Floci: Free Open-Source Local AWS Emulator

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4 stars | Source: GitHub Trending | Date: 2026-03-22

Summary

Floci is a free, open-source local AWS emulator that emerged after LocalStack restricted their community edition in March 2026. It provides a no-strings-attached alternative with no auth tokens required, unlimited CI/CD support, and active security updates.

Key Features

No account required - No auth tokens, no feature gates
Free CI/CD support - No paid plan required
Active security updates - Unlike LocalStack's frozen community edition
Fast startup - ~24ms vs LocalStack's ~3.3s
Low memory - ~13 MiB vs LocalStack's ~143 MiB
Small footprint - ~90 MB vs LocalStack's ~1.0 GB

Comparison with LocalStack

Floci

No auth token required
Unlimited CI/CD support
Security updates: Yes
Startup: ~24 ms
Idle memory: ~13 MiB
Docker size: ~90 MB
License: MIT

LocalStack Community

Auth token required (since March 2026)
Requires paid plan
Security updates: Frozen
Startup: ~3.3 s
Idle memory: ~143 MiB
Docker size: ~1.0 GB
License: Restricted

Supported Services

Service	Floci	LocalStack
API Gateway v2 / HTTP API	✅	❌
Cognito	✅	❌
ElastiCache (Redis + IAM auth)	✅	❌
RDS (PostgreSQL + MySQL + IAM auth)	✅	❌
S3 Object Lock	✅	⚠️ Partial
DynamoDB Streams	✅	⚠️ Partial
IAM	✅	⚠️ Partial
STS (all 7 operations)	✅	⚠️ Partial
Kinesis	✅	⚠️ Partial
KMS (sign, verify, re-encrypt)	✅	⚠️ Partial

Quick Start

docker-compose.yml
services:
  floci:
    image: hectorvent/floci:latest
    ports:
      - "4566:4566"
    volumes:
      - ./data:/app/data

docker compose up

Source: https://github.com/hectorvent/floci

Insight: Floci represents a significant shift in the local AWS emulation landscape, filling the gap left by LocalStack's restrictions. With 20+ services and 408/408 SDK tests passing, it's becoming a viable alternative for developers who need free, unlimited AWS local development capabilities.