Savings Plans

aws/billing aws/cost-management

💡 Definition

Savings Plans is a flexible pricing model that offers low prices on EC2 and Fargate usage, in exchange for a commitment to a consistent amount of usage (measured in $/hour) for a 1 or 3-year term.

🔑 Key Concepts

Commitment: You commit to a specific spend per hour (e.g., $10/hr).
Flexibility: Applies to usage across instance families, sizes, OS, regions, and even between services (EC2, Fargate, Lambda).
Types:
- Compute Savings Plans: Most flexible (EC2, Fargate, Lambda). Up to 66% off.
- EC2 Instance Savings Plans: Less flexible (specific Region and Family), but higher discount (up to 72% off).

⚙️ How it Works

Analyze Usage: Use Cost Explorer to see recommendations.
Purchase Plan: Commit to a $/hr amount for 1 or 3 years.
Automatic Application: The plan automatically applies to your usage up to the commitment amount. Any usage above that is charged at On-Demand rates.

🎯 Use Cases

Steady-State Workloads: Applications with consistent, predictable usage.
Flexible Requirements: When you might change instance types or regions over time.

💰 Pricing Model

Hourly Commitment: You pay the committed amount every hour, regardless of usage.
Payment Options: All Upfront, Partial Upfront, No Upfront.

📝 Exam Tips (CLF-C02)

More flexible than Reserved Instances.
Applies to EC2, Fargate, and Lambda.
Offers significant savings (up to 72%) compared to On-Demand.

See Also: * Reserved Instances * Cost Explorer