularly true for heterogeneous migrations, like moving from an on-premises Oracle database to Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL, where schemas, data types, and proprietary procedural code don't line up. Ispirer's suite shines brightest for such scenarios.

It's a comprehensive migration as a service and software solution that unravels the most tangled legacy systems. It operates in two synergistic phases with its distinct products: Ispirer InsightWays for assessment and Ispirer SQLWays for the actual conversion.

Ispirer Toolkit's features

• Ispirer InsightWays (assessment): Before you migrate, you must understand what you have. InsightWays is a discovery tool that scans your entire existing environment: databases, application code, and ETL scripts. It then produces a meticulous cloud migration feasibility report, where it quantifies the complexity, estimates the effort required, and flags potential issues. With it, you'll get a clear roadmap and predictable workload to estimate potential AWS migration costs.
• Ispirer SQLWays (conversion):
  • Broad technology support: It boasts an almost encyclopedic knowledge of source and target technologies. Think Oracle, SQL Server, MariaDB, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and more, moving to AWS targets on RDS, Amazon Aurora, and Redshift.
  • Automated schema & business logic conversion: SQLWays goes beyond simple table mapping. It automates the conversion of a huge part of the database schema, SQL queries, and, most critically, server-side business logic. This includes stored procedures, functions, triggers, and packages, translating proprietary logic (like Oracle's PL/SQL or SQL Server's T-SQL) into the target platform's native language.

Ispirer Toolkit is best for

Ispirer is the quintessential choice for complex heterogeneous database modernization projects. If you're dealing with legacy systems locked in by decades of custom business logic and embedded SQL, Ispirer's automated conversion capabilities are what you need.

It's ideal for organizations looking to both migrate and transform their software and escape vendor lock-in as they move to the AWS cloud environment.

Ispirer Toolkit's pricing (July 2025)

Ispirer offers a flexible pricing model with a free trial. You can opt for a software license for your team to use or engage Ispirer's team for a service-based migration project. The cost is customized based on the project's scope, the complexity of the source code, and the number of objects to be converted.

2. AWS Application Migration Service (MGN)

When your migration strategy is rehosting, or lift and shift, speed and simplicity are the top priority. The AWS Application Migration Service is AWS's primary tool for this exact purpose. It replicates and moves your physical, virtual, or other cloud-based servers to AWS with minimal disruption.

MGN works by installing a lightweight agent on your source servers. This agent then initiates a non-disruptive block-level replication of the entire server disk to a staging area in your AWS account. The continuous data replication keeps the AWS copy in sync until you're ready to make the final cutover.

MGN's features

• Block-level replication: Instead of copying files, MGN copies the underlying storage blocks. This way, everything (the operating system, system state, applications, files) is replicated exactly as it is.
• Broad source support: MGN supports a wide range of operating systems, including various versions of Windows Server, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, CentOS, SUSE Linux Enterprise, and Oracle Enterprise Linux. It can migrate from physical servers, VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and other cloud platforms.
• Automated conversion: During cutover, MGN automatically performs the necessary conversions to make your server boot and run natively on AWS EC2.

MGN is best for

MGN is the best AWS migration tool for large-scale rehosting projects. It's perfect when you need to evacuate a data center or move hundreds of servers without refactoring the applications they run. It's also a powerful tool for building disaster recovery capabilities in AWS.

MGN's pricing (July 2025)

AWS provides a generous free tier for MGN. For each server you migrate, the service is free for a 90-day period. During this time, you only pay for the AWS resources that MGN provisions for the migration, such as staging area EC2 instances and EBS volumes. After 90 days, a small hourly fee of $0.042 per server or a monthly fee of ~$30 per server applies for replication.

Use the pricing calculator to estimate the approximate cost of your project.

3. AWS Database Migration Service (DMS)

The AWS Database Migration Service is a managed service that makes database migration significantly easier and more reliable. It's a versatile tool that can handle both one-time data transfers and ongoing replication.

DMS connects to your source database, reads the data, formats it for the target database, and loads it. What makes DMS particularly powerful is its ability to handle both homogeneous migrations (like MySQL to MySQL on RDS) and heterogeneous migrations (for example, SQL Server to Amazon Aurora).

DMS's features

• Heterogeneous migration support: For migrations between different database engines, DMS works in tandem with the AWS Schema Conversion Tool. SCT analyzes and converts your source database schema and code objects (views, stored procedures, etc.) to a format compatible with the target. DMS then handles the actual data migration.
• Continuous data capture (CDC): This is the key to minimizing downtime. After the initial bulk data load, DMS can capture ongoing changes (inserts, updates, deletes) from your source database and apply them to the target in near real-time. Thus, your source and target databases stay in sync, so you can switch over at a time of your choosing.
• Resilient and self-healing: As a managed service, DMS monitors your replication tasks, automatically restarts if there's an interruption, and ensures data integrity throughout the migration process.
• Flexible data source/target: DMS can migrate data from most widely used commercial and open-source databases on-premises to a broad range of AWS targets, including Amazon Aurora, RDS, Redshift, and DynamoDB.

DMS is best for

DMS is the workhorse for nearly any database migration scenario. It's ideal for migrating on-premises databases to AWS, upgrading database versions with minimal downtime, consolidating multiple databases into a single cloud target, or feeding data continuously to a data lake or data warehouse in Amazon S3.

DMS's pricing (July 2025)

With DMS, you pay for the compute resources that run your migration tasks. These are called replication instances, and you're billed an hourly rate based on their size. There are no upfront costs or long-term commitments. Data transfer into AWS is free; that's why it's a cost-effective solution for getting your data into the AWS cloud.

You can use the pricing calculator to estimate your approximate project cost.

Note: Check the pricing page for rates in your area.

4. AWS Migration Hub

Large-scale migrations are complex projects with many moving parts, which means keeping track of everything is a massive challenge. The AWS Migration Hub provides a single place to track migration progress across multiple AWS and partner migration tools.

Migration Hub doesn't perform the migration itself. Instead, it acts as a centralized dashboard or an orchestration layer. It gives you a consolidated view of your entire migration portfolio, helping you understand the status of your servers and applications as they move through the discovery, assessment, and migration phases.

AWS Migration Hub's features

• Centralized tracking: It integrates with AWS Application Migration Service, AWS Database Migration Service, and other tools to show you the latest status of each migration task in one place.
• Application-centric view: You can group discovered servers and databases into applications to track the migration of an entire multi-tier application as a single unit, rather than as a collection of disparate infrastructure components.
• Migration planning & strategy: The Migration Hub provides a Strategy Recommendations feature that analyzes your discovered servers and suggests the most viable migration strategies (such as Rehost, Replatform, or Refactor) based on runtime metrics and dependencies.
• Unified discovery data: It aggregates server and application data collected by AWS Application Discovery Service to give you a single repository and inform your planning.

AWS Migration Hub is best for

Migration Hub is essential for program managers, IT leaders, and engineering teams overseeing complex migration projects. If you're coordinating the migration of dozens or hundreds of applications, it will give high-level visibility to keep the project on track and report progress to stakeholders.

AWS Migration Hub's pricing (July 2025)

AWS Migration Hub goes at no extra charge. You simply pay for the cost of the underlying migration services you use and any resources consumed during the migration.

5. AWS Transfer Family

Many business processes rely on classic file transfer protocols like SFTP, FTPS, and FTP. Migrating to the cloud often means rethinking how these workflows operate. The AWS Transfer Family is a fully managed service that allows you to move these workflows to AWS without disrupting your customers or partners.

Instead of running your own SFTP servers on EC2 instances, you can use the AWS Transfer Family to create a secure, scalable, and highly available file transfer endpoint that integrates natively with AWS storage services.

AWS Transfer Family's features

• Native storage integration: Files transferred via the service are stored in Amazon S3 or Amazon EFS. Your data is immediately available for processing by other AWS services for analytics, machine learning, or archival.
• Protocol support: It provides fully managed support for SFTP, FTPS, and FTP.
• Identity integration: You can integrate with your existing identity providers, such as Microsoft Active Directory, LDAP, or a custom provider. The feature allows you to maintain your current user credentials and permissions.
• Security and compliance: The service is HIPAA eligible, PCI DSS compliant, and SOC compliant, providing robust security features like VPC endpoints and security policies. It also supports file permission migration.

AWS Transfer Family is best for

The AWS Transfer Family is ideal for businesses that need to replace on-premises SFTP/FTP servers. It's perfect for creating data ingestion pipelines where external parties upload files, for distributing data securely to partners, or for backing up data from systems that can only communicate via FTP.

