KodeKloud Notes

Unlock accurate cost projections for your AWS Lambda functions using the AWS Pricing Calculator. Forecast monthly expenses by specifying key parameters—such as memory, execution time, architecture, and storage—and fine-tune your configuration to find the most cost-effective setup.

Why Use the AWS Pricing Calculator for Lambda?

Generate precise cost estimates without guessing
Compare CPU architectures (ARM vs. x86)
Test storage, memory, and duration impacts instantly
Export calculation details for budgets and reports

Example Scenario

We’ll estimate monthly costs for a Lambda function with these characteristics:

Metric	Value
Requests per Month	10,000,000
Duration per Request	500 ms
Memory Allocation	512 MB
Ephemeral Storage	512 MB
Architecture	ARM (Graviton)

1. Access the AWS Pricing Calculator

Open your browser and go to https://calculator.aws. No AWS account or sign-in is required.

2. Create a New Estimate

Click Create estimate.
In Search all services, type Lambda and select AWS Lambda.
Click Configure.

The image shows the AWS Pricing Calculator interface, specifically the "Select service" section, where users can search for and configure AWS services like AWS Lambda, AWS Step Functions, and AWS AppSync.

3. Configure Your Lambda Estimate

On the Lambda configuration page, enter the following:

Description
e.g., KodeKloud Lambda Test
Region
Select US East (N. Virginia) for this demo.
Free Tier
Note
By default, AWS includes the free tier (1M requests and 400,000 GB-seconds). Deselect Include free tier to see actual charges.
Architecture
Choose ARM (Graviton) for lower compute costs (default is x86).
Monthly Requests
Enter 10000000.
Duration per Request
Enter 500 ms.
Memory (MB)
Enter 512.
Ephemeral Storage (MB)
Keep the default 512.

After inputting these values, the calculator displays a cost forecast.

The image shows the AWS Pricing Calculator interface for configuring an AWS Lambda service, with options to include or exclude the free tier and select a region.

4. Review the Cost Estimate

With our configuration, the estimated monthly cost is $29.80.

The image shows the AWS pricing calculator interface for configuring AWS Lambda, with fields for the number of requests, duration, memory, and storage allocation. The total monthly cost is displayed at the bottom.

5. Experiment with Settings

Use this table to explore how changes affect your monthly bill:

Parameter	Change	Estimated Impact
Baseline	512 MB mem, 512 MB storage, 500 ms	$29.80 (monthly)
Ephemeral Storage	10 GB (max)	+$1.47 (≈5%) → $31.27
Memory Allocation	10 GB (max)	+$633.34 (≈2,125%) → $663.14
Execution Duration	900,000 ms (15 min max)	Significant increase; optimize runtime
Processor Architecture	x86 (default)	Higher compute cost vs. ARM

Warning

Long function durations and large memory allocations can dramatically raise your AWS Lambda bill. Always profile and optimize your code to minimize runtime.

Conclusion

In this guide, you learned how to:

Access the AWS Pricing Calculator
Configure a Lambda cost estimate step by step
Analyze pricing impacts of architecture, memory, storage, and execution time

Next, dive deeper into Lambda performance tuning and cost optimization strategies.

Links and References

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