Free Tier. Get the Goodies!

Are you new to Amazon Web Services (AWS) and looking to get acquainted with the platform without incurring significant costs? Look no further than AWS Free Tier! In this article, we’ll dive into the details of AWS Free Tier, exploring the most commonly used offerings, their use cases, and the duration of their availability.

What is AWS Free Tier?

AWS Free Tier is a program designed to help new users get started with AWS services by providing a range of offerings at no cost. It allows you to explore and experiment with various AWS services without worrying about the cost, giving you hands-on experience and the opportunity to build your skills.

Always Free vs. Limited Time Free

What is less well known is that some of the offers continue indefinitely, which means that if your application is designed right and your application doesn’t grow beyond the free tier limits, you could conceivably run your application with little or no charge.

AWS Free Tier consists of two types of offerings: Always Free and Limited Time Free.

• Always Free: These offerings are available indefinitely, meaning you can use them without any time restrictions. They have specific usage limits per month, but as long as you stay within those limits, you can continue using them at no cost.

• Limited Time Free: These offerings are available for a specified period, typically 12 months from the date you sign up for an AWS account. They provide a higher level of usage compared to Always Free offerings but are subject to time limitations.

Commonly Used Free Tier Offerings

Let’s explore some of the most commonly used AWS Free Tier offerings:

1. Amazon EC2

• Limited Time Free: During the first 12 months, you can utilize 750 hours per month of a t2.micro or t3.micro instance.

2. Amazon S3

• Limited Time Free: In the first 12 months, you can enjoy 5 GB of standard storage, 20,000 GET requests, 2,000 PUT/COPY/POST/LIST requests, and 15 GB of data transfer out each month.

3. Amazon RDS

• Limited Time Free: During the first 12 months, you can use a db.t2.micro instance with 750 hours per month, 20 GB of storage, and 20 GB of backup storage.

4. AWS Lambda

• Always Free: You get 1 million free requests per month and 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month.

5. Amazon DynamoDB

• Always Free: AWS provides 25 GB of storage, 25 provisioned Write Capacity Units (WCUs), and 25 provisioned Read Capacity Units (RCUs).

6. AWS Simple Notification Service

• Always Free: AWS provides 1M publishes, 100K HTTP/S deliveries, and 1000 email deliveries per month.

Conclusion

AWS Free Tier is an excellent opportunity for new users to explore and familiarize themselves with AWS services without incurring significant costs. By leveraging the Always Free and Limited Time Free offerings, you can gain hands-on experience, build small applications, and test your ideas on the AWS platform.

Remember to keep track of your usage to ensure you stay within the free tier limits and avoid unexpected charges. AWS provides monitoring tools and alerts to help you manage your usage effectively.

So, go ahead and dive into AWS Free Tier! Explore the various services, build your skills, and take the first steps towards harnessing the power of cloud computing with AWS.