Free AWS Cost Calculators

Rightsize EC2 instances with AWS Compute Optimizer

AWS Compute Optimizer analyzes your usage patterns and recommends optimal instance types. Many users over-provision by 40-60%. Rightsizing can save 20-40% on EC2 costs immediately. The service is free and provides machine learning-based recommendations.

Use Reserved Instances & Savings Plans (up to 72% savings)

For predictable workloads, commit to 1-3 year Reserved Instances or Savings Plans for up to 72% discounts vs On-Demand. Savings Plans offer more flexibility across instance families and regions. Start with Compute Savings Plans for maximum flexibility.

Leverage Spot Instances for non-critical workloads (up to 90% savings)

Spot Instances cost 70-90% less than On-Demand but can be interrupted with 2-minute notice. Ideal for batch processing, CI/CD, big data analytics, and stateless web servers with load balancers. Use Spot Fleet or EC2 Auto Scaling for automatic fallback to On-Demand.

Implement S3 Intelligent-Tiering & lifecycle policies

S3 Intelligent-Tiering automatically moves objects between access tiers based on usage patterns, saving up to 95% vs S3 Standard. Set lifecycle policies to transition old data to Glacier ($0.004/GB/month) or delete after retention periods. No retrieval fees for Intelligent-Tiering.

Clean up orphaned resources regularly

Unused EBS snapshots, unattached EBS volumes, old AMIs, and unused Elastic IPs waste money. Use AWS Config rules or third-party tools to identify orphaned resources. Schedule quarterly cleanup reviews. Unused Elastic IPs alone cost $3.60/month each.

Use CloudWatch to identify idle resources

Set up CloudWatch alarms for low CPU utilization (< 5% for 7+ days) to identify idle EC2 instances. Check RDS database connections, idle load balancers, and underutilized NAT Gateways. Stopping or downsizing idle resources can save 30-50% on compute costs.

Enable AWS Cost Anomaly Detection (free)

AWS Cost Anomaly Detection uses machine learning to detect unusual spending patterns and sends automatic alerts. It's completely free and catches cost spikes before they accumulate. Set thresholds per service or account and receive SNS notifications.

Implement a tagging strategy for cost allocation

Tag all resources with Project, Environment, Owner, and CostCenter tags. Use AWS Cost Allocation Tags to track spending by department, project, or team. Create tag-based budgets to enforce accountability. Automated tagging via CloudFormation or Terraform ensures consistency.

Consider multi-region pricing differences

US East (N. Virginia) is typically 10-30% cheaper than other regions. If latency allows, deploy non-customer-facing workloads (CI/CD, batch processing) in cheaper regions. Use CloudFront CDN to serve content globally from a single origin region.

Use AWS Cost Explorer for historical analysis

AWS Cost Explorer (free) provides detailed cost breakdowns by service, region, and tag. Analyze spending trends, identify top cost drivers, and forecast future costs. Set up monthly cost reviews to catch trends early. Filter by linked accounts for multi-account visibility.