Cloud provider discount & payment / AWS
Reserved Instances & Savings Plans
A one-year commitment for 40–70% off — the biggest cost lever available
If your EC2 workload is likely to stay stable for the next year, a Savings Plan is close to mandatory — it is usually the largest optimisable line on the invoice. Two caveats get missed: it requires a one-year commitment (exiting early forfeits the discount already used), and if your instance shapes will shift noticeably you need to confirm the plan still covers them. Here is how the three commitment models compare, and which one fits your current workload shape.
Specs & pricing
| Model | Term | Typical saving | Locked to | Early exit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reserved Instance | 1 or 3 years | ~50–70% | Exact instance type + region + OS | Standard RI: no. Convertible RI: you may change shape |
| Savings Plans (Compute) | 1 or 3 years | ~50–70% | Compute usage in a region, any family | No early exit |
| Savings Plans (EC2 Instance) | 1 or 3 years | ~50–70% | A named instance family (M/C/R) | No early exit |
| Spot | None | ~80–90% | Nothing, but can be reclaimed | Stop any time |
Step 1: is the load stable enough to commit?
A commitment is fundamentally trading flexibility for price. So ask one question: will this machine still be running the same shape next year? - Yes → buy a Reserved Instance or Savings Plan for the deepest discount. - Uncertain, or shapes will change → buy a Compute Savings Plan: it meters usage within a region without locking a shape. - Runs only part of the day → Spot with a scheduler, potentially a fifth of on-demand cost. If you are unsure, the Compute Savings Plan is the lowest-risk option: no shape lock, a slightly smaller discount than RI, and nothing wasted if the workload shifts.
Step 2: confirm what the plan actually covers
The most common waste is buying an RI that never applies. A Reserved Instance is bound to a specific instance type, region, and operating system. An m6i RI in region A offsets nothing on an m7g in region B. Before buying, write down the instance families and regions you will actually run for the next year, then compare on that list. Ten minutes of reconciliation can save a full year of paying for nothing.
Step 3: pair interruptible work with Spot
Spot carries the deepest discount — typically a fifth to a tenth of on-demand. The cost is that instances can be reclaimed at any time, so pair it with two things: 1. Automatic checkpointing: write training progress to S3 on a schedule and resume from the latest checkpoint. 2. Capacity protection: keep production on on-demand or RI, and put only the interruptible portion on Spot. Good Spot workloads: model training, batch transcoding, data processing, nightly ETL, CI builds. Bad Spot workloads: anything that cannot tolerate interruption.
Step 4: four cost mistakes that cost the most
- Committing capacity you will not use — a three-year RI on a workload that sunsets in six months. Longer terms give deeper discounts but waste more absolute money. Start with one year, not three.
- Treating a Savings Plan like an RI — they meter on usage, yet most people only watch "coverage" in the report and never check how much of it is actually being consumed. 100% coverage still means paying for capacity you stopped running.
- Spot without automatic checkpointing — a reclaimed instance restarts from zero, and no discount compensates for re-running the job. The saving is spent on wasted compute.
- Optimising per instance instead of the total bill — shaving 20% off one instance while the overall invoice is flat is not an optimisation. Check the total first, then the details.
How to purchase through us
- Map your usage: list the instance families, regions, operating systems, and expected hours for the next year.
- Choose the model: RI, Compute Savings Plan, or Instance-family Savings Plan.
- Confirm the quote: discount rate, commitment term, and early-exit rules all go into the order confirmation.
- Account opening: we handle AWS account provisioning and payment verification — no personal card binding, no identity documents.
- Execute: once live you buy the RI or Savings Plan yourself in the AWS console; we help configure and verify it.
Typical workloads
Open a AWS account with us
We handle official provisioning and payment verification — no personal card, no identity documents. Order directly in the vendor console once live.
More AWS products
Amazon EC2
Global compute that provisions in minutes and bills by the second
Amazon S3
Object storage with eleven nines of durability
Amazon Lightsail
Bundled plans with transparent pricing, for small sites and overseas workloads
AWS discounts & reseller pricing
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