A huge AWS outage took place on October 20, 2025, and affected big online platforms such as Coinbase, Canva, and Snapchat. The outage occurred in the early morning hours and affected services running on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the biggest cloud computing service. The outage locked out millions of customers and businesses, which equated to global dependence on AWS infrastructure.
Impact of the AWS Outage
After the reports emerged, users had been complaining of access disruption on different platforms, such as gaming and work productivity software. The hardest hit were Snapchat, Canva, Zoom, and Roblox. Downdetector.com, a web service that records downtime on services, had an influx of complaints, and there was significant disruption on the services. The problem was in the US East Coast region of AWS, and it resulted in prolonged downtime for most.
One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase, confirmed that some of their users were unable to log in because of the AWS outage. “We know many users are currently unable to access Coinbase due to an AWS outage,” the organization tweeted via their support handle. Canva also came out and admitted that they were apologetic and assured people that they were in close touch with AWS so that they could get back online.
Wider Implications for Digital Activities
The outages serve to remind us of the fragile nature of cloud digital ecosystems which are supported by individual, centralized providers. AWS is a home to a broad range of critical internet services, including financial infrastructure and e-commerce websites. Each such outages raises questions about the reliability of cloud infrastructure in a rightful manner. The previous outages have shown the speed at which afflictions have spread across sectors and infected communications software and customer-facing applications.
Experts note that the event indicates the growing necessity for multi-cloud strategies. As more and more businesses are being transferred to cloud services, they subject themselves to the possibility of relying on one provider. The failure of AWS mirrors the potential danger lying dormant from centralized cloud solutions.
Recovery Efforts and User Reactions
AWS engineers have, thus far, tried to isolate the effect and understand why the blackout occurred. Most of the affected platforms have also resorted to social media in a bid to provide updates to users to the extent of the status. Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas has also, on X (formerly Twitter), confirmed their outages were a result of the AWS issue too.
Although AWS has not yet issued a full statement on why the interruption occurred, the majority of impacted platforms are now conducting their operations online. It is possible for customers to check official status pages for updates. The interruption highlights the importance of communication during interruptions since companies struggle to regain customer trust.
