[amacalac]

Things to consider will you need a lot of custom database management? Are you comfortable deploying MySQL or another DB from command line? Are there tools in AWS that you will benefit from using - will they save you time compared to building them yourself, e.g. SQS versus managing a queue system.

If you are prepared to manage these are yourself, feel comfortable doing so, and your tech stack won't benefit from the AWS tools too much, using a VPS might be the way to go.

That said you're going for MVP - and you have 6 months to do it. Get going, move fast and break things!

[ice109]

I've done a fair amount of "command line" ops so I'm comfortable with it but the question what will migration be like when we do move to an iaas?

[amacalac]

It depends what your infrastructure consists of. If it's a db with infrequent writes it's going to be a lot easier to move than a db with a lot of writes.

You could also host on VPS and use parts of AWS e.g. S3 if you require asset storage, like photos, videos or other files.

Do you have much insight into what your infrastructure will look like at the start?