Charges under free tier for CPU credits

Question

Hi, i have an EC2 t3.micro (free tier elegible in Stockolm), but on my billing dashboard appears a charge related to the CPU credits. The hourly usage appears but at zero euros. So, now I think I understand the cpu usage credits and the baseline: i get the instance for free but if i spend all my cpu credits (bc i was doing a cpu intensive task) i have to pay for the credits, even at free tier? Can't i have a above baseline on the free tier actually for free? Would be nice to know since i'm a newbie. Thanks.

Answer

Free tier does have some restrictions, and some options when you launch an instance have extra charges.  Most likely is that you left the default "Unlimited" setting on, which does say underneath "Additional charges may apply".  This means that once CPU credits are exhausted your instance won't be throttled, it will continue to run at full speed and incur extra charges above the hourly instance price.

Answer

One can end up with massive charges at the end of the month if one is not careful

Charges under free tier for CPU credits

Relevant content