cost optimization
798 articles on cost optimization — what drives the cost, how it is priced, and where the savings actually are.
Terragrunt module cost inheritance: pricing DRY infrastructure
Terragrunt keeps infrastructure DRY by layering shared inputs across environments, which spreads a resource's cost across inherited configuration. Here is how to trace and estimate cost through a Terragrunt hierarchy.
Infrastructure cost in code review: making dollars a review dimension
Code review already checks correctness, security, and style, but cost is usually invisible in the diff. Here is how to make infrastructure cost a normal dimension of review, so reviewers weigh dollars alongside code.
DynamoDB on-demand vs provisioned: which costs less
DynamoDB bills two ways: on-demand (pay per request, zero planning) and provisioned (pay for reserved capacity, cheaper at steady load). The right choice hinges on how predictable and spiky your traffic is. Here is how to decide.
EBS gp2 vs gp3: why gp3 is almost always cheaper
gp3 is the newer general-purpose EBS volume type, and for most workloads it costs about 20 percent less than gp2 while delivering baseline performance that gp2 could only reach at large sizes. Here is why, and when to migrate.
EBS io2 vs gp3: paying for guaranteed IOPS
io2 and io2 Block Express are the high-end EBS volume types built for demanding databases, with high durability and very high provisioned IOPS. gp3 covers most needs far more cheaply. Here is when io2's premium is worth it.
EBS snapshot cost creep: the storage bill that never stops growing
EBS snapshots are cheap individually but accumulate silently: automated backups, forgotten manual snapshots, and orphaned volumes pile up until snapshot storage rivals or exceeds your live volume cost. Here is how to find and stop the creep.
EC2 burstable instances (T-family): cheap until you burst
T-family burstable instances (t3, t4g) are the cheapest EC2 option for low-average-CPU workloads, using a CPU credit system. Understand credits and unlimited mode or you will get throttled or hit with surprise charges. Here is how they cost out.
EC2 Dedicated Hosts vs instances: when isolation is worth the cost
Dedicated Hosts give you a whole physical server, needed for BYOL licensing and hard isolation, but priced per host regardless of how full it is. Regular instances (and dedicated instances) are cheaper for almost everything else. Here is the cost tradeoff.
EC2 instance families explained: matching workload to hardware
EC2 offers dozens of instance families (general purpose, compute, memory, storage, and accelerated) each tuned to a resource profile. Picking the right family for your workload is the first and biggest cost lever. Here is how they map.
EC2 pricing explained: how the per-hour rate is built
An EC2 instance's price combines family and size, region, purchase model (on-demand, Spot, or commitment), operating system licensing, and attached resources. Understanding each component is how you control the largest line on most AWS bills. Here is the full breakdown.
EFS vs EBS cost: shared file storage vs attached block storage
EBS is block storage attached to one instance; EFS is a shared file system many instances mount at once. EFS costs more per GB but removes provisioning and scaling overhead. Here is how to choose on cost and fit.
Egress cost reduction checklist: cutting the data transfer bill
Data egress (traffic leaving AWS to the internet, and between regions and AZs) is one of the most surprising and controllable line items. This checklist walks through the highest-impact ways to cut it, from CDN caching to architecture.
EKS Fargate vs EC2 nodes: which is cheaper for your cluster
On EKS you can run pods on EC2 nodes you manage or on Fargate serverless capacity. Fargate removes node management and bills per pod, EC2 nodes are cheaper per unit but require you to run and pack them. Here is the cost tradeoff.
ElastiCache node sizing: paying for the right amount of memory
ElastiCache (Redis and Memcached) is priced per node by instance type, so node sizing and count drive the bill. Oversized memory, too many replicas, and the wrong node family are the common overspends. Here is how to size for cost.
EMR cost optimization: cutting the big-data cluster bill
EMR clusters combine EC2 compute, an EMR service fee, and storage, and they are easy to overspend on with idle clusters, on-demand core nodes, and oversized fleets. Here are the highest-impact levers to cut EMR cost.
GPU instance pricing explained: what accelerated compute really costs
GPU instances are the most expensive compute you can rent, from a few dollars an hour for inference cards to tens of dollars an hour for training clusters. Understanding what drives the price, and how to cut it, keeps GPU bills sane. Here is the breakdown.
Graviton cost savings explained: ARM instances for less money
AWS Graviton (ARM) instances typically cost about 20 percent less than comparable x86 instances while often delivering better performance per dollar. For most workloads the switch is nearly free. Here is what Graviton saves and how to adopt it.
Hidden AWS costs to watch: the line items that surprise you
The AWS charges that blow up bills are rarely the compute you planned for, they are data transfer, NAT gateways, idle resources, cross-AZ traffic, and forgotten snapshots. Here is a field guide to the hidden costs and how to keep them small.
How many NAT gateways do I need? Balancing cost and availability
A NAT gateway costs about 32 to 45 dollars a month plus per-GB processing, and the naive high-availability setup runs one per availability zone. Knowing when you need that redundancy and when one gateway is fine saves real money. Here is the tradeoff.
How much do savings plans save? Commitment discounts on AWS compute
AWS savings plans discount compute up to about 72 percent versus on-demand in exchange for a one or three year hourly-spend commitment. How much you actually save depends on term, payment, and coverage. Here is the real math.
How much does a Kubernetes cluster cost? A realistic breakdown
A managed Kubernetes cluster costs more than the control plane fee, the real bill is worker nodes, load balancers, storage, and networking. A small production cluster often runs a few hundred dollars a month and up. Here is where the money goes.
How much does a Postgres database cost on AWS? RDS and Aurora pricing
A managed Postgres database on AWS costs the instance, the storage, the backups, and the data transfer, from around 15 dollars a month for a tiny dev instance to hundreds for production. Here is what drives RDS and Aurora Postgres pricing and how to keep it lean.
How much does a SaaS backend cost on AWS? A component breakdown
A typical SaaS backend on AWS combines compute, a database, load balancing, storage, caching, and networking. An early-stage backend can run a few hundred dollars a month, scaling with users. Here is how the pieces add up and where to save.
How much does a static site cost? Hosting from nearly free to a few dollars
A static website hosted on S3 and CloudFront, or a static host, costs almost nothing at low traffic, often pennies to a few dollars a month, with data transfer and requests the only real meters. Here is the breakdown and where costs can grow.