AWS Transfer Family's pricing (July 2025)

Pricing is based on a few factors. You pay an hourly fee for each protocol-enabled endpoint you provision. Plus, you pay a per-gigabyte fee for the data uploaded and downloaded through the service. Standard Amazon S3 or EFS storage costs apply.

There's also a Transfer Family pricing calculator. And you can explore pricing examples for different scenarios.

Note: Check the pricing page for rates in your area.

6. AWS Snowball

Sometimes, the internet isn't fast enough. When you need to move terabytes or even petabytes of data, network-based transfers can take weeks, months, or longer. AWS Snowball is a collection of physical devices that solves this problem by transporting your data to AWS securely and quickly.

This is data migration on a physical scale. You order a device, AWS ships it to your on-premises data center, you load your data onto it, and then ship it back. AWS then uploads the data into your designated S3 bucket.

AWS Snowball's features

• Petabyte-scale devices: The Storage Optimized version provides 80 TB of HDD storage, while the Compute Optimized version includes CPU and GPU capabilities to run local processing and analytics in disconnected environments.
• Extreme security: All data on Snow devices is protected by multiple layers of security, including tamper-evident enclosures, 256-bit encryption, and a Trusted Platform Module (TPM) to ensure data integrity.
• Edge compute: Snowball devices have onboard compute capabilities, so you can run AWS Lambda functions or EC2 instances locally. It's useful for pre-processing data in remote or disconnected locations before sending it to AWS.

AWS Snowball is best for

Snowball is the clear choice for massive-scale data transfer. It's perfect for data center shutdowns, migrating large video libraries or scientific datasets, or collecting data in environments with no or limited network connectivity (like on a ship or in a remote research facility).

AWS Snowball's pricing (July 2025)

You pay a one-time service fee per job and AWS data transfer. For Snowball, this includes a certain number of days on-site for free; extra days incur a daily fee. You also cover the shipping costs.

Note: Check the pricing page for rates in your area.

7. AWS Schema Conversion Tool (SCT)

We mentioned the AWS Schema Conversion Tool in passing with DMS, but it's a powerhouse in its own right and deserves its own spotlight. If DMS is the moving truck that transports your data, SCT is the expert translator and architect who redesigns your house's interior to fit the new location. It's a good choice for heterogeneous database migrations.

SCT is a client-side application you run on your local machine. You connect it to your source and target databases, and it gets to work analyzing the structure and code.

SCT's features

• Comprehensive assessment reports: SCT can generate a detailed report for an upcoming migration, showing you the complexity of the conversion and a line-by-line analysis of what can be converted automatically and what will require manual effort.
• Database code conversion: This is its core function. SCT automatically converts your source database's procedural code, like Oracle PL/SQL or SQL Server T-SQL functions, stored procedures, and triggers, into a format compatible with your target database, such as PostgreSQL's PL/pgSQL or MySQL's procedural language.
• Data warehouse modernization: SCT has specialized modules for converting schemas from traditional data warehouses (like Teradata or Oracle) to modern cloud data warehouses like Amazon Redshift. It provides recommendations for distribution keys and sort keys to optimize performance on Redshift.
• Embedded SQL extraction: SCT can scan your application source code (in languages like Java, C#, or C++) to identify and help you convert embedded SQL statements, so the application-side refactoring gets much more manageable.

SCT is best for

SCT is a must-have for any heterogeneous database migration project. If you are moving from a proprietary engine like Oracle or SQL Server to an open-source or AWS-native database like Amazon Aurora PostgreSQL or MySQL, SCT will save you thousands of hours of manual conversion work.

SCT's pricing (July 2025)

The AWS Schema Conversion Tool is completely free to download and use.

8. AWS DataSync

When you need to move large amounts of file or object data from your on-premises environment to AWS over the network, you want it to be fast, simple, and secure. AWS DataSync is a service purpose-built for this exact scenario. It accelerates online data transfers and automates the process of moving data between on-premises servers and AWS storage services.

It works by deploying a lightweight agent (as a virtual machine) in your on-premises environment. This agent connects to your storage systems and then uses a custom AWS protocol to transfer data to the cloud efficiently and securely.

