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LocalEmu

Run AWS locally. Free forever. No account required.

LocalEmu is a free, open-source AWS emulator. One pip install and one command bring up 132 AWS services on localhost:4566, so the same AWS CLI, boto3, Terraform, CDK, Pulumi, and Serverless Framework run against your machine with no account, no credentials, and no internet connection. Released under the Apache 2.0 license, with no Pro tier, no tokens, and no telemetry.

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Features

Core

132 AWS services on a single endpoint (localhost:4566)
No AWS account, credentials, or internet required
Persistent state across restarts
Built-in web dashboard

Real Engines

Docker-backed Lambda, EC2, RDS, ECS, EKS, OpenSearch
Lambda cold-start simulation
Optional throttling and latency injection
awsemu drop-in AWS CLI replacement

Compatibility & Licensing

Works with AWS CLI, boto3, Terraform, CDK, Pulumi, Serverless Framework
Opt-in IAM policy enforcement (IAM_ENFORCEMENT=1)
Apache 2.0 license, no Pro tier, no telemetry
Written in Python

Installation & Usage

Install & Start (pip)

pip install localemu[runtime]
localemu start

Docker

docker run --rm -d \
  -p 4566:4566 -p 4510-4559:4510-4559 \
  -v /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock \
  localemu/localemu

Use It

# Drop-in CLI replacement
awsemu s3 ls


# Or point any tool at the endpoint
aws --endpoint-url http://localhost:4566 s3 ls

CLI Options

Option	Description
`localemu start`	Start the emulator and expose all services on localhost:4566
`awsemu <service> <command>`	Drop-in replacement for the AWS CLI, pre-pointed at the local endpoint
`--endpoint-url http://localhost:4566`	Point the standard AWS CLI, boto3, Terraform, or CDK at LocalEmu
`IAM_ENFORCEMENT=1`	Environment variable to enable IAM policy enforcement

Need Help Implementing?

We can help you deploy and customize this tool for your specific needs, or build custom solutions.