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Commonly confused · DevOps & Automation

Blue-Green vs Canary Deployment: What's the Difference?

Blue-green deployment runs two identical environments and switches all traffic at once from the old (blue) to the new (green), allowing instant rollback by switching back. Canary deployment releases the new version to a small subset of users first and gradually increases traffic while monitoring for problems.

Blue-Green Deployment

Full definition
vs

Canary Deployment

Full definition
Blue-Green DeploymentCanary Deployment
Traffic shiftAll at onceGradual, percentage-based
InfrastructureTwo full environmentsCan run side by side within one environment
RollbackInstant switch backRoute traffic back from the canary
Blast radius if badAll users until switch backOnly the canary subset
CostHigher (duplicate environment)Lower
Best forFast cutover with simple rollbackValidating with real users and metrics
Remember it

Blue-green flips a switch; canary sends one bird into the mine first.

Exam tip

Read for 'small percentage of users' (canary) versus 'two identical environments' (blue-green). Rolling deployments, which replace instances in batches, are a common third option.

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