Is AWS (EC2 compute) free? What it actually costs in 2026
Yes, there is a free tier — with limits.
Usage-based: a small always-on EC2 instance with storage and traffic commonly lands at $20–40/mo, and data egress (~$0.09/GB after the free 100 GB monthly) is the classic surprise line item.
When paying is still the right call
If your architecture genuinely leans on managed services — RDS, Lambda, SQS, fine-grained IAM — or compliance requires AWS's certifications, the premium buys real things. Startup credits change the math too; spend them before you optimize.
What you are locked into
Compute itself is portable — a Linux VM is a Linux VM. The real lock-in lives in managed services (RDS, Lambda, S3-coupled designs) and in egress pricing that taxes the way out. The earlier you keep the stack portable, the cheaper the door stays.
If you would rather not pay: Hetzner Cloud
Hetzