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Provisioned vs On Demand Capacity Calculator

Work out provisioned vs on demand capacity instantly with clear inputs, formula shown and shareable results.

About Provisioned vs On Demand Capacity Calculator

Provisioned capacity must be sized for peak but is billed constantly, so its economics depend entirely on the ratio of average to peak. On-demand costs more per request but nothing when idle, which makes it cheaper for spiky workloads below roughly 15 to 20 percent average utilisation of peak — and far more expensive for steady high-volume ones.

Formula

Mode comparison

provisioned = peak units x unit rate x 730; on-demand = average requests x per-request rate; utilisation = average / peak

Worked example

With the default values below, Provisioned vs On Demand Capacity Calculator returns Cheaper billing mode of Provisioned capacity is cheaper. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Average capacity units consumedminimum 0.001
400
Peak capacity unitsminimum 0.001
2,400
Hours per day at peakaccepts 0.1–24 h
3 h
On-demand price per million requestsminimum 0
1.25

Results

Cheaper billing mode
Provisioned capacity is cheaper
Provisioned capacity cost
$227.76
On-demand cost
$1,314.00
Average utilisation of peak
16.7%

Step by step

  1. 1Values used
  2. 2Mode comparison
  3. 3Cheaper billing mode= Provisioned capacity is cheaper
  4. 4Provisioned capacity cost= 227.76
  5. 5On-demand cost= 1,314.00
  6. 6Average utilisation of peak= 16.7

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 2 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.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does autoscaling make provisioned capacity behave like on-demand?

Partly. It tracks demand with a lag of minutes, so sudden spikes are throttled. On-demand absorbs instant bursts up to double the previous peak.

Can billing modes be switched?

Yes, though usually only once every 24 hours. Switching to on-demand ahead of an unpredictable event and back afterwards is a common tactic.

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