AWS Projects for Beginners (2026)

AWS projects you build in a real account or a simulator: EC2 and S3 deployments, serverless with Lambda, EKS, secure storage, cost and architecture reviews.

36 projects: 10 beginner, 17 intermediate, 9 advanced. Every step is checked as you go, an AI mentor helps when you are stuck, and you finish with a verifiable certificate.

AWS projects

Deploy MERN app on EC2 — Project talks about deployment of MERN stack application on EC2 (beginner · Free)
Jenkins Pipeline for Kubernetes Cluster — This projects target the ci/cd deployment of kubernetes based cluster for Library Management System by using jenkins. (advanced · Free)
Mastering AWS Lambda: From Basics to Advanced — Mastering AWS Lambda with Python: From Basics to Advanced Configurations in Real-World Cloud Workflows (beginner · $2)
Enterprise-Grade AWS S3 Implementation — Enterprise-Grade AWS S3 Implementation with Versioning, Lifecycle Management, Access Policies, IAM, ACLs, Encryption, and Static Website Hosting (beginner · $1)
Mastering AWS Networking: VPC, VPC Peering, Transit Gateway — AWS Networking Mastery - Understanding VPC, VPC Peering, and Transit Gateway (beginner · $1)
Deployment on EC2 using GitHub Actions — Deploying a simple static HTML application to an AWS EC2 Ubuntu instance with Nginx as the web server using github actions. (beginner · Free)
AWS IAM Policies and Roles: Real World Scenarios — Hands-On AWS IAM Policies and Roles: Real-World Access Control Scenarios with AWS CLI (beginner · $1)
Terraform on AWS from Scratch — Learn Terraform from zero by building a realistic AWS stack: multi-AZ VPC, public/private subnets, Security Groups, Launch Template + Auto Scaling Group behind an Application Load Balancer (intermediate · $1)
AWS Automation Toolkit using Boto3 and Python — AWS Automation Toolkit using Boto3 and Python (intermediate · $2)
FinOps on AWS: Bedrock + Lambda Cost Insights (with ChatGPT Integration) — learn finops using aws lambda and bedrock (intermediate · $2)
AWS Connectivity with VPC PrivateLink and VPC Lattice — Build Secure AWS Connectivity with VPC PrivateLink and VPC Lattice: Cross-Account, Cross-VPC Service Mesh Hands-On (advanced · $1)
AWS Core Services: EC2, VPC, S3, and IAM Fundamentals — Build a real, secured AWS environment for a startup — IAM users and roles, a segmented VPC, a locked-down EC2 instance, and S3 storage, end to end. (beginner · $1)
Kubernetes Foundations: Architecture, Core Objects, Pod Lifecycle, and Service Discovery on EKS — Learn Kubernetes architecture, core objects, Pod lifecycle, and service discovery by deploying a real Flask + PostgreSQL app on EKS. (beginner · $1)
Kubernetes Production Capstone: Real-World Access, Security, and Incident Scenarios — Deploy the full three-service app as one production system on EKS, then run real IAM access, secret-rotation, rollback, autoscaling, and node-maintenance drills against it. (advanced · $3)
Message Queues in Production: RabbitMQ, SQS, SNS — Learn RabbitMQ task queues, SQS decoupling with DLQs, and SNS fan-out messaging, and when to pick each over Kafka-style log streaming. (intermediate · $2)
AWS Cost Optimization and FinOps Fundamentals — Learn AWS Cost Explorer, tagging, Reserved Instances vs Savings Plans, and rightsizing through a SaaS company's story of cutting an $84,000 monthly AWS bill by 27%. (intermediate · $2)
AWS Serverless: Lambda, API Gateway, Step Functions, and EventBridge — A ticketing startup engineer rebuilds order processing as serverless: one Lambda function, two API Gateway endpoints, a Step Functions workflow, and EventBridge tying it all together. (intermediate · $2)
Cloud Fit Check: Cloud Solution Suitability — Decide whether and how an AI credit-scoring model should go to the cloud: set up a secure free-tier account, map service and deployment models, gather requirements and write the recommendation. (beginner · $3)
Cloud Security Fundamentals: Shared Responsibility and IAM Hardening Across AWS/Azure/GCP — Follow a cloud security engineer through a multi-cloud logistics company's IAM, storage, and network hardening across AWS, Azure, and GCP. (intermediate · $1)
AWS Networking Deep Dive: VPC Peering, Transit Gateway, and Direct Connect — A freight company's network engineer scales from simple VPC peering to a Transit Gateway hub, then connects out via PrivateLink, VPN, Direct Connect, and Route 53. (advanced · $2)
Multi-Cloud Strategy: Designing Portable Architectures Across AWS, Azure, and GCP — Follow a fintech's forced multi-cloud acquisition to learn real multi-cloud drivers, Kubernetes and Terraform portability patterns, Crossplane, and when abstraction isn't worth building. (advanced · $2)
