Reserved Instance Calculator: Is It Worth It?

ri-calculator.sh — configure workload

Monthly On-Demand Spend // for this workload

$ / month

Commitment Term

Payment Option // affects discount depth

// recommendation

—

saved over
1 year (RI)

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saved over
3 years (RI)

—

break-even
point

// month-by-month comparison

ON-DEMAND 1-YR RI 3-YR RI

Monthly cost

— — —

12-month total

— — —

36-month total

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Discount vs on-demand

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Discount rates are based on AWS EC2 Standard RI industry averages: No Upfront ~38% (1yr) / ~56% (3yr) · Partial Upfront ~40% (1yr) / ~59% (3yr) · All Upfront ~42% (1yr) / ~62% (3yr). Actual rates vary by instance family, region, and OS. Always verify in the AWS Pricing Console before purchasing.

Estimate total cloud savings — not just RIs

The FinOps Savings Calculator covers Reserved Instances, Spot, and rightsizing across AWS, Azure & GCP

Full Calculator →

← Recalculate with different inputs

When Reserved Instances make sense

The rule of thumb: if a workload runs more than 60% of the time, a 1-year No Upfront RI almost always pays for itself. If it runs more than 80% of the time, a 3-year commitment is worth modelling.

Reserved Instances are the highest single-lever cost reduction available in cloud — delivering 30–62% savings versus on-demand for the same compute. The commitment risk is real: you pay whether or not you use the capacity. The two ways to manage that risk: rightsize before you commit (so you're not locking in an oversized instance), and use Savings Plans instead of Standard RIs if you need flexibility to change instance types.

For a full comparison of RI types and Savings Plans, see our Reserved Instances vs Savings Plans guide. For the broader optimization picture, see 18 AWS cost optimization strategies.

Is a Reserved Instance worth it?

Estimate total cloud savings — not just RIs

When Reserved Instances make sense

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