AWS to Charge for Elastic IPs Attached to EC2 Instances

Starting February 1, 2024, AWS will charge for Elastic IPs attached to EC2 instances. This change is being made to help conserve IPv4 addresses.

Pricing

The pricing for Elastic IPs will be as follows:

• Additional (secondary) Elastic IP Address on a running EC2 instance: $0.005 per hour
• Idle Elastic IP Address in account: $0.005 per hour

Calculation of Charges

To calculate the monthly and annual charges for using an Elastic IP with an EC2 instance, you can use the following formulas:

Monthly charge: (number of Elastic IPs) * (0.005 USD/hour) * (24 hours/day) * (30 days/month)

Annual charge: (number of Elastic IPs) * (0.005 USD/hour) * (24 hours/day) * (365 days/year)

For example, if you have one Elastic IP attached to an EC2 instance that runs 24/7, your monthly charge would be $0.005 USD/hour * 24 hours/day * 30 days/month = $3.60 USD. Your annual charge would be $3.60 USD/month * 12 months/year = $43.20 USD.

How to Reduce Costs

There are a few things you can do to reduce your costs associated with Elastic IPs:

• Only use Elastic IPs when you need them. If you have an Elastic IP attached to an EC2 instance that is not in use, disassociate it from the instance to avoid being charged.
• Use a NAT device to share an Elastic IP between multiple EC2 instances.
• Consider using IPv6 addresses instead of IPv4 addresses. IPv6 addresses are more abundant and less expensive than IPv4 addresses.

Conclusion

The upcoming change to Elastic IP pricing is important to be aware of, especially if you use Elastic IPs with EC2 instances. By understanding the new pricing and how to reduce costs, you can minimize your impact on your budget.