AWS CloudFormation and CDK for AWS-Native Infrastructure as Code — Follow Maya Okonkwo, first platform engineer at logistics startup Coastline Freight Analytics, from a hand-clicked AWS account to CloudFormation templates and the AWS CDK. (intermediate · $2)
AWS Databases in Production: RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, and ElastiCache — Learn RDS, Aurora, DynamoDB, and ElastiCache through a real e-commerce company's story of fixing outages, scaling reads, and killing slow queries in production. (intermediate · $2)
AWS Well-Architected Framework: Building Production-Grade Architectures — A logistics startup's first infrastructure engineer runs an AWS Well-Architected Review, finds high-risk gaps across all six pillars, and fixes the ones that matter before a big customer deal closes. (advanced · $2)
Cloud Compliance as Code: SOC 2, HIPAA, PCI — Learn to encode SOC 2, HIPAA, and PCI-DSS controls as automated, continuously enforced checks instead of scrambling before every audit. (advanced · $2)
Cloud Migration Playbook: Lift-and-Shift, Replatforming, and Refactoring — Learn the 6 Rs of cloud migration, execute lift-and-shift and replatform moves including database cutover, and plan safe cutovers with rollback criteria. (intermediate · $2)
Terraform Fundamentals: Providers, State, and Modules — Learn Terraform from first principles: HCL syntax, the AWS provider, resources vs. data sources, state management, variables, outputs, and reusable modules. (beginner · $1)
Amazon Redshift Fundamentals: Distribution Styles and Performance Tuning — Learn Redshift's architecture, distribution styles, sort keys, workload management, and vacuuming through a streaming company's fight against a slow, skewed cluster. (intermediate · $1.50)
FinOps Fundamentals — Learn FinOps through a real cloud cost crisis: build cost visibility with tagging and AWS Cost Explorer, then optimize cloud spend without breaking production. (intermediate · $2)
Cloud Security Posture Management — Learn how CSPM catches the cloud misconfigurations that cause most breaches, run real scans against a flawed AWS account, and build lasting remediation and governance. (advanced · $2)
Data Lake Architecture: Parquet, Delta Lake, and the Lakehouse Pattern — Turn a messy S3 data swamp into a governed lakehouse with Parquet, Delta Lake, medallion layering, and compaction techniques, using real PySpark code. (intermediate · $1.50)
Securing EKS Workloads: IAM Roles, Pod Hardening, Secrets, and Policy as Code — Secure real EKS workloads for a healthcare claims platform: IRSA and Pod Identity, hardened Pods, External Secrets Operator, and Kyverno policy as code. (advanced · $2)
Emerging Tech Review: Serverless, Containers, Edge and AI — Review four emerging cloud services for a fintech: a least-privilege Lambda, container scans, edge kiosks, AI risks, a Well-Architected review and a DevSecOps pipeline. (intermediate · $3)
Fix the Leaky Cloud: Cloud Security Posture Hardening — Scan a start-up's cloud account, close a public data bucket, lock down exposed ports, enforce IMDSv2, MFA and key rotation, and rescan clean. (intermediate · $3)
Secure-by-Default Storage Module with OpenTofu — Write an OpenTofu module any team can call with one input and get a hardened storage bucket, checked by policy-as-code on every plan. (intermediate · $3)
Who Touched the Instance? Cloud Audit Logs and Chain of Custody — Investigate a cloud incident from read-only audit events: identify the key, source and changes, contain without destroying evidence, record custody. (intermediate · $2)

Practise AWS more

AWS certification path: Cloud Practitioner to Professional, learned hands-on.
AWS Cloud Practitioner practice test: Timed CLF-C02 style papers with every answer explained.
AWS Solutions Architect practice test: Timed SAA-C03 style papers with every answer explained.

Frequently asked questions

Will AWS projects cost me money?

Projects that use your own AWS account say so on the first step and stay inside the free tier where they can. Others run in a simulator and need no account.

Do I need to install anything for these AWS projects?

Most projects run in labs inside your browser (SQL, Excel, Python, Power BI, Git and more). Cloud projects say up front when they use your own AWS account or a simulator instead.

How is a Bartman project different from a tutorial?

You do the work yourself, step by step. Each step is checked automatically, and an AI mentor helps when you are stuck, so you finish with work you can show rather than a video you watched.

Do I get a certificate?

Yes. Finishing a project earns a certificate with its own ID that anyone can verify on bartman.ai.

What is Bartman?

Bartman (bartman.ai) is a learning platform where you build real projects with an AI mentor, practise in free browser labs, take mock tests and practice exams, and run job simulations. It was founded in 2025 and is based in Hyderabad, India.