AWS DataSync's features

• Accelerated transfers: DataSync uses a purpose-built protocol with parallel transfers and in-line compression to move data up to 10 times faster than standard open-source tools like rsync.
• Broad storage support: It can connect to your on-premises Network File System shares, Server Message Block file shares, Hadoop Distributed File Systems, and self-managed object storage.
• End-to-end security & validation: Data is encrypted in transit, and the service performs integrity checks both during transfer and upon arrival to ensure your data is moved without corruption.
• Managed & automated: You can schedule transfer tasks, throttle bandwidth to minimize impact on your production network, and monitor progress through the AWS Management Portal. It's a "set it and forget it" service for data movement.

AWS DataSync is best for

DataSync is the ideal tool for migrating active file data, user home directories, or data lakes from on-premises to Amazon S3, Amazon EFS, or Amazon FSx. It's also excellent for ongoing data replication for archival, processing, or disaster recovery purposes where a continuous and high-speed network connection is available.

AWS DataSync's pricing (July 2025)

DataSync has a simple, pay-as-you-go pricing model. You pay a flat fee per gigabyte of data copied by the service. There are no minimum fees, setup costs, or agent license fees. Use the pricing calculator.

Note: Check the pricing page for rates in your area.

9. VMware Cloud

What if your goal is to get to the AWS cloud, but your entire operation is built on VMware? Retraining your staff and re-architecting every application can be a non-starter. VMware Cloud on AWS is a fully managed service that provides a seamless migration path.

This service allows you to run VMware's native Software-Defined Data Center stack, including vSphere, vSAN, and NSX, on bare-metal AWS infrastructure. The result is a true hybrid cloud environment where your on-premises and cloud environments operate identically.

VMware Cloud's features

• Operational consistency: Your teams continue to use the same VMware tools they already know and love, like vCenter. There's no need to learn a whole new set of APIs or management interfaces.
• Seamless workload portability: You can migrate workloads between your on-premises data center and VMware Cloud on AWS bi-directionally using vMotion, with no downtime for live migrations. It makes moving a VMware virtual machine image as simple as dragging and dropping.
• Native AWS service integration: Your VMware VMs running in AWS have high-bandwidth, low-latency access to the full portfolio of native AWS services, like RDS, S3, and Redshift. You can modernize your applications incrementally after migrating them.
• Managed service: The underlying infrastructure is fully managed by VMware and AWS, freeing you from the burden of patching and maintaining the hardware and VMware software stack.

VMware Cloud is best for

VMware Cloud on AWS is the perfect solution for organizations deeply invested in the VMware ecosystem. It's the fastest and lowest-risk path to the cloud for these customers, enabling rapid data center evacuations, on-demand capacity extension, and robust disaster recovery solutions without disrupting business operations.

VMware Cloud's pricing (July 2025)

You can consume the service on demand, paying an hourly rate per physical host. For more stable workloads, you can purchase 1-year or 3-year reserved subscriptions for significant savings over the on-demand price.

10. AWS CloudEndure Disaster Recovery

Before there was AWS MGN, there was CloudEndure. Acquired by AWS in 2019, CloudEndure Migration was the original rehosting champion, and its technology forms the foundation of what is now the AWS Application Migration Service.

While MGN is now AWS's primary migration service, it's worth knowing about CloudEndure, especially its Disaster Recovery counterpart.

CloudEndure works similarly to MGN, using continuous block-level replication to create an exact copy of your source servers in a low-cost staging area in your target AWS account.

CloudEndure's features

• Continuous data replication: Captures changes in near real-time, ensuring minimal data loss (RPO in seconds) and cutover times of just a few minutes (RTO in minutes).
• Point-in-time recovery: Allows you to revert to previous consistent snapshots, which is invaluable if a cutover encounters an issue.
• Broad platform support: It can migrate an extensive range of applications and databases from any source infrastructure (physical, virtual, cloud) to AWS.
• Automated machine conversion: Handles the complex process of converting the source machine to run natively on AWS infrastructure automatically, injecting the right hypervisors and drivers.

CloudEndure is best for

Today, AWS directs new migration projects to AWS MGN. However, its sibling service, CloudEndure Disaster Recovery, remains a best-in-class solution for building robust, fast, and cost-effective DR capabilities in AWS. Organizations with long-standing migration projects may also still be using CloudEndure migration.

CloudEndure's pricing (July 2025)

The AWS CloudEndure Disaster Recovery service is paid based on usage:

• Hourly rate for protected machine — $0.028
• Hourly rate for AWS-protected machine — $0.028

Additional AWS infrastructure costs may apply. You can estimate them with a general AWS calculator.

