aws
356 articles on aws — what drives the cost, how it is priced, and where the savings actually are.
Are AWS security groups free? Yes, and what actually costs money
AWS security groups are free, there is no charge for creating or using them. But the network resources they protect, and adjacent features like WAF and Network Firewall, do cost money. Here is what is free and what is not.
Are cloud data transfers free? The rules that decide
Some cloud data transfers are free (inbound, same-AZ private traffic) and some are expensive (egress to the internet, cross-region, cross-AZ). Knowing which is which is essential to avoiding surprise bills. Here is the map.
Athena vs Redshift Spectrum cost: querying S3 data compared
Both Athena and Redshift Spectrum query data in S3 and both charge per terabyte scanned, but their cost models and surrounding infrastructure differ. Here is how they compare and how to make either one cheap.
Aurora Serverless v2 cost explained: ACUs and when it pays off
Aurora Serverless v2 scales database capacity in fine-grained Aurora Capacity Units and bills per ACU-hour. It can save money on variable workloads but cost more on steady ones. Here is how the pricing works and when to use it.
AWS cost anomaly troubleshooting: finding what spiked your bill
When your AWS bill jumps unexpectedly, a systematic investigation, Cost Explorer, grouping by service and usage type, checking recent changes, finds the cause fast. Here is a step-by-step troubleshooting playbook.
AWS Local Zones cost: pricing for low-latency edge compute
AWS Local Zones place compute and storage closer to end users in metro areas, at prices higher than the parent region. Here is how Local Zones are priced, the data transfer implications, and when the latency is worth the premium.
AWS region pricing differences explained: why the same resource costs more elsewhere
The identical EC2 instance, S3 bucket, or RDS database costs different amounts depending on the AWS region. Understanding why, and which regions are cheapest, can meaningfully cut your bill. Here is the full explanation.
AWS Wavelength cost: pricing for 5G edge compute
AWS Wavelength embeds compute and storage inside telecom 5G networks for ultra-low latency to mobile devices, at a premium over the parent region. Here is how Wavelength is priced, the transfer implications, and when it is worth it.
The biggest AWS cost drivers: where your bill actually goes
For most AWS accounts, a short list dominates the bill: compute, data transfer, storage, databases, and managed services. Knowing which drivers matter lets you focus optimization where it pays. Here is the breakdown.
The cheapest AWS region for EC2: where compute costs least
EC2 prices vary by region, and the cheapest regions for a given instance are usually the large US regions. Choosing a low-cost region for latency-tolerant compute is easy savings. Here is how to find and use the cheapest region.
CloudFront cost optimization guide: cutting CDN spend on AWS
CloudFront bills for data transfer out, requests, and optional features, and the biggest savings come from raising cache hit ratio, choosing the right price class, and using commitments. Here is a complete guide to optimizing CloudFront cost.
The CloudWatch surprise bill: why monitoring costs more than you think
CloudWatch can quietly become a large line item through custom metrics, high-cardinality dimensions, verbose logs, and frequent API calls. Here is what drives a CloudWatch surprise bill and how to keep observability cost under control.
Convertible vs standard reserved instances: which to buy
Standard reserved instances offer the deepest discount but lock you into an instance family; convertible RIs discount a bit less but let you change instance type. Here is how to choose based on how stable your workload is.
Direct Connect vs VPN cost: dedicated links versus encrypted tunnels
AWS Direct Connect gives a dedicated private link with lower, predictable data-transfer rates but port and setup costs. A Site-to-Site VPN is cheap to start but runs over the internet at standard egress rates. Here is the cost comparison.
DocumentDB cost explained: what you pay for a managed document database
Amazon DocumentDB bills for instance hours, storage consumed, I/O operations, and backups, with a separate compute-and-storage model. Understanding each meter, and how I/O can dominate, is key to controlling DocumentDB cost. Here is the breakdown.
Does a VPC cost money? What is free and what is not
The VPC itself is free, and so are subnets, route tables, security groups, and internet gateways. The costs come from what you attach: NAT gateways, VPC endpoints, data transfer, and traffic through certain components. Here is exactly what you pay for.
Does IAM cost money? The free service and its paid neighbors
AWS IAM itself is completely free: users, roles, groups, and policies cost nothing. The confusion comes from adjacent paid services like IAM Identity Center add-ons, Secrets Manager, and certain identity features. Here is what is free and what is not.
DynamoDB capacity planning cost: on-demand vs provisioned
DynamoDB cost hinges on capacity mode: on-demand bills per request with no planning, provisioned bills for reserved throughput you must size. Picking the right mode, and sizing provisioned capacity, is the core cost decision. Here is how.
EventBridge cost explained: what you pay for events and rules
Amazon EventBridge charges mostly per event published, with extras for schema discovery, replay, and cross-Region routing. The default event bus receiving AWS service events is free. Here is how EventBridge pricing works and how to keep it cheap.
Your first AWS bill explained: reading the line items
The first AWS bill is confusing: dozens of line items, unfamiliar units, and charges for things you did not know were metered. Here is how to read it, which line items matter, and how to avoid the common first-bill surprises.
Amazon FSx cost explained: pricing the managed file systems
Amazon FSx offers four managed file systems (Windows, Lustre, NetApp ONTAP, OpenZFS), each priced differently for capacity, throughput, and IOPS. Costs vary widely by type and deployment. Here is how FSx pricing works and how to choose the cheapest fit.
Glacier vs Deep Archive cost: which S3 cold tier to choose
S3 Glacier Flexible Retrieval, Glacier Instant Retrieval, and Glacier Deep Archive trade storage price against retrieval speed and cost. Deep Archive is the cheapest storage at around a dollar per TB per month. Here is how the cold tiers compare and when to use each.
Lambda provisioned concurrency cost: paying to kill cold starts
Provisioned concurrency keeps Lambda instances warm to eliminate cold starts, but you pay for that capacity around the clock whether it runs or not. Here is how the pricing works and when it is worth it.
Lambda vs Fargate cost: which serverless compute is cheaper
Lambda charges per request and per GB-second and scales to zero; Fargate charges per vCPU and GB by the second for continuously running tasks. The cheaper option depends entirely on your traffic pattern. Here is how to choose.