EC2 Instance Cost Calculator

Turn an EC2 on-demand hourly rate and a running schedule into hourly, daily, monthly and annual fleet cost.

About EC2 Instance Cost Calculator

EC2 on-demand bills per second (with a 60-second minimum) for Linux, so cost is simply the rate multiplied by the instance-hours you actually accumulate. Multiplying hours per day by days per month gives the per-instance run time, and 730 hours is the always-on reference AWS itself uses when it quotes monthly prices. A schedule that stops non-production instances outside working hours removes roughly two thirds of their instance-hours, and this is the number that shows how large that lever is before you build the automation.

Formula

EC2 Instance Cost

monthly cost = rate × instances × hours per day × days per month; a always-on month is 730 hours.

730: Hours in AWS's average month (8760 ÷ 12)
rate: On-demand price for one instance-hour
instances: Instances running the same schedule

Worked example

With the default values below, EC2 Instance Cost Calculator returns Monthly Fleet Cost of $276.48. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

On-demand rate per instance-hourminimum 0 USD/hour: 0.096 USD/hour
Number of instancesaccepts 1–10,000 instances: 4 instances
Hours running per dayaccepts 0–24 hours: 24 hours
Days running per monthaccepts 0–31 days: 30 days

Results

Monthly Fleet Cost: $276.48
Cost per Hour (whole fleet): $0.3840
Cost per Day: $9.22
Cost per Year: $3,317.76
Billed Instance-Hours per Month: 2,880
Share of a Full 730-Hour Month: 98.6%

Step by step

1Values used
2EC2 Instance Cost
3Monthly Fleet Cost= 276.48
4Cost per Hour (whole fleet)= 0.3840
5Cost per Day= 9.22
6Cost per Year= 3,317.76
7Billed Instance-Hours per Month= 2,880
8Share of a Full 730-Hour Month= 98.6

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 4 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax, fees or charges or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 4 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Guides that use this calculator

How to Size Cloud Instances Without OverpayingA practical method for right-sizing compute: measure before you buy, understand the pricing models, and know which metrics actually matter.4 min

Frequently Asked Questions

How is EC2 Instance Cost calculated?

monthly cost = rate × instances × hours per day × days per month; a always-on month is 730 hours. EC2 on-demand bills per second (with a 60-second minimum) for Linux, so cost is simply the rate multiplied by the instance-hours you actually accumulate. Multiplying hours per day by days per month gives the per-instance run time, and 730 hours is the always-on reference AWS itself uses when it quotes monthly prices.

Why does EC2 Instance Cost matter?

A schedule that stops non-production instances outside working hours removes roughly two thirds of their instance-hours, and this is the number that shows how large that lever is before you build the automation.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 4 inputs: On-demand rate per instance-hour, Number of instances, Hours running per day, Days running per month. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.

Are the prices in this calculator authoritative?

No. The rate is an editable input with a plausible us-east-1 Linux default. AWS changes list prices, and they differ by region, operating system, tenancy and instance generation, so always confirm against the AWS Pricing Calculator or your own Cost Explorer data before committing a budget.