💰 EC2 Pricing Calculator
On-Demand vs Reserved vs Spot
See the real cost difference across all EC2 purchasing options. Reserved Instances can cut your bill by 60%+. Enter your workload and find the optimal pricing strategy.
3x
730h
Selected: t3.micro
vCPUs: 2
RAM: 1GB
On-Demand: $0.0104/hr
Spot (avg): $0.0032/hr
On-Demand
$22.78
per month
Spot (avg)
$7.01
~69% off
3yr RI (best)
$9.20
~60% off
Monthly Cost by Pricing Mode
On-Demand
$22.78
Spot
-69%$7.01
1yr Reserved (No Up)
-37%$14.45
1yr Reserved (Part Up)
-40%$13.58
1yr Reserved (All Up)
-42%$13.14
3yr Reserved (No Up)
-55%$10.29
3yr Reserved (All Up)
-60%$9.20
Annual Savings vs On-Demand (3x t3.micro)
| Pricing Mode | /hr rate | /mo | Annual | Saved/yr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| On-Demand | $0.0104 | $22.78 | $273.31 | — |
| Spot | $0.0032 | $7.01 | $84.10 | +$189.22 |
| 1yr Reserved (No Up) | $0.0066 | $14.45 | $173.45 | +$99.86 |
| 1yr Reserved (Part Up) | $0.0062 | $13.58 | $162.94 | +$110.38 |
| 1yr Reserved (All Up) | $0.0060 | $13.14 | $157.68 | +$115.63 |
| 3yr Reserved (No Up) | $0.0047 | $10.29 | $123.52 | +$149.80 |
| 3yr Reserved (All Up) | $0.0042 | $9.20 | $110.38 | +$162.94 |
Which Pricing Mode Should You Use?
💡 Pro Tips to Maximize Savings
→
Switch to Graviton (arm64): M7g/C7g instances cost 20-40% less than equivalent Intel. Most workloads run without code changes.
→
Mix On-Demand + Spot: Run 70% baseline as Reserved, 30% burstable as Spot. Spot Fleet handles interruptions automatically.
→
Use Compute Savings Plans: More flexible than RIs — automatically applies to any EC2 instance family/size/region. Same ~40% discount.
→
Buy RIs in the Marketplace: AWS Reserved Instance Marketplace lets you buy 1yr RIs with <12 months remaining at a discount.
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Right-size before committing: Check CPU/memory utilization with CloudWatch for 2+ weeks before buying Reserved Instances. Committing to an oversized instance wastes money.
Pricing Notes
- • All prices: us-east-1, Linux, on-demand / standard RI pricing
- • Spot prices are 30-day averages — actual prices fluctuate by AZ and time
- • RI pricing shows effective hourly rate (blends upfront + hourly for partial/all upfront)
- • Compute Savings Plans offer similar discounts with more flexibility than shown RIs
- • Windows/RHEL instances cost significantly more — multiply by ~2–4x for licensed OS
- • Data transfer, EBS volumes, and network costs not included
- • Prices updated Q1 2026 — verify at aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing