AWS Cost Calculator
AWS Cost Calculator
Estimate your monthly cost for EC2, S3, RDS, and Lambda
Estimate Your Monthly AWS Costs
This calculator helps you estimate the monthly and annual cost of running EC2 instances, S3 storage, RDS databases, and Lambda functions – four of the most commonly used AWS services. Enter your expected usage for each service to see an itemized cost breakdown and total, so you can plan a budget before deploying infrastructure or catch a cost surprise before it happens.
What This Calculator Covers
- EC2 Instances – virtual servers, priced by instance type, count, monthly hours, and pricing model (On-Demand, Reserved, or Spot)
- S3 Storage – object storage, priced by storage amount, storage class, and outbound data transfer
- RDS Database – managed databases, priced by engine, instance class, and storage
- Lambda Functions – serverless compute, priced by monthly requests and average execution duration
How to Use This Calculator
Step 1: For EC2, select your instance type, number of instances, hours running per month, and pricing model.
Step 2: For S3, enter your storage amount, storage class, and expected monthly data transfer out.
Step 3: For RDS, select your database engine and instance class, and enter storage size.
Step 4: For Lambda, enter your expected monthly requests (in millions) and average execution duration.
Step 5: Click “Calculate Cost” to see a full breakdown by service, plus your total monthly and annual estimate. Use “Copy Result” to save the breakdown as text.
Worked Example
A small web application running: 2x t3.medium EC2 instances (730 hours/month, On-Demand), 100 GB of S3 Standard storage with 100 GB monthly data transfer out, 1x db.t3.micro RDS MySQL instance with 20 GB storage, and 2 million Lambda requests per month at 500ms average duration.
| Service | Estimated Monthly Cost |
|---|---|
| EC2 (2x t3.medium) | $60.74 |
| S3 (100 GB + transfer) | $11.30 |
| RDS (db.t3.micro MySQL) | $14.41 |
| Lambda (2M requests, 500ms) | $1.03 |
| Total Monthly Estimate | $87.48 |
Understanding AWS Pricing Models
On-Demand – pay only for what you use, by the hour, with no upfront commitment. Best for short-term, unpredictable, or new workloads.
Reserved Instances – commit to 1 or 3 years in exchange for a significant discount compared to On-Demand pricing. Best for stable, predictable, long-running workloads.
Spot Instances – use AWS’s spare compute capacity at a steep discount, with the tradeoff that AWS can reclaim the instance with short notice. Best for flexible, fault-tolerant workloads like batch processing or testing.
Understanding S3 Storage Classes
S3 Standard – for frequently accessed data, the highest storage cost but no retrieval fees. S3 Standard-IA (Infrequent Access) – lower storage cost, with a retrieval fee, for data accessed occasionally. S3 Glacier – very low storage cost for archival data, with retrieval taking minutes to hours. S3 Glacier Deep Archive – the lowest storage cost available, for data rarely accessed, with retrieval taking up to 12 hours.
What This Calculator Doesn’t Include
This tool provides estimates for EC2, S3, RDS, and Lambda only – it does not calculate costs for other AWS services such as CloudFront, DynamoDB, EKS/ECS, SageMaker, or Elastic Beanstalk. It also does not include taxes, support plan fees, or data transfer between AWS regions. Pricing shown is a general reference and does not update in real time – always confirm current rates for your specific region before making budget decisions.
Tips for More Accurate Estimates
- Use your actual expected usage hours for EC2, not the default 730 (a full month) if your workload runs intermittently.
- Remember that S3 data transfer OUT to the internet is billed – transfers between AWS services in the same region are often free or discounted.
- RDS storage costs add up separately from the instance hourly rate – don’t forget to include it.
- Lambda’s free tier (1 million requests and 400,000 GB-seconds per month) isn’t reflected in this simplified calculator – your actual first-tier costs may be lower.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does this calculator include taxes?
No – taxes vary by region and are not included in this estimate.
Is this calculator’s pricing updated in real time?
No – this tool uses static reference pricing for planning purposes. Always verify current rates for your exact region before finalizing a budget.
Can I estimate multiple EC2 instance types at once?
This version calculates one instance type at a time. Run the calculator again for each instance type and add the totals together.
Does this include AWS’s free tier?
No – this calculator estimates costs at standard rates. If you’re a new AWS account within the free tier period, your actual costs may be lower.
What’s the difference between On-Demand, Reserved, and Spot pricing?
On-Demand has no commitment and the highest per-hour rate. Reserved requires a 1-3 year commitment for a lower rate. Spot uses spare capacity at the deepest discount, but instances can be reclaimed by AWS with short notice.