Amazon Elastic Container Registry
ECR
You need a managed registry to store and distribute container images used by your deployments.
Reach for it when
- Publishing versioned images for ECS, EKS or another compatible container runtime.
- Controlling repository access and applying lifecycle policies to retained images.
Do not reach for it when
- Running containers: pair the registry with a compute service.
- Storing ordinary user uploads: choose S3.
Alternatives, and how to choose
| Service | Pick it instead when |
|---|---|
| Docker Hub or another registry | Choose according to access, distribution and integration requirements. |
| S3 | Store generic objects rather than a container registry interface. |
How you pay
- The model
- Storage, data transfer and selected features such as enhanced scanning can contribute to cost.
- The line item that surprises people
- Old image layers retained by many tags can increase storage over time.
What trips people up
- An image tag can change unless immutability is configured; deploy immutable digests when reproducibility matters.
- Repository authorization and image scanning do not guarantee an application is secure.
Verify the live service
This page is a concept reference. Cost models are qualitative; confirm the current offering, Region and pricing before deploying.