What are AWS EC2 Reserved Instances and how much can I save?

Reserved Instances let you commit to a specific EC2 instance type in a specific region for 1 or 3 years, saving up to 72% compared to on-demand pricing. You can choose No Upfront, Partial Upfront, or All Upfront payment options. Standard Reserved Instances can also be resold on the AWS Reserved Instance Marketplace.

How much can I save with AWS EC2 Savings Plans?

AWS EC2 Savings Plans can reduce costs by up to 72% compared to on-demand pricing. 3-year commitments offer the highest savings (up to 72%), while 1-year plans provide up to 42% savings. All-upfront payment options maximize your discount.

Reserved Instances vs Savings Plans — which is better?

Savings Plans are more flexible — they apply across instance families, regions, and services like Fargate and Lambda. Reserved Instances offer capacity reservation (zonal RIs) and marketplace resale. Both offer up to 72% savings. Use our calculator to compare exact costs side by side for your specific instance type.

What are AWS EC2 Spot Instances?

Spot Instances let you use spare AWS capacity at up to 90% discount compared to on-demand prices. They are ideal for fault-tolerant workloads like batch processing, data analysis, and CI/CD pipelines. AWS can reclaim them with 2-minute notice.

Which AWS region has the cheapest EC2 pricing?

EC2 pricing varies by region. Generally, US East (N. Virginia) offers competitive rates, but prices differ by instance type. Use our multi-region comparison tool to find the most cost-effective region for your specific instance needs.

Should I choose 1-year or 3-year Savings Plans?

3-year plans offer maximum savings (up to 72% off) but require longer commitment. 1-year plans provide flexibility with up to 42% savings. Consider your workload stability and budget constraints when choosing.

How accurate is the AWS EC2 pricing calculator?

Our calculator uses real-time AWS pricing data directly from AWS Pricing API. Prices are cached for 24 hours with stale-while-revalidate for up to 7 days, ensuring fast performance while maintaining accuracy. All calculations include the latest on-demand, reserved, and spot instance pricing.

Learn

Guides and best practices for AWS EC2 pricing, instance types, and cost optimization.

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EC2 Instance Type Guide

Decode AWS EC2 instance names. Learn what each letter, number, and size means — families, generations, processor suffixes, and size tiers.

Instance TypesFundamentals

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Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances

Compare Savings Plans and Reserved Instances side by side. Learn the key differences, flexibility trade-offs, and when to use each commitment type.

PricingCost Optimization

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AWS Region Guide

How to choose the right AWS region. Compare pricing differences, latency trade-offs, data residency requirements, and service availability.

RegionsLatencyCompliance

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Spot Instances Guide

Save up to 90% on EC2 using spare capacity. Learn how Spot works, how to handle interruptions, and which workloads are a perfect fit.

SpotCost Optimization

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EC2 Cost Optimization Guide

Practical playbook to cut your EC2 bill by 30-40%. Right-sizing, idle instance detection, scheduling, and commitment strategies.

Cost OptimizationBest Practices

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Graviton Migration Guide

Save up to 40% by switching to ARM-based Graviton processors. Compatibility checklist, migration steps, and expected savings.

GravitonARMCost Optimization