11. AWS Application Discovery Service

To plan a migration, you first need a detailed map of your current state. AWS Application Discovery Service collects the technical data you need to understand your on-premises servers, their performance, and, most importantly, their network dependencies. This data is the foundation for a well-planned migration.

AWS Application Discovery Service's features

• Comprehensive data collection: Gathers server specifications, performance history, running processes, and details of inbound/outbound network connections.
• Agent-based or agentless: Offers the flexibility of deploying an agent for deep insights or using an agentless approach for VMware environments to quickly inventory your vCenter.
• Dependency mapping: Visually maps the connections between servers to help you identify and group applications correctly, ensuring no critical component is left behind during migration.
• Migration Hub integration: All collected data is fed directly into AWS Migration Hub to inform your planning, tracking, and strategy recommendations.

AWS Application Discovery Service is best for 

Solution architects and system engineers responsible for the technical planning of the migration will benefit a lot from using this tool. It provides the ground-truth data needed to define migration waves and design the target architecture.

AWS Application Discovery Service's pricing (July 2025)

This service is provided at no charge. You only pay for the AWS resources consumed by other migration tools that use this data.

12. Migration Evaluator

Before you execute a migration, you need to build the business case, too. Migration Evaluator (formerly TSO Logic) is AWS's premier tool for creating a data-driven financial assessment. It helps you understand what you have, project your future costs on AWS, and optimize your licensing strategy.

Migration Evaluator's features

• Agentless discovery: It can quickly gather server configuration and utilization data from your on-premises environment without needing to install agents on every machine.
• TCO analysis: Provides a detailed Total Cost of Ownership report, comparing your current on-premises spending with projected costs on AWS.
• Right-sizing recommendations: It analyzes actual CPU and memory usage patterns to recommend the most cost-effective EC2 and EBS instance types, preventing costly overprovisioning.
• Software license insights: Helps you understand and optimize your Microsoft SQL Server and Windows Server licensing options when moving to AWS.

Migration Evaluator is best for 

CIOs, IT finance managers, and project leaders can create a solid financial justification for the cloud migration and present it to stakeholders.

Migration Evaluator's pricing (July 2025)

Migration Evaluator is a free service provided by AWS to help you plan your migration.

13. AWS Storage Gateway

The AWS Storage Gateway is a hybrid cloud storage service that seamlessly connects your on-premises applications to AWS storage. It is a bridge that allows you to use services like S3 and EBS as if they were part of your local network, which is invaluable for phased migrations and hybrid architectures.

AWS Storage Gateway's features

• Multiple gateway types:
  • File gateway: Provides NFS and SMB file shares backed by Amazon S3 for easy file-based integration.
  • Volume gateway: Presents iSCSI block storage volumes backed by Amazon EBS Snapshots.
  • Tape gateway: Offers a virtual tape library that integrates with leading backup applications, replacing physical tapes with cloud storage.
• Local caching: The gateway maintains a local cache of frequently accessed data, providing low-latency performance for your apps.
• Efficient data transfer: Compresses data and transfers it securely and efficiently to AWS over an optimized protocol.

AWS Storage Gateway is best for 

Organizations implementing hybrid cloud storage, backing up on-premises data to the cloud, or providing low-latency file access for local applications while storing the primary data durably in S3.

AWS Storage Gateway's pricing (July 2025)

Pricing varies by gateway type but generally includes charges for the amount of data stored in AWS and the amount of data written to the gateway. (Calculator)

Note: Check the pricing page for rates in your area.

14. AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery (DRS)

As the modern successor to CloudEndure Disaster Recovery, AWS Elastic Disaster Recovery is the recommended AWS native service for setting up your DR site in the cloud. It minimizes downtime and data loss with fast and reliable recovery of physical, virtual, and cloud-based servers.

AWS DRS's features

• Continuous block-level replication: Uses the same proven technology as MGN to continuously replicate source servers to a low-cost staging area in your AWS account.
• Minimal RPO/RTO: Achieves Recovery Point Objectives of seconds and Recovery Time Objectives of minutes.
• Point-in-time recovery: You can launch recovery instances from snapshots taken moments before a disruption for granular recovery.
• Non-disruptive drills: Conduct regular DR drills without impacting your source applications to ensure you are always prepared for a real event.

AWS DRS is best for 

Any organization looking to implement a robust, fast, and cost-effective disaster recovery strategy by using AWS as a recovery site for their critical applications.

