Free Tool
AWS Reserved Instance Break-Even Calculator
How much will you save with Reserved Instances? See monthly savings and break-even month in seconds.
- No signup
- Instant results
- ~3 min
Read the full breakdown — Reserved Instances vs Savings Plans (2026) covers billing dimensions, traps, and a 30-day cleanup plan.
Which EC2 instance type?
Select the instance type and OS. Pricing is for us-east-1 (prices vary by region).
Select your commitment term
1-year RIs are faster to break even. 3-year RIs save more long-term. All-upfront has the best hourly rate.
Your RI Economics
Break-even timeline and monthly savings
Break-Even Month
X
Monthly Savings
$XXX
Annual savings: $XXX
3-year total savings: $XXX
RI Best Practices
- Right-size first: RIs lock in instance types. Start with on-demand for 30–90 days to right-size.
- Use Compute Savings Plans: More flexible than RIs, work across instance families.
- Monitor utilization: Unused RIs are wasted money. Track CloudWatch metrics.
- Plan for growth: Buy RIs for your steady-state workload, burst with on-demand.
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Detailed Breakdown
Want this applied to your real account?
Savings Plans are more flexible than RIs and work across instance families. We can help you decide which is right for your workload.
Talk to a FinOps Expert →Who This Tool Is For
DevOps engineers, infrastructure teams, and finance leaders deciding whether to buy Reserved Instances for persistent EC2 workloads.
Why We Built This Tool
RI math is confusing. Most teams manually calculate break-even or guess. This tool shows exactly how many months until your upfront RI payment pays for itself vs staying on-demand.
What Problem It Solves
- Commitment confidence. Know your break-even month before spending thousands upfront.
- Term decision. Compare 1-year vs 3-year ROI in one view.
- Budget planning. Model upfront costs and monthly savings for finance approval.
Learn more about our AWS cost optimization services.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I buy 1-year or 3-year RIs?
3-year RIs have a bigger discount but lock you in longer. Buy 1-year for workloads that might change.
What about Savings Plans?
Compute Savings Plans work across instance types and are more flexible than RIs.
Do pricing variations by region change the math?
Yes. This calculator uses us-east-1 pricing.
