I Built a Serverless VPN on Lambda MicroVMs — 12 Builds, 5 Dead Ends, 1 Working Architecture

A personal VPN was developed using AWS Lambda MicroVMs, which are Firecracker VMs launched in June 2026. This architecture allows traffic to exit from AWS, with MicroVMs terminating upon disconnection to ensure zero ongoing costs. New instances launch in approximately 20 seconds. The system utilizes a full Linux OS, supporting eBPF, iptables, and network namespaces. The development process involved 12 image builds and five dead ends to overcome specific kernel limitations and establish a working architecture.