AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner: Billing, Pricing, and Support Concepts
Importance ★★★☆☆ · 12% (estimate)
Overview
This chapter covers how you pay for AWS and where to get help. It includes the EC2 pricing options, the tools for estimating and tracking costs, AWS Organizations consolidated billing, and the main support resources. Questions usually describe a workload or a money question and ask which option or tool fits.
On-Demand Instances have no commitment and suit short or unpredictable work. Spot Instances are the cheapest but can be interrupted, so they suit flexible jobs. Reserved Instances and Savings Plans give lower prices for a 1-year or 3-year commitment, and Compute Savings Plans also cover Lambda and Fargate. Dedicated Hosts give you a whole physical server for licenses tied to sockets or cores, and On-Demand Capacity Reservations hold capacity in an Availability Zone without a long commitment.
Use the AWS Pricing Calculator to estimate costs before you build, AWS Budgets to get alerts when costs go over a limit, and AWS Cost Explorer to study past spending. Cost allocation tags split costs by team or project, and Compute Optimizer and Trusted Advisor point out resources that are too big or idle. Consolidated billing gives one bill for many accounts and combines usage for volume discounts. In general, data coming into AWS is not charged, while data going out is.
For help, AWS re:Post is a community question-and-answer site, AWS Marketplace sells third-party software that runs on AWS, and the AWS Partner Network connects you with partner companies such as consulting firms. The AWS Health Dashboard tells you about AWS events that may affect your resources.
Key concepts
On-Demand Instances
Pay by the second or hour with no long-term commitment.
Memory tipShort, unpredictable, no interruption
Spot Instances
Spare EC2 capacity at a large discount that AWS can take back with a short warning.
Memory tipCan be interrupted = Spot
Reserved Instances and Savings Plans
Lower prices in return for a 1-year or 3-year commitment. Compute Savings Plans also apply to Lambda and Fargate.
Memory tipSteady 24/7 use = commit
Dedicated Hosts
A physical server fully dedicated to you, showing sockets and cores for server-bound licenses.
Memory tipPer-socket licenses = Dedicated Hosts
AWS cost tools
Budgets alerts on limits, Cost Explorer analyzes past costs, and Pricing Calculator estimates costs before you build.
Memory tipBefore = Calculator, after = Explorer
Consolidated billing
AWS Organizations combines all member accounts into one bill and adds up usage for volume pricing.
Memory tipMany accounts, one bill
Often tested
- Split costs by department = cost allocation tags.
- Data into AWS from the internet is generally free; data out is charged.
- Buy third-party software for AWS = AWS Marketplace.
- Find a consulting partner = AWS Partner Network.
- AWS events affecting your resources = AWS Health Dashboard.
Easy to confuse: EC2 pricing options
| Option | Commitment | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| On-Demand | None | Short-term or unpredictable work |
| Spot | None (can be interrupted) | Flexible jobs at the lowest cost |
| Reserved Instances / Savings Plans | 1 or 3 years | Steady, predictable use |
| Dedicated Hosts | On-Demand or reserved | Server-bound software licenses |
| On-Demand Capacity Reservations | None | Guaranteed capacity in one Availability Zone |
3 sample questions
Verified practice questions from this unit.
Question 1. A company is testing a new application for a few weeks. The workload is unpredictable and must not be interrupted, and the company does not want a long-term commitment. Which EC2 pricing option fits best?
- ① Spot Instances
- ② Reserved Instances
- ③ Dedicated Hosts
- ④ On-Demand Instances
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ④ On-Demand Instances
Key point: Short-term, no commitment, no interruption = On-Demand
On-Demand Instances are paid by the second or hour with no long-term commitment. They suit short-term, unpredictable workloads that cannot be interrupted.
Wrong choices
- Spot Instances: Spot Instances can be interrupted, which this workload cannot accept.
- Reserved Instances: Reserved Instances need a 1-year or 3-year commitment.
- Dedicated Hosts: Dedicated Hosts are physical servers for special needs and cost more.
Question 2. A company runs batch jobs that can stop and restart at any time without problems. It wants the lowest possible EC2 cost. Which pricing option should it choose?
- ① On-Demand Instances
- ② Reserved Instances
- ③ Spot Instances
- ④ Dedicated Hosts
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ③ Spot Instances
Key point: Can be interrupted + cheapest = Spot
Spot Instances use spare EC2 capacity at a large discount. AWS can take them back with a short warning, so they suit flexible jobs that can be interrupted.
Wrong choices
- On-Demand Instances: On-Demand works, but it costs more than Spot.
- Reserved Instances: Reserved Instances need a long-term commitment and suit steady use.
- Dedicated Hosts: Dedicated Hosts are the most expensive option.
Question 3. A company runs a database server 24 hours a day, every day, and expects this to continue for 3 years. Which EC2 pricing option lowers its cost compared with On-Demand?
- ① Spot Instances
- ② On-Demand Instances
- ③ Dedicated Hosts
- ④ Reserved Instances
▼ Show answer and explanation▲ Hide answer and explanation
Answer: ④ Reserved Instances
Key point: Steady use for 1 or 3 years = Reserved Instances
Reserved Instances give a discount compared with On-Demand in return for a 1-year or 3-year commitment. They fit steady, predictable workloads.
Wrong choices
- Spot Instances: Spot can be interrupted, which is risky for a database.
- On-Demand Instances: On-Demand has no discount for steady long-term use.
- Dedicated Hosts: Dedicated Hosts are for license or compliance needs, not lower cost.
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