Hi,
This detailled guide will help you understand: https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances
In essence, Reserved Instances are based on the commitment to use an instance at a particular price over a specific period, while Savings Plans are based on the commitment to spend a particular dollar amount per hour over a specific period.
Best,
Didier Answer from Didier Durand on repost.aws
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › savings plans › user guide › what are savings plans? › compute savings plans and reserved instances
Compute Savings Plans and Reserved Instances - Savings Plans
Compute Savings Plans are a flexible pricing model that offers low prices, just like Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances (RI), but with added flexibility. With Savings Plans, you can reduce your bill by committing to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in $/hour), instead of specific instance ...
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon ec2 › user guide › amazon ec2 instances › amazon ec2 billing and purchasing options › reserved instances for amazon ec2 overview
Savings Plans - Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances and ...
With Reserved Instances, you make a commitment to a specific instance configuration, whereas with Savings Plans, you have the flexibility to use the instance configurations that best meet your needs. To use Savings Plans, you make a commitment to a consistent usage amount, measured in USD per hour.
Videos
54:54
Savings Plans and Reserved Instances - What purchase strategy is ...
07:02
AWS Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances - YouTube
38:04
Comparison of Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances vs. AWS Saving Plans ...
04:17
AWS Interview Question | Difference between Saving Plan and Reserved ...
03:30
AWS Savings Plans Explained: Save Big Without Overcommitting - YouTube
Finout
finout.io › blog › aws-savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances-5-key-differences-in-2025
AWS Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances: 5 Key Differences in 2025
August 13, 2025 - AWS Savings Plans and Reserved Instances offer compute discounts in exchange for 1- or 3-year usage commitments, with RIs tied to specific EC2 configs.
VMware
vmware.com › docs › white-paper-the-ultimate-guide-to-aws-reserved-instances-and-savings-plans pdf
White Paper: March 2023 The Ultimate Guide to AWS Reserved Instances
c5 .2xlarge instances will cost you about $250 per month . If you modify and split · your two c5 .4xlarge reservations into four c5 .2xlarge reservations, you will · benefit immediately from the cost savings, all while ensuring that your prepaid ... Figure 2: Laying an AWS Savings Plan on ...
nOps
nops.io › blog › aws-savings-plan-vs-reserved-instances
AWS Savings Plan VS Reserved Instances: The Complete Guide
February 7, 2025 - AWS Reserved Instances (RI) and AWS Savings Plans (SP) are pricing models offering lower prices than On-Demand pricing in exchange for a specific usage commitment (measured in $/hour) for a one- or three-year period.
Stormit
stormit.cloud › blog › aws-savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances
AWS Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances: Pick the Right One
If the company’s actual usage exceeds $10/hour, the additional consumption is charged at On-Demand rates. AWS Reserved Instances (RIs) provide a commitment-based pricing model that offers up to 72% savings compared to On-Demand pricing.
CloudZero
cloudzero.com › home › blog › a roadmap to aws savings plans vs. reserved instances
A Roadmap To AWS Savings Plans Vs. Reserved Instances
June 10, 2025 - AWS Reserved Instances (RIs) is a discount pricing model that enables organizations to save up to 75% on On-Demand Instances when they purchase them in advance for a fixed term of one or three years.
Top answer 1 of 3
2
Hi,
This detailled guide will help you understand: https://www.cloudzero.com/blog/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances
In essence, Reserved Instances are based on the commitment to use an instance at a particular price over a specific period, while Savings Plans are based on the commitment to spend a particular dollar amount per hour over a specific period.
Best,
Didier
2 of 3
1
Hi Steven,
It really depends on the resources you would like to cover, if you want to cover compute resources (EC2, Lambda, Sagemaker), I recommend SP as the pricing model is basically the same as RI, and it has more flexibility and you are commiting to the hourly cost, unless you have requirement to resell the Standard RI. Of course for other resources such as RDS, RedShift and OpenSearch (ElasticSearch) you can only purchase RI.
You can also get some insights from this YouTube video created by AWS: Savings Plans and Reserved Instances - What purchase strategy is right for you?
Hope it helps.
Amnic
amnic.com › blogs › aws-savings-vs-reserved-instances
AWS Savings Plans vs Reserved Instances: Choosing the Right Commitment for Your Cloud Costs | Amnic
Reserved Instances (especially Standard RIs with 3-year, all-upfront payments) can provide the deepest discounts, up to 72%. Savings Plans max out at around 66%, but offer far more flexibility across services and regions.
Simple AWS
newsletter.simpleaws.dev › p › aws-savings-plans-reserved-instances
Cost Optimization with AWS Savings Plans and Reserved Instances
February 15, 2025 - AWS Savings Plans and Reserved Instances are two pricing models offered by AWS as an alternative to On-Demand. You are asked to commit to a specific usage level for a defined period of time (1 or 3 years), and in exchange you get a price reduction ...
Amazon Web Services
docs.aws.amazon.com › amazon ec2 › user guide › amazon ec2 instances › amazon ec2 billing and purchasing options › reserved instances for amazon ec2 overview
Reserved Instances for Amazon EC2 overview - Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud
With Reserved Instances, you make a commitment to a specific instance configuration, whereas with Savings Plans, you have the flexibility to use the instance configurations that best meet your needs. To use Savings Plans, you make a commitment to a consistent usage amount, measured in USD per hour.
