AWS Pricing Calculator User Guide | How to easily estimate monthly costs and important points to note

While AWS pricing is flexible and pay-as-you-go, many people find it difficult to predict costs in advance. The AWS Pricing Calculator can be useful in situations like this. This article provides detailed explanations, from basic usage to input methods based on example configurations, how to interpret estimate results, and common pitfalls.

What is the AWS Pricing Calculator?

The AWS Pricing Calculator is the official tool for estimating AWS usage costs in advance. It is designed to be easy to use even for people new to cloud computing, and it is free and allows you to create a basic estimate without signing in.

The estimate results not only show the total amount, but also a detailed breakdown by service, and can be output in CSV format or saved as a shared URL.

Pricing Calculator Basic Features

It's a good starting point for understanding how much it will cost before implementing AWS. It has a "group" feature that allows you to estimate multiple services together, so for example, you can organize a web server, database, and storage into a single configuration.

You can first calculate the base on-demand price (standard pay-as-you-go rate), then apply discount options such as Reserved Instances and Savings Plans and compare the costs before and after the discount. This can be used as a basis for deciding on a pricing plan.

Main applications and use cases

The Pricing Calculator is useful when designing a new system or migrating an existing environment to AWS. You can use it to estimate the operational costs of adding a small EC2 instance or to estimate the total cost of migrating a large-scale mission-critical system.

Basic usage of Pricing Calculator

Screen configuration and main operation flow

The Pricing Calculator is a simple tool that can be used from a browser, with a "Create a new quote" button on the top page. Anyone can start a calculation without having to sign in. The quote is created by adding services and entering terms of use. The layout displays a list of selected services and configurations on the left side of the screen, and a summary of input items and costs on the right side.

The operation flow is roughly as follows: ① Create a new quote → ② Add services → ③ Enter conditions → ④ Confirm and save the quote results. The selected services and configuration are listed on the left side of the screen, and the input items and cost summary are lined up on the right side.

Can be used without signing in

You don't need an AWS account to use this service. Anyone can start calculations without logging in, and you can simulate prices by simply selecting a service and entering your conditions.

Steps to create a new quote

Click "Create a quote" on the top screen to start a new quote. First, specify the quote name and currency (JPY/USD, etc.), then select and add the services you need.

How to add services to be quoted

Example of adding an EC2 estimate

When adding EC2, select "Amazon EC2" and enter the instance type, number of units, and usage time.

If you enter the condition "one t3.micro running 24 hours a day in the Tokyo region," the monthly cost for that instance will be calculated automatically. You can also optionally enter storage (EBS) and data transfer volume.

Examples of adding other major services such as S3, RDS, and Lambda

For S3, you enter the storage capacity, number of requests, and data transfer volume. For RDS, you can specify the engine type, instance size, whether or not to use multi-AZ configuration, etc.

For Lambda, costs are calculated by entering the function execution time and number of executions. The input fields vary depending on the service, but the cost summary is displayed in real time on the right side of the screen, making it easy to check.

Key points to keep in mind when entering data

Region selection

AWS pricing varies by region, so be sure to select the region you plan to use. The unit price for the same instance may differ between the Tokyo region and the Oregon region.

How to enter usage (time/volume, etc.)

The indicators that affect pricing differ for each service, such as "hourly usage" or "always on" for EC2, and "storage capacity (GB)" and "number of requests" for S3. Enter the figures based on your expected peak usage and average usage.

How discount options (reserved instances, etc.) are reflected

When creating a quote, you can apply discount plans such as "Reserved Instances (RI)" and "Savings Plans" in addition to on-demand pricing. This allows you to simulate how much costs will be reduced with a one-year or three-year contract, improving the accuracy of your budget considerations.

How to read and interpret estimate results

Estimate result configuration

Once you create a quote, you'll see a summary and a breakdown of the details on the right side of the screen. The summary shows the total price for all the services you selected, while the details break down the cost for each service.

For EC2, you can check the details for each component, such as instance usage fees, storage, and data transfer fees, and for S3, you can check the fees based on storage capacity and number of requests.

How to read the summary (total amount) and detailed breakdown

The summary section allows you to see at a glance how much it will cost per month if you operate this configuration.

On the other hand, detailed breakdowns are useful for analyzing which elements account for the majority of costs. For example, determining whether EC2 instance usage fees are large or whether storage or data transfer fees are dominant can help you identify opportunities for cost optimization.

How to convert monthly and annual amounts

The Pricing Calculator generally displays results on a monthly basis, but when combined with Reserved Instances and Savings Plans, the concept of annualized pricing, such as "1-year contract" and "3-year contract," also comes into play.

In this case, it will be easier to create a budget plan if you know both the "leveled amount per month" and the "total amount for the entire contract." It is common to use monthly amounts when making approval requests, while keeping annual amounts in check for long-term budget management.

How to output and share quotation results

You can not only view your estimates on screen, but also share them internally and externally, and use them as documentation. The Pricing Calculator has a function that allows you to export them as a PDF or a shareable link.

H4 PDF/URL output and sharing

Estimates can be exported in CSV format, which can then be formatted in Excel and used as approval documents or PDFs for internal explanations. You can also issue a shared URL to share the estimate with team members online. However, since the URL is saved publicly, you should be careful not to include any information you don't want others to know.

Tips for using it for internal documents/approvals

When using estimates for approval requests or internal presentations, it is recommended that you do not just paste a summary, but also include information such as "why you chose that service configuration" and "which parts account for the majority of the cost."

In addition, providing comparative data between a case that reflects the discount option and a case that uses only on-demand services makes it easier to explain the cost savings to decision makers.

Common pitfalls and things to watch out for

Common mistakes in estimates

Depending on how you enter data into the Pricing Calculator, the calculations may be inaccurate. Please be especially careful of the following points:

Use the default instance specs as is

When estimating EC2, some people simply select the typical instance type displayed on the screen (e.g., t3.medium or m5.large). Choosing specifications that don't match your actual usage can lead to over- or under-estimated costs, so it's important to select the appropriate instance family and size based on your requirements.

Overlooking storage and data transfer fees

When estimating EC2 or RDS, we tend to focus only on the cost of the computing resources. However, the total cost will be affected by factors such as EBS storage capacity, snapshots, and data transfer volume with S3. Check the breakdown and enter realistic figures for storage and transfer.

Discount not applied

Even if you plan to use Reserved Instances or Savings Plans, forgetting to reflect them in your estimate will result in a high estimate based on on-demand pricing only. Be sure to add discount options that anticipate contracts to your options and compare them.

What the Pricing Calculator can't do

The estimate is merely a "model case" and cannot cover all real-world operations. It is important to understand the following points as limitations.

It is difficult to predict variable operational costs (such as increases or decreases in data transfers)

Traffic volume and access patterns fluctuate daily, making it difficult to accurately predict data transfer volumes. The discrepancy between estimates and actual volumes can be significant, especially for systems that distribute content or expect sudden increases in access.

Detailed operational costs of managed services must be considered separately

With Amazon RDS, there are peripheral operational costs, such as saving backups and snapshots, and with AWS Lambda, outputting CloudWatch logs for monitoring. The Pricing Calculator can calculate the price for each service alone, but it does not fully cover these incidental costs. During the design phase, it is a good idea to consider different scenarios and incorporate a contingency budget.

Typical configuration examples and price estimates

For small-scale web services

For small-scale services such as blogs and corporate websites that handle thousands to tens of thousands of requests, a typical configuration is one or two EC2 instances, a small RDS instance, and static content distribution via S3.

Cases when migrating core corporate systems

When migrating ERP or internal systems to the cloud, you will need multiple EC2 instances, a multi-AZ RDS, and large-capacity EBS storage.

Development/testing environment configuration

For development and testing environments that are intended for short-term use, it is realistic to estimate using spot instances or the minimum on-demand configuration. For example, if you combine several EC2 instances, a small-scale RDS, and only the necessary storage, the cost will often be in the range of several thousand to several tens of thousands of yen per month. By entering settings that operate only during business hours rather than running the system 24/7, you can perform a cost simulation that is closer to reality.