AWS DRS's pricing (July 2025)

You pay a low, flat hourly fee of $0.028 for each source server that you are replicating. During drills or an actual recovery, you pay for the fully provisioned EC2 and EBS resources only while they are running. (Calculator)

15. AWS Mainframe Modernization

Mainframes are the final frontier for many cloud migrations. The AWS Mainframe Modernization service provides a comprehensive platform with tools and managed runtime environments to help you migrate and modernize your legacy mainframe applications on AWS.

AWS Mainframe Modernization's features

• Dual patterns: Supports both replatforming (moving applications with minimal changes to a managed AWS runtime) and refactoring (transforming COBOL code into modern Java services).
• Integrated toolchain: Provides tools for assessment, analysis, data migration, automated code conversion, and testing within the service.
• Managed runtimes: Once migrated, AWS manages the underlying infrastructure for the mainframe applications, including scaling, patching, and availability.
• Incremental modernization: Allows for a phased approach, where you can modernize parts of your mainframe application over time.

AWS Mainframe Modernization is best for 

Large financial services, insurance, and retail organizations looking for a structured path to move core business systems off expensive and rigid mainframe hardware.

AWS Mainframe Modernization's pricing (July 2025)

You pay for the compute capacity provisioned for the managed runtime environments. Additional hourly fees may apply for using specific tools like the refactoring engine.

Note: Check the pricing page and contact the AWS assistant for rates in your area.

16. Porting Assistant for .NET

Modernizing applications often means moving from proprietary frameworks to open-source alternatives. The Porting Assistant for .NET is an analysis tool that helps accelerate the process of refactoring legacy Microsoft .NET Framework applications to the modern, cross-platform .NET (formerly .NET Core).

Porting Assistant for .NET's features

• Compatibility analysis: Scans .NET Framework source code or binaries to identify API and package incompatibilities with the target .NET version.
• Porting recommendations: Gives detailed recommendations for replacing incompatible elements with viable alternatives.
• Guided porting: Can assist in making some of the required source code modifications directly, reducing manual effort.
• Reduced refactoring time: By pinpointing exactly what needs to change, it speeds up the modernization process.

Porting Assistant for .NET is best for 

Development teams looking to modernize their Windows-based .NET applications to run on Linux, in containers, or on AWS Lambda, thereby reducing licensing costs and increasing flexibility.

Porting Assistant for .NET's pricing (July 2025)

The Porting Assistant for .NET is free to download and use.

17. Zerto

Zerto, an HPE company, is a leading third-party platform for disaster recovery and multi-cloud mobility. It uses a foundation of Continuous Data Protection (CDP) to enable migrations with aggressive RPOs and RTOs. It's often a favorite for mission-critical workloads.

Zerto's features

• Continuous Data Protection: Replicates data with a granularity of seconds, so you can rewind to a point in time just before a disruption or migration cutover.
• Journal-based recovery: Offers recovery of individual files, VMs, or entire applications from any point in the journal.
• Automated migration workflows: Simplifies the process of moving workloads to AWS, including non-disruptive testing and automated configuration.
• Multi-cloud mobility: Not just for migrating to AWS, but also for moving workloads between different clouds or back on-premises.

Zerto is best for 

Enterprises with mission-critical applications that demand near-synchronous replication and the ability to perform non-disruptive and highly predictable migrations and DR tests.

Zerto's pricing (July 2025)

Zerto's In-Cloud Disaster Recovery protection for 10 EC2 instances is $17,970.00 for 36 months, according to their official page on the AWS marketplace.

18. Dynatrace

How do you prove the migration was a success? By ensuring your applications perform as well or better in the cloud. Dynatrace is a leading AI-powered observability platform that provides critical performance insights before, during, and after your migration.

Dynatrace's features

• Automatic discovery: Maps your full technology stack and all dependencies automatically, providing a complete picture of your application environment.
• Performance baselining: Establishes a performance baseline of your applications in their on-premises environment.
• Post-migration validation: Compares post-migration performance against the baseline to immediately identify any degradation or issues.
• AI-powered root cause analysis: Pinpoints the exact cause of problems, whether they're in the code, a database, or the underlying infrastructure.

Dynatrace is best for 

Ensuring application performance and availability throughout the migration process. It's essential for validating the success of the migration and troubleshooting any post-cutover issues.

