Advertisement Space
AWS Pricing Calculator
Estimate your AWS cloud infrastructure costs. Select services and configure usage to calculate monthly and annual expenses.
EC2 Instances (On-Demand)
S3 Storage
RDS Database
Lambda Functions
Pricing Estimates
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Understanding AWS Pricing
AWS Pricing Models
- On-Demand: Pay per hour/second for compute resources. No upfront cost, flexible, good for unpredictable workloads
- Reserved Instances (RI): Commit to 1-3 years, get 30-70% discount. Best for steady-state workloads
- Spot Instances: Bid for spare capacity, save 70-90%. Can be interrupted, good for fault-tolerant apps
- Savings Plans: Commit to dollar amount over 1-3 years, flexible across instance types/regions
Major AWS Services Pricing
- EC2: Virtual machines, charged per hour/second. Smallest: t3.micro $0.0116/hr (~$8.50/month)
- S3: Object storage, charged per GB stored + data transfer. Standard: $0.023/GB, 1TB = $23.60/month
- RDS: Managed databases, charged per instance hour + storage. db.t3.micro: $0.017/hr + storage
- Lambda: Serverless functions, charged per invocation + compute time. Free tier: 1M invocations/month
- CloudFront: CDN, charged per GB transferred. $0.085/GB for US/Europe
- DynamoDB: NoSQL database, charged per request (on-demand) or per capacity unit (provisioned)
Cost Breakdown Example
- Startup Website: t3.micro EC2 ($8.50) + 10GB S3 ($0.23) + CloudFlare CDN = $15-20/month
- Small App: 2x t3.small EC2 ($33.76) + 100GB S3 ($2.30) + RDS micro DB ($12.40) + NAT Gateway = $70-80/month
- Medium Business: 4x m5.large EC2 + 500GB S3 + RDS db.m5.large + ElastiCache = $500-800/month
- Enterprise Scale: Auto-scaling fleet + multi-region setup + managed databases + advanced networking = $5,000+/month
AWS Cost Optimization Strategies
Right-Sizing Resources
- Monitor Usage: Use CloudWatch to see actual CPU, memory, network usage. Many instances are oversized
- Downsize Instances: t3.large has 50% CPU usage? Downsize to t3.medium, save 50% cost
- Commit to Commitments: If using 80%+ capacity, buy Reserved Instances for 30-50% savings
- Use Spot for Burst: Workload spikes? Use Spot instances, save 70-90% vs On-Demand
Storage Optimization
- Archive Old Data: 1-year-old data rarely accessed? Move to Glacier ($0.004/GB vs $0.023/GB Standard)
- Delete Unused: Unattached EBS volumes, unused snapshots, old logs drain budget
- Use S3 Intelligent-Tiering: Auto-moves data between tiers based on access patterns, saves 30-40%
- Compress Data: gzip reduces size 80-90%, saves storage + transfer costs
Network Optimization
- Minimize Data Transfer: $0.085/GB going out to internet. VPN or Direct Connect = better rates
- Use CloudFront/CDN: Serve from edge, reduce origin load + transfer costs
- Eliminate NAT Gateways:** $0.045/GB charged for outbound. Use VPN or transit gateway instead
- Regional Architecture: Multi-region = multi-transfer costs. Single region cheaper unless HA required
Database Optimization
- Use RDS Reserved Instances: Multi-AZ RDS db.m5.large: $780/month (On-Demand) → $485 with 1-year RI
- Read Replicas: Scale reads without buying another full instance
- Switch to DynamoDB: NoSQL, pay per request, scales infinitely, better for variable workloads
- Enable Backup Optimization: AWS backs up daily, retention costs. Adjust retention policy
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does a basic AWS setup cost?
Bare minimum: t3.micro EC2 ($8.50/mo) + small S3 ($0.23/mo) = ~$10/month. Add RDS (~$12), CDN (~$5) = ~$35/month for small app.
What is the AWS free tier?
1-year free for new accounts: t2.micro EC2 (750 hrs/mo), 5GB S3, 1GB RDS, 1M Lambda invocations/mo. Avoid overage charges carefully.
Are Reserved Instances worth it?
If you'll use resource 80%+ of the time, yes. 1-year RI saves 30-40%, 3-year saves 50-70%. Break-even in 6-8 months typically.
How to reduce AWS costs?
1) Right-size instances (downsize oversized). 2) Use Reserved Instances (30-70% savings). 3) Archive old data (Glacier vs Standard). 4) Delete unused resources. 5) Use Spot Instances for batch jobs.
How is data transfer charged?
Inbound is free. Outbound to internet: $0.085/GB (US). EC2-to-S3 in same region: free. Cross-region: charged. Use CloudFront to reduce costs.
What's AWS Compute Savings Plans?
Commit to $X/hour for 1-3 years, get up to 66% savings. More flexible than RI, works across instance types/sizes/regions.
Is Lambda serverless cheaper?
For sporadic traffic: yes (pay per invocation). For constant load: EC2 with RI is cheaper. Compare: 1M invocations/day = $0.20 Lambda vs $8.50 t3.micro.
Should I use multi-region setup?
Multi-region doubles costs (2x compute, cross-region transfer). Use only if HA/disaster recovery required. Single region ~50% cheaper.
Related Financial & Infrastructure Calculators
Explore our other financial calculators: