AWS IoT Core

AWS IoT Core is the Amazon Web Services managed service that connects IoTITermIoT (Internet of Things)The IoT (Internet of Things) is the network of physical objects with sensors, software and connectivity that collect and exchange data and act autonomously.View profile devices to the AWS cloud. Devices publish and subscribe through its message broker over MQTTProtocolMQTTThe standard pub/sub protocol of IoTView profile, MQTT over WebSocket or HTTPS, and its rules engine sends the data to other AWS services such as Lambda, DynamoDB, S3 or Kinesis.

How AWS IoT Core works

• Message broker: supports MQTT 3.1.1 and MQTT 5, with some differences from the specification. It supports QoS 0 and 1, but not QoSMTermMQTT QoSMQTT QoS (Quality of Service) defines a message's delivery guarantee at three levels: 0 (at most once), 1 (at least once) and 2 (exactly once).View profile 2.
• Authentication: X.509 client certificates, AWS Signature Version 4 or custom authorizers backed by a Lambda function. All communication is encrypted with TLS 1.2 or 1.3.
• Rules engine: SQL-based rules filter and transform messages and send them to AWS services.
• Device Shadow: a JSON document per device with desired, reported and delta state, so apps can read or change a device's state even while it is offline.
• AWS IoT Core for LoRaWANProtocolLoRaWANOpen long-range, low-power LPWANView profile: a managed LoRaWAN network server, so you don't have to operate your own.

AWS IoT Core pricing

AWS bills separately for connectivity, messaging, Device Shadow and registry, and the rules engine, plus optional components such as AWS IoT Core for LoRaWAN. According to AWS, you pay only for the components you use, with no minimum or mandatory usage fee. With Basic Ingest, device data goes straight to rules without messaging costs.

AWS IoT Core vs an IoT application platform

The job of AWS IoT Core is to connect devices and route their messages. The part people use, such as dashboards, alarms and user management, is built on top: rules send the data to services like AWS IoT SiteWise, Amazon OpenSearch Service or your own web application.

Cloud Studio IoT is an alternative for teams that want an application platform with dashboards, alarms and white-label out of the box instead of assembling them. Each instance has its own MQTT server, with TLS on port 8883. If you are comparing brokers, see the complete MQTT broker guide.