AWS Savings plan

Question 1

What is an AWS Savings Plan?

Answer 1

A flexible pricing model that offers lower prices compared to On-Demand pricing, in exchange for a commitment to a consistent usage ($/hr) over 1 or 3 years.

Question 2

What are the two main types of AWS Savings Plans?

Answer 2

• Compute Savings Plans
• EC2 Instance Savings Plans

Question 3

What is a Compute Savings Plan?

Answer 3

A plan that provides the most flexibility, applying to any EC2 instance regardless of region, instance family, OS, or tenancy — also applies to Fargate and Lambda.

Question 4

What is an EC2 Instance Savings Plan?

Answer 4

A plan that applies to a specific instance family within a specific region, offering higher savings but with less flexibility.

Question 5

How is usage measured for a Savings Plan?

Answer 5

Usage is measured in $ per hour commitment. You commit to a specific spend, and usage up to that amount gets discounted.

Question 6

What happens if your usage exceeds your Savings Plan commitment?

Answer 6

Any usage beyond your commitment is charged at On-Demand rates.

Question 7

What are the commitment terms for AWS Savings Plans?

Answer 7

You can choose either a 1-year or a 3-year commitment.

Question 8

What are the payment options for Savings Plans?

Answer 8

• All upfront
• Partial upfront
• No upfront (monthly)

Question 9

Can you cancel or modify an AWS Savings Plan once purchased?

Answer 9

No. AWS Savings Plans are non-cancellable and non-refundable.

Question 10

What services are covered under Compute Savings Plans?

Answer 10

• Amazon EC2 (any instance)
• AWS Fargate
• AWS Lambda

Question 11

What’s the key difference between Reserved Instances and Savings Plans?

Answer 11

Savings Plans offer more flexibility (especially Compute Plans), while Reserved Instances are less flexible but can be sold on the RI Marketplace.