How Much Does AWS Actually Cost? A Practical Breakdown
Usage-based pricing means the real number depends entirely on your workload.
Published May 22, 2026 · Updated Jun 28, 2026
Unlike a flat-rate SaaS subscription, AWS pricing is a function of exactly what you use, how much of it, and for how long. That flexibility is powerful, but it makes cost forecasting genuinely hard.
The building blocks
| Service | Sample rate | Billed by |
|---|---|---|
| S3 Standard Storage | $0.021/GB/month | Storage used |
| EC2 t3.micro | $0.0104/hour | Instance uptime |
| Free Tier | $0 | First 12 months, select services |
Where costs sneak up
- Data transfer/egress fees, often overlooked
- Leaving instances running after testing
- Storage class mismatches (e.g. Standard vs Infrequent Access)
Sample data for preview purposes. Not verified current pricing.
References
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