Unexpected $0.13 Charge for “In-use public IPv4 address” on Free Tier EC2 Instance

Question

I am experiencing an unexpected charge listed under Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) for $0.13 in the US East  region. My detailed billing shows: Amazon Virtual Private Cloud Public IPv4 Addresses USD 0.13 $0.00 per In-use public IPv4 address per hour for EC2 Free Tier 28 Hrs USD 0.00 $0.005 per In-use public IPv4 address per hour 25 Hrs USD 0.13 I am using a single t2.micro (or t3.micro) instance, which should ordinarily be covered by the free tier for up to 750 instance-hours each month, including one free public IP address while the instance is running. Despite this, I have been charged $0.005/hour for 25 hours (totaling $0.13). Here is what I have confirmed so far: 1. No NAT Gateways: I checked all regions in the VPC console, and I did not find any NAT Gateway running. 2. No Elastic IPs: In the EC2 console, I switched through all regions and did not see any allocated Elastic IPs that are unattached or associated with a stopped instance. 3. No Additional Public IPs or Instances: I am only using one EC2 instance and do not recall assigning a second public IP. 4. My RDS Instance: There is an RDS MySQL db.t3.micro running, but RDS ephemeral endpoints typically do not incur a separate $0.005/hour “public IPv4” charge, and my RDS line items are showing up as $0.00 in the detailed bill. 5. Checked Account Age: I believe my account is still within the 12-month free-tier period (if this is relevant). 6. Stopped vs. Running Instance: It’s possible that the instance was temporarily stopped or paused. However, my understanding is that ephemeral IPs release automatically when an instance is stopped. If I somehow converted that IP to an Elastic IP or kept a public IP allocated while the instance was stopped, I cannot see any such resource in the Elastic IPs console. The bill specifically lists “In-use public IPv4 address,” but does not show any NAT Gateway hours or other VPC services. I would like to determine exactly which resource triggered this $0.005/hour charge, confirm whether it is still incurring costs, and see if I can have any unwarranted charges removed or credited. I want to ensure I’m correctly adhering to the free tier rules and that there isn’t some hidden resource or leftover Elastic IP in another service. Would you please review my account to help identify the exact source of these charges, and advise me on how to stop further charges? If there is a specific public IP or resource that is causing this, please let me know so I can release or remove it. If this charge was a misconfiguration or an error, could you confirm whether a credit or adjustment is possible? Thank you for your assistance, and please let me know if you need any additional details from me. I appreciate your help in resolving this charge.

re:Post Agent · Answer

Thank you for providing such a detailed description of your situation. I understand your concern about the unexpected charge for public IPv4 address usage. Let me clarify a few points and provide some guidance.

Starting February 1, 2024, AWS introduced a charge of $0.005 per IP per hour for all public IPv4 addresses, whether attached to a service or not. However, the AWS Free Tier for EC2 now includes 750 hours of public IPv4 address usage per month for the first 12 months.

Based on your billing details, it appears that you have used 53 hours of public IPv4 address time (28 hours free + 25 hours charged). This suggests that you are still within the 750 free hours provided by the Free Tier.

The charge you're seeing could be related to a public IPv4 address associated with a non-EC2 resource. While EC2 instances with public IPs are covered under the Free Tier, other services that use public IPs (like Load Balancers, NAT Gateways, or certain types of network interfaces) are not included in this free allocation.

To identify the source of these charges:

1. Check for any Elastic Load Balancers or Application Load Balancers you might have created, as these use public IPs and are not covered by the EC2 Free Tier.

2. Look for any service-managed network interfaces in your VPC. These can sometimes have public IPs associated with them.

3. Review your Usage Report or Cost and Usage Report (CUR) for more detailed information. Look for entries related to "AssociateAddressVPC" or "DescribeNetworkInterfaces" operations.

4. Use the Public IP Insights feature in Amazon VPC IP Address Manager to get a comprehensive view of your public IP usage.

If you're unable to locate the source of these charges, I recommend contacting AWS Support. They can provide a more detailed analysis of your account and help identify any hidden resources that might be causing these charges.

Regarding a potential credit or adjustment, AWS Support would be the best resource to discuss this possibility, especially if the charges resulted from a misunderstanding of the Free Tier terms or an unintentional configuration.

Remember, while the EC2 Free Tier includes 750 hours of public IPv4 usage, this only applies to EC2 instances. Other services using public IPs may still incur charges.  
**Sources**  
[Charged for public IPv4 address when using Free Tier services | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUf_byNfPSRMS_91etxncSWw/charged-for-public-ipv4-address-when-using-free-tier-services)  
[Why am I seeing charges for 'Public IPv4 addresses' when I am under the AWS free tier? | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/articles/ARknH_OR0cTvqoTfJrVGaB8A/why-am-i-seeing-charges-for-public-ipv4-addresses-when-i-am-under-the-aws-free-tier)  
[why I have a got charged for a public IPv4 address of vpc in free tier | AWS re:Post](https://repost.aws/questions/QUbh-OCNV7SDa9u_rndFe3Xw/why-i-have-a-got-charged-for-a-public-ipv4-address-of-vpc-in-free-tier)  
[AWS Free Tier now includes 750 hours of free Public IPv4 addresses, as charges for Public IPv4 begin](https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2024/02/aws-free-tier-750-hours-free-public-ipv4-addresses/)

SHAJAM · Answer

Most likely reason for the bill is you have/had another public IP address somewhere. So, how can you find where it is getting used? The public IP address is attached to the ENI of the resource like EC2, ECS.

Here are the steps to the find the ENIs with public IP:
* Go to the EC2 console. From left-menu, navigate to EC2 Global View. It will show a summary. 
* In EC2 Global View, check which regions you have network interfaces.
* Go one by one to the to the region that has ENI. 
* From EC2 console, left menu, go to "Network Interfaces".
* Then, check which ENIs have public IPs.

Note, when EC2 are terminated, ENIs may or may not get terminated depending on your retention policy. So, it's possible you have an detached ENI with public IP even though attached resource was deleted.

Riku_Kobayashi · Answer

Hello.

To check if you have a public IPv4 in your AWS account, we recommend following the steps in the AWS blog below to find it.  
"Public IP Insights" allows you to identify which AWS services use public IPv4.  
https://aws.amazon.com/jp/blogs/aws/new-aws-public-ipv4-address-charge-public-ip-insights/

Just to be sure, is public access enabled for your RDS MySQL?  
If this setting is enabled, RDS will be assigned a public IP address and you will be charged.

Unexpected $0.13 Charge for “In-use public IPv4 address” on Free Tier EC2 Instance

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