How Much Does AWS Cost? This is the first thing that comes to mind, When migrating to the cloud, AWS is certainly the top cloud computing choice for businesses.
Through its flexible compute, application, storage, deployment, database, and analytics services, it lets you move faster and scale globally without any obstacles.
Like everything of value, AWS charges you for its extraordinary services. For deep learning, let’s check out below things in this AWS article:
- An overview of how AWS pricing works
- AWS pricing models
How Much Does AWS Cost: Overview
1. AWS Cost: Pay as You Go
AWS pricing varies depending on the service you use, but the underlying method is the pay-as-you-go model, which means users pay for what they use. Prices for AWS may also vary based on their location.
The three most critical drivers of cost for AWS services include storage, computing power, and outbound data transfer. You are billed per GB, based on storage used and data transfer.
Unless you’ve chosen a reserved instance, you’ll be charged for computing resources by the hour from the launch of a resource to its termination.
2. AWS Cost: In Less, Get More
Computing power refers to the services and servers you will use to process all the information for an app, while outbound data transfer has to do with the transfer of data in and out of AWS’s own network.
Inbound data transfer, that is, the data transferred between services within the same region, happens to be cheaper than outbound data transfer or the traffic handled outside of AWS.
You are billed based on outbound GBs after the total usage is added across all the services. The more data is transferred lesser will be the charges.
3. AWS Cost: Save When You Reserve
AWS has significant offers and discounts between 30% and 72% when you use reserved instances. Some critical factors that can influence AWS costs include the required storage, the amount of load/traffic, CloudFront caching, the type of RDS, and the type of EC2 instance. Also, keep in mind that AWS pricing is exclusive of duties and taxes such as sales tax and VAT.
While using AWS services, you can explore and use the AWS Cost Explorer. A tool that helps to get an insight into the cost factor based on the usage in AWS. You’ll need to log in and Explorer updates will keep you informed about what you’re paying for what.
About Free Tier Usage
If you’re only getting started with AWS, you probably want to know more about its Free Tier usage. Yes, AWS provides its new customer services up to a pre-defined quota and for the duration of one year.
For instance, you can consume no more than 5GB of storage from Amazon S3 or use EC2 instances for not more than 750 hours.
To harness the benefit of free usage by AWS you should plan your budget ahead of time. The AWS pricing calculator can be of great help in this regard.
- 12 months free
- Always free
- Different Trials
The following table has the full comparisons between 12 months and free usages. Check out here for official free tier pricing.
| 12 Months Free Plan | Free Plan | |
| Compute | 750 hours of EC2 Linux t2.micro instance and Elastic Load Balancer (ELB) | |
| Database | 750 hours of Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS)* with 20GB storage and 20GB backup25GB of storage and 25 Units of reading/Write Capacity on DynamoDB | 25GB of storage on DynamoDB |
| Caching | 750 hours of Amazon ElastiCache Micro Cache Node | |
| Storage | EBS volume with 30GB, GB of storage on S3, 1 GB of snapshot storage | |
| Serverless | (same as Always Free) | 1 million requests per month on AWS Lambda |
| Messaging | (same as Always Free) | 1M publishes on Amazon SNS |
| Logging | (same as Always Free) | 10 custom metrics and alarms on CloudWatch |
| Archival | (same as Always Free) | 10GB of retrieval from Amazon Glacier |
AWS Pricing: 5 Different Models
To facilitate customers and help them with cost optimization, AWS provides them with varying pricing models for the services it delivers, especially for database and compute services.
In this section, we’ll take a look at each of those pricing models that apply to Lambda functions, EC2 instances, EMR nodes, RDS database instances, and Redshift cluster nodes.
1. On-Demand Instances
Perfect for new users, on-demand pricing enables you to quickly begin using AWS resources without having to make an upfront payment. It’s AWS’s default pricing model, whereby you only pay for the resources you use by the hour, minute, or second.
This is the model that applies when you sign up, select a service, configure it, and begin using it. Knowing that you’ll be billed based on your usage, you can scale as needed, spin up, or terminate instances without paying for anything in advance.