AWS
docs.aws.amazon.com › aws whitepapers › aws whitepaper › amazon ec2 reserved instances › savings plans
Savings Plans - Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances and Other AWS Reservation Models
This pricing model offers lower prices on Amazon EC2 instances usage, regardless of instance family, size, OS, tenancy or AWS Region, and also applies to AWS Fargate and AWS Lambda usage. Savings Plans offer significant savings over On-Demand Instances, just like EC2 Reserved Instances, in exchange for a commitment to use a specific amount of compute power (measured in $/hour) for a one or three-year period.
Harness
harness.io › harness devops academy (glossary) › what is an aws savings plan?
What is an AWS Savings Plan?
6 days ago - An AWS Savings Plan is a flexible ... It provides a discounted rate for committed usage of specific AWS services, such as Amazon EC2 instances or Amazon RDS databases, in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment...
cloudkeeper
cloudkeeper.com › home › insights › blog › ask the cloud expert: the truth about aws savings plans & aws reserved instances
Ask the Cloud Expert: The Truth About AWS Savings Plans & AWS Reserved Instances | CloudKeeper
September 26, 2025 - On the surface, AWS RIs offer up to 75% discount on certain configurations, whereas AWS Savings Plans offer up to 72% discount, based on their commitment model. However, it’s not all a rosy picture.
ProsperOps
prosperops.com › home › aws savings plans vs. reserved instances: how to choose the best fit
AWS Savings Plans vs. Reserved Instances: How To Choose the Best Fit - ProsperOps
October 15, 2024 - EC2 Savings Plans and Standard Reserved Instances offer similar discounts that can go as high as 72%. The discounts are tied to a particular usage, and maximizing savings requires committing to specific Instance types and regions.
AWS
aws.amazon.com › amazon ec2 pricing › reserved instances › pricing
EC2 Reserved Instance Pricing
4 days ago - For example, as soon as you have aggregated active Reserved Instances with a List Value totaling more than $500,000 in a single AWS Region, you will automatically receive a 5% discount on both upfront and hourly fees for all future Standard Reserved Instance purchases in that AWS Region, and those ...
Umbrella
umbrellacost.com › home › aws savings plan vs reserved instances: your complete guide
AWS Savings Plan vs Reserved Instances 101: A Complete Guide - Umbrella
July 29, 2025 - AWS Reserved Instances (RIs) are another discount pricing model that can help you save up to 75% on On-Demand Instances—–so long as you purchase your Instances in advance for a one to three-year period.
Reddit
reddit.com › r/aws › reserved instance vs savings plan?
r/aws on Reddit: Reserved instance vs savings plan?
December 14, 2020 -
I have a reserved instance expiration coming up this week and wondering what would be a better choice for cost savings or how to calculate it?
Top answer 1 of 6
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At the end of the day the actual rates themselves are exactly the same (EC2 savings plan vs. RI). So it's more a question of usage patterns and flexibility. Overall, savings plans are better because they offer more flexibility (though are a bit harder to calculate up-front). In my opinion I think RIs will be depreciated eventually because savings plans are superior in basically every way. RIs assume 24x7 usage and lock you into a specific machine for the term. With SPs you simply commit to a certain amount of spend per hour/month, and then however you use that is up to you. Hence you can have 1 machine on 24x7, or 24 machines on for 1 hour a day - that's up to you. You don't get that flexibility with RIs. Calculating a savings plan can be confusing at first bit it's not really that bad, you just have to change your unit from Total Instances (RIs) to Family Spend per hour per month (SPs). In short: Calculate the total hours you will need for each instance type (eg. M4, M5, M6g, etc) in a given month. This can be a combination of 24x7 instanced and on-demand. Knowing the total hours, calculate the total cost of each instance type, given the savings plan rate. Sum the total monthly spend for the entire family (eg. M4+M5+M6g, etc). Divide that total spend by 730 - this is your hourly spend rate which you will purchase your SPs with. Suppose you commit to $1/hr of M-family usage. Amazon will bill you $730 at the beginning of the month for your commitment. At that point, any usage of M-class machines is credited at the savings plan rate, up to $730. After you hit $730, you will be billed for normal on-demand rates. So really all you have to do is figure out how much you intent to spend in a month across a given family, divide by 730.
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The cost savings are equivalent (assuming full utilization of the RI/Savings Plan), but Savings Plans are much more flexible. Savings Plans are the better option if you don't need a capacity reservation.
AWS re:Post
repost.aws › knowledge-center › ec2-savings-plan-reserved-instances
Decide on Savings Plans or Reserved Instances for EC2 instances | AWS re:Post
June 2, 2025 - Savings Plans and Reserved Instances offer cost savings compared to On-Demand pricing. Typically, longer term commitment results in higher savings, such as a three-year term instead of a one-year term.
Cloudwards
cloudwards.net › cloud computing › cloud computing platforms › cloud computing platform comparisons
AWS Savings Plan vs Reserved Instances in 2025
July 16, 2025 - An AWS Savings Plan is a pricing model that offers a discount when you agree to spend a certain amount hourly for one or three years. However, Reserved Instances involve committing to EC2 instances for one or three years within certain configurational boundaries...