How are Amazon EC2 instance-hours billed?

Resolution

Your Amazon EC2 usage is calculated based on the size of the instance, operating system, and the AWS Region where the instances are launched. Pricing is per instance-hour consumed for each instance, from the time that an instance is launched until an instance is terminated or stopped.

• Each partial instance-hour consumed is billed per-second for instances launched in Linux, Windows, Windows with SQL Enterprise, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SQL Standard, or SQL Web instances.
• Each partial instance-hour is billed as a full hour for instances launched in the operating systems SUSE.
• Per-second billing with a 60-second minimum is available for Amazon Linux, Windows, RHEL, Ubuntu, and Ubuntu Pro instances across all Regions.

When you review your Amazon EC2 usage, consider the following:

• If your instance is billed by the hour, then you're billed for a minimum of one hour when a new instance enters the running state.
• If your instance is billed by the second, then you're billed for a minimum of 60 seconds when an instance hour enters the running state.
• An instance stays in the running state while it's rebooted.
• If your instance is stopped and started, the AWS accounting mechanism charges more units during the hour that the instance is stopped and started. You're billed fewer units during the hour that the instance is terminated so that your overall bill remains unaffected.
• Instances are billed only if they're in the running state.

For more information on instance pricing based on purchase options, see Amazon EC2 pricing.

If you purchase an Amazon EC2 Reserved Instance, then the terms of your Reserved Instance contract can modify the way that you're billed. For more information, see What is an Amazon EC2 Reserved Instance?

If you signed up for Savings Plans, then see Savings Plans FAQ.

Related information

Billing on the Amazon EC2 FAQs

Why was I charged for Amazon EC2 after I terminated all my instances?

How are charges for Amazon EBS volumes calculated on my bill?