Dynatrace's pricing (July 2025)

Dynatrace offers a subscription-based model and a 15-day free trial. Pricing depends on factors like the number of hosts, memory usage, and the specific modules you need (e.g., Infrastructure Monitoring, APM).

Access the full pricing in Dynatrace's rate card.

19. Turbonomic

One of the biggest risks in cloud migration is overprovisioning and overspending. Turbonomic, an IBM product, is an Application Resource Management platform that uses AI to ensure your workloads get exactly the resources they need to perform, and not a penny more.

Turbonomic's features

• Pre-migration modeling: Analyzes on-premises workloads and models how they will run in AWS, providing accurate sizing and cost projections.
• Continuous optimization: Once in the cloud, it continuously analyzes resource utilization and provides automated actions to scale resources up or down to match demand.
• Full-stack visibility: Understands the entire stack, from the application down to the storage, to make holistic resourcing decisions.
• Hybrid cloud management: Manages resources seamlessly across on-premises and AWS environments.

Turbonomic is best for 

Pre-migration planning to avoid sticker shock from your first AWS bill, and for continuous post-migration cost and performance optimization.

Turbonomic's pricing (July 2025)

Sold as a subscription, typically priced by the number of workloads being managed. There's a free 30-day trial.

20. NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP

For organizations standardized on NetApp storage, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP offers a seamless way to extend their data fabric into AWS. It's NetApp's enterprise-grade ONTAP storage management software running natively on AWS infrastructure with a familiar experience.

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP's features

• Familiar data management: Brings powerful NetApp features like Snapshots, FlexClone, thin provisioning, and deduplication to your AWS environment.
• Seamless replication: Uses NetApp's SnapMirror technology to easily replicate data from on-premises NetApp filers to Cloud Volumes ONTAP in AWS.
• Multi-protocol support: Provides NFS, SMB, and iSCSI access to your data, supporting a wide range of applications.
• High availability: Can be deployed in a high-availability configuration across multiple AWS Availability Zones.

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP is best for 

Organizations already using NetApp on-premises. It provides the fastest and most familiar way to migrate and manage their file data in a hybrid AWS environment.

NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP's pricing (July 2025)

Available upon request on the AWS Marketplace. Pricing combines a NetApp software license fee with the cost of the underlying AWS EC2 and EBS resources it consumes.

Choosing your path: a tool for every task

AWS migration tools are versatile, but that's a good thing. It means there's a specialized solution for almost any challenge you might face.

Your successful migration hinges on a clear strategy:

• Start with discovery and assessment using tools like Ispirer InsightWays or AWS Application Discovery Service to understand what you have.
• For lift-and-shift, lean on AWS MGN.
• For database mobility, AWS DMS is your workhorse.
• For the most complex application and database modernizations, a powerhouse like Ispirer SQLWays is your best bet.
• And to keep it all organized, use AWS Migration Hub as your command center.

The right combination of these tools will transform your migration from a daunting challenge into a well-orchestrated and strategic success. Need help choosing? Let's navigate the process and choose the solutions that will carry you into the AWS cloud for good! Contact us.

People also ask

What are the migration tools for AWS?

AWS and its partners offer many tools to help you move to the cloud. They cover everything from server migration (like AWS Application Migration Service) and database transfers (like SQLWays and AWS Database Migration Service) to large-scale data movement (like AWS DataSync and Snowball).

There are also tools for planning and assessment (like InsightWays and Migration Evaluator) and for specialized workloads (like VMware Cloud on AWS).

What are the 7 migration strategies for AWS?

AWS outlines seven main ways to migrate, often called the 7 Rs:

1. Rehost (lift and shift): Move applications as-is.
2. Relocate: Like move VMware workloads to VMware Cloud on AWS.
3. Replatform: Move applications, making some cloud-native optimizations.
4. Repurchase: Switch to a new product, often SaaS.
5. Refactor/re-architect: Rebuild applications for full cloud benefits.
6. Retire: Decommission unneeded applications.
7. Retain: Keep some applications on-premises for now.

Which AWS service can be used for data migration?

Several AWS services handle data migration:

• AWS Database Migration Service (DMS): For databases and data warehouses.
• AWS DataSync: For large file or object data transfers over the network.
• AWS Transfer Family: For secure file transfers (SFTP, FTPS, FTP) to S3 or EFS.
• AWS Snowball: For moving massive amounts of data offline via physical devices.
• AWS Storage Gateway: Connects on-premises apps to cloud storage.