AWS Bedrock vs Direct API

I've deployed Claude two ways — through AWS Bedrock at one company and through Anthropic's direct API at another. They're the same model underneath, but the developer experience, cost, and operational reality are completely different.

What Bedrock Actually Gives You

Bedrock is AWS's managed AI service. You don't call Anthropic's API directly — you call AWS's wrapper, which forwards to the model.

What you get: