- Select services eligible for the free tier such as EC2, S3, Lambda, or DynamoDB.
- Review usage limits carefully—each service provides specific monthly caps that can vary based on region.
- Enable notifications for spending alerts to avoid unexpected charges once your trial ends.
| Service | Free Tier Limit | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Amazon EC2 | 750 hours per month per instance type | Includes basic instance categories; exclude premium instances unless upgraded later. |
| Amazon S3 | 5 GB storage and 20,000 requests per month | Requests include GET, PUT, DELETE; larger workloads require paid plans. |
| Amazon DynamoDB | 25 GB provisioned throughput | Free tier applies only during initial enrollment period; scaling occurs after trial. |
- Set up budget alerts through AWS Budgets to receive timely reminders.
- Use CloudWatch to watch real-time metrics and adjust configurations if costs approach limits.
- Document every change made during testing so you can replicate successful setups later.
- Disable unused resources immediately after confirming their purpose.
- Schedule regular reviews of the AWS console to identify idle assets.
- Avoid assuming that “free” means unlimited; always check official documentation for current terms.
- Start with minimal viable architecture; expand gradually.
- Use tagging consistently to categorize resources by purpose and owner.
- Implement version control for configuration files to prevent accidental changes.