AWS EC2 Support
AWS Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances: what to buy.
Commitments can cut steady-state compute costs substantially, but a wrong purchase locks you in for one or three years. We size commitments from your actual usage, after right-sizing, so you cover the baseline and leave room to change.
When You Need This
The situations where this work pays for itself.
Signs it is time
- Most of your spend is on-demand and steady
- You are unsure whether to choose Compute or EC2 Instance Savings Plans
- You hold reservations that no longer match your fleet
- You are migrating instance families or to Graviton
- Finance needs predictable cloud spend
What you get
- A commitment model with scenarios and break-even points
- A purchase plan in stages
- Coverage and utilization dashboards
- A policy for future purchases
How we do it
A clear, safe process you can follow along with.
1. Right-size first
Commitments should cover what you will actually run, so we remove waste before buying.
2. Measure the steady baseline
We analyze hourly usage to find the always-on portion, ignoring peaks and experiments.
3. Compare options
We model Compute Savings Plans, EC2 Instance Savings Plans and reservations against your plans for regions, families and migrations.
4. Choose coverage and payment
We typically cover the stable baseline rather than everything, and pick the term and upfront option that match your cash and risk preferences.
5. Stage purchases
Buying in tranches reduces the risk of over-commitment and lets you adjust as usage evolves.
6. Track utilization
We monitor coverage and utilization and act on gaps before they waste money.
Mistakes we help you avoid
Common ways this goes wrong, and what we do instead.
Committing to 100 percent of usage
Any drop in usage turns into paid but unused commitment. We leave headroom.
Buying before a migration
Moving to new families or Graviton changes what is covered. We pick flexible plans when change is coming.
Forgetting database and other services
Databases and other services use their own reservation options. We include them in the plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are Savings Plans better than Reserved Instances?
For most EC2, Fargate and Lambda usage, Compute Savings Plans are simpler and more flexible. Reservations and other plans still matter for some services and for specific discounts.
What happens if I do not use the full commitment?
You still pay the committed hourly amount, which is why we size to the stable baseline.
Can commitments be cancelled?
Savings Plans cannot be cancelled. Some Standard Reserved Instances can be sold on the marketplace, subject to AWS rules.
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