While the on-demand pricing model promises a high level of scalability and flexibility, it still remains the most expensive model, which works best for clients that experience unpredictable spikes in demand. When you begin understanding your workload needs, however, it’s wise to switch to another model.
Whether you’re a beginner who wants to test the AWS environment for small businesses or is an established firm with unpredictable workloads, this is an ideal pricing model for you!
Benefits
- You need not make a long-term commitment.
- Most flexible pricing approach.
- Best for users whose workloads are subject to fluctuations.
Drawbacks
- Despite the flexibility it offers, it can turn out to be the most expensive option.
- Limited saving opportunities.
2. Reserved Instances
If you’re a firm requiring AWS services for your existing, legacy applications or predictable applications, this is the pricing model you need. Under the reserved instances (RI) model, you reserve capacity for extended periods, typically from one to three years.
In other words, the reserved instances pricing model is all about long-term commitment, in return for which you receive amazing discounts. Because you’re paying for capacity ahead of time, you can get up to a 75% discount.
You still have flexible billing, which means you can choose between Partial Upfront, All Upfront, or No Upfront, but when you’ve committed to an amount, you can’t scale down. The exact discounts depend on the amount you’re paying upfront. To receive the greatest discount, consider paying all upfront.
Benefits
- Predictable costs.
- Easier to understand and work with than spot instances.
- Long-term commitment can help you save up to 72%.
Drawbacks
- Long-term commitment is mandatory.
- Regardless of usage, you’ll need to pay for the instance.
3. Spot Instances
Compared to Amazon under the on-demand pricing model, you can save as much as 90% by opting for AWS Spot Instances. Under this model, you begin by setting a bid and proceed to utilize the compute capacity that’s available.
This means users can only use spot instances when they’re available. When their price changes or is needed, it will terminate, giving you a notice of only 2 minutes.
Therefore, this pricing model should be used for non-critical workloads or highly distributed or stateless applications. It works for clients that can orchestrate their apps dynamically.
In other words, spot instances work as an AWS EC2 pricing mechanism that allows you to utilize spare computing capacity without having to pay anything upfront and yet securing discounted hourly rates. You can always use the EC2 pricing calculator to predict costs.
Benefits
- The most cost-effective AWS pricing model.
- Works best with operations that are resistant to failures.
Drawbacks
- The instance you’re working with can terminate at any time.
- For beginners, following this model can be difficult.
4. Dedicated Instances
Available with Amazon EC2, dedicated instances are applicable to virtual private clouds (VPC) on hardware dedicated per user.
Users simply rent physical servers and need not handle administrative tasks because AWS is there to maintain and clean the hardware.
Since users have the entire server for their private use, this option proves highly reliable and secure. But as a pricey solution, it may not work for small businesses.
Benefits
- Highly secure
- Users don’t need to handle maintenance
Drawbacks
- Outrageously expensive
5. Discounts and savings Plan
Like RIs, AWS Saving Plans offer a significant discount in return for committing to use AWS resources for a longer period of time. However, Savings Plans let you make an hourly spend commitment, and then apply a discount rate, which is subtracted from your on-demand usage. Unlike RIs, Saving Plans are consolidated across resources, which means you can leverage several discounts across your AWS account.
How Much Does AWS Cost on Average?
Since AWS majorly follows the pay-as-you-go pricing, the costs depend on service usage by organizations.
Users with different levels of workloads can choose to use custom pricing models that suit their requirements based on the choice of services.
Plus, they receive considerable discounts based on the pricing model they choose. So, calculating an average cost for the entire AWS is not easy.
But if you specifically consider web hosting, if you’re eligible for AWS Free-Tier and stay within the applicable limits, it should cost you around $0.5 per month. When outside the AWS Free Tier limits, web hosting can cost you around $1 to $3 per month.
What are the AWS Cost Management Tools?
Billing and Cost Management Console – Helps in managing your bills and payment and also helps in optimizing your cost.
AWS Budgets – Helps you keep an eye on your expenditures and sets off an alarm if exceeded a fixed amount set by you.
AWS Cost Explorer – Helps to visualize your cost based on the services opted over a certain period.
AWS Trusted Advisor – Helps optimize your environment, and strengthens security thereby reducing cost.
How to Optimize AWS Pricing with Spot by NetApp
Let’s check out the options in Spot for AWS price optimization:
- The Cloud Analyzer tool helps in giving an overview of the cost incurred in your AWS Account and gives an overview of the actual usage of your infrastructure. That in turn saves from costs incurred due to over-provisioning of services.
- The service ECO helps in managing Reserved Instances and ways to save cost by selling the unused RI in the marketplace automatically.
- A feature like Elastigroup helps orchestrate your workload on Spot Instances to save cost.
- Ocean intelligently handles the containers in a serverless environment.
How Much Does AWS Cost FAQs
Q: Is Amazon AWS Expensive?
Yes, AWS happens to be an expensive cloud computing service provider but at the same time, it’s also the most reliable platform to manage high-profile projects, for which you want to be in full control of the environment and infrastructure.
Q: How Much Does AWS Cost Per Hour?
The hourly rate for AWS depends on the service you’re using and the type of instance used. Use AWS Pricing Calculator to obtain an estimate for your project.
Q: Is AWS Free For 1 Year?
When you sign up or AWS login for the Amazon Free Tier account, you can access and use certain types of resources in certain amounts free of charge for up to one year.
Q: how much does AWS cost after the free year
AWS is free for the first year, But you’ll pay standard rates for other resources or when you exceed the free tier limits for resources. After a free year, you’ll pay for everything you use.
Q: how much does AWS cost for personal use?
If you are an individual user then AWS provides free tier usage. In that, there are a lot of services that can be used free for a stipulated time.
Yes, you will be charged if other services are used or you cross your free tier budget.
Q: how much does AWS cost per user?
User creation is free in AWS. AWS bill the customer based on the resources used.
Q: how much does AWS cost for small businesses?
It all depends on the services you have provisioned for running your business. It’s always advisable to use AWS Cost Explorer to visualize the cost you will incur for example monthly.
Q: how much does AWS cost for deep learning
As discussed earlier, all the AWS services are pay-as-you-use.
ML services are charged hourly for running the services which include preparing the model, training, and testing the model
After that you pay per prediction, charges are higher for real-time predictions as well.
Q: how much does AWS cost per terabyte?
It entirely depends on the type of service used, for example, if you are using S3 the price is definitely more than S3 Glacier.
Prices are also different for services such as EBS or EFS even for FSx.
Q: How often does AWS cost explorer update?
The data in the Cost Explorer is refreshed approximately once in 24 hours.
Q: how much does AWS cost for an app?
Any services in AWS are charged as users use the services.
Q: What is AWS instance types pricing?
Instance type pricing is the price set by AWS for its type of instance.
Prices for on-demand, dedicated, and spot instances are different and it varies based on the time of usage and the underlying contract.
For example, the price of dedicated instances goes down if the contract term is more and the payment is upfront.
The price of spot instances depends on the availability of an EC2 instance with AWS.
Do check out the below comparison with AWS.
- AWS Vs Azure
- What Is DynamoDB
- AWS Vs Bluehost
- AWS Vs Google Cloud
- AWS Direct Connect
- AWS Redshift Vs Snowflake
- What is AWS Dynamodb
- AWS Direct Connect Gateway
Conclusion
By now, you should have developed a profound understanding of how AWS pricing works as well as the different pricing models you can choose from to utilize AWS services cost-effectively.
You should now be in a much better position to determine the right pricing model for your workload and other needs, and even whether AWS is the right cloud computing provider for you.
We truly hope that this guide helps you make an informed decision. Find out more on the pricing details and how much AWS costs from Reddit.
Keep Clouding!!
I am an Amazon Web Services Professional, having more than 11 years of experience in AWS and other technologies. Extensively working in various AWS tools like S3, Lambda, API, Kinesis, Load Balancers, EKS, ECS, and many more. Working as a Solution Architect and Technology Lead for Architecting and implementing the same for different clients. He provides expert solutions around the world and especially in countries like the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, etc. Check out the complete profile on About us.
