aws s3 cp vs sync: What’s the Difference?

cp vs sync — What’s the deal?

These two AWS CLI commands do very similar things at first glance — but they're built for different use cases.

aws s3 cp

cp (copy) is a direct, one-off file transfer.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/s3/cp.html

• Copies a single file or all files with --recursive
• Doesn’t track or compare state
• Will overwrite files blindly if names match

Example

1aws s3 cp ./build s3://my-bucket/path/ --recursive

This just says: “Take everything in ./build and upload it to S3.” No fancy logic.

aws s3 sync

sync is like rsync for S3. It compares source and destination and only updates what's different.

https://docs.aws.amazon.com/cli/latest/reference/s3/sync.html

• Checks file size and modified time
• Only uploads new/changed files
• Can optionally delete files that no longer exist in source (with --delete)
• More efficient for large, repeated deployments

Example

1aws s3 sync ./build s3://my-bucket/path/

It’ll skip identical files, saving time (and cost). Super useful in CI/CD!

So, when to use what?

🏁 Frequently Used Flags (Cheat Sheet)

Why --exact-timestamps Didn’t Work for Me

Tried using --exact-timestamps with aws s3 sync to avoid uploading unchanged files… but it didn’t help. Everything still got re-uploaded every single time.

Turns out, it wasn’t sync’s fault — it was the way Docker builds work.

Since I was copying files into the Docker image using COPY . ., every file got a fresh modified timestamp during the build, even if the content hadn’t changed. So from sync’s perspective, every file looked new. In that case, sync behaves basically the same as cp.

So yeah — --exact-timestamps is great if the timestamps are reliable. But with Docker builds, they’re not.

Where I Actually Use Each

Just to keep things clear:

• aws s3 cp → used for Next.js built files These change every time anyway, so no point comparing timestamps. Just blast them up with cp.
• aws s3 sync → used for static assets and images These rarely change, so sync helps avoid wasting time (and bandwidth) re-uploading duplicates.

Summary

• cp = simple copy, no comparison, good for one-time transfers.
• sync = smart copy, compares files, good for updates or mirroring.
• Use --delete in sync to remove files no longer in the source.
• Always test with --dryrun if unsure!