How do I make sure that I don't incur charges when I use AWS services in AWS Free Tier?
I'm using AWS Free Tier to test AWS services. I want to make sure that all the resources that I'm using are available in AWS Free Tier.
Resolution
Important: For new AWS accounts, certain resources are available in AWS Free Tier for a 1-year period. Any resources that aren't in AWS Free Tier are charged at standard rates.
Check what services and resources are available
Before you create a new resource, check the Free Tier details page to determine whether the resource is a Free Tier product.
Important: Some services that you launch in the Free Tier have usage quotas. If you exceed the usage quotas, then you're charged at standard rates.
Use alerts to monitor your Free Tier usage
You can track your Free Tier usage with AWS Free Tier usage alerts. These alerts notify you when your AWS Free Tier usage exceeds 85 percent of your monthly quota. Use the AWS Billing and Cost Management console to turn on AWS Free Tier usage alerts.
You can also use AWS Budgets to track your AWS Free Tier benefits.
Monitor your bill
Use the AWS Billing and Cost Management console to view how many AWS Free Tier services that you're currently using. You can use the Top AWS Free Tier Services by Usage table to check whether your current usage rate will incur charges.
Even though your resources are in AWS Free Tier, each Free Tier resource is itemized on your bill.
Note: Most benefits that AWS Free Tier offers apply globally to all resources in your account, not individually to each AWS Region. Make sure to monitor your usage in all Regions.
Stop resources when you no longer need them
To avoid unexpected charges, it's a best practice to routinely check if you have active resources that you no longer need. Remove any unneeded resources that you find.
Related information
Trying services using AWS Free Tier
Create a billing alarm to monitor your estimated AWS charges
How do I avoid future charges when I use the AWS Free Tier?
What do I need to know if my AWS Free Tier period is expiring?
Is there a way to automatically block using services that would not be covered in the free tier? For a topic title "make sure I don't incur charges", I don't see content here that actually answers the question of how to make sure I don't incur charges. Why can't there be selectors/menu items that say "Not included in free tier" or simply pop-ups that warn "Are you sure you want to use this resource that is not included in the free tier". I'm following a tutorial that uses resources that a listed in the free tier, and even billing seems to show that I am using resources in the free tier (did not reach/surpass free usage hours), yet I still am getting billed. Why?
Thank you for your comment. We'll review and update the Knowledge Center article as needed.
aws is unfortunately not transparent about this. Surprise fees come later. The fact that he did not warn when creating the order indicates that he is exploiting this issue.
Only Admin should be allowed to make these changes which are impacting billings / or there should be an approvals flow for the changes being made at AWS
Thank you for your comment. We'll review and update the Knowledge Center article as needed.
Lol. What a first week experience of having some random charges despite using free tier. I guess AWS just want to create a room for more cloud providers?
Thank you for your comment. We'll review and update the Knowledge Center article as needed.
So basically there's no way to have an ease of mind when Azure and GCP already provide this safety lock, cool. This is not the author's fault but more of a predatory practice AWS encourages. Imagine waking up one morning with a 10k bill just because someone tried to DDOS you on the free tier, even if support can reverse it, it's not something anyone wants to deal with.
Relevant content
- asked a year ago
- asked 7 months ago
- asked 2 months ago
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated a year ago
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated 2 months ago
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated 2 years ago
- AWS OFFICIALUpdated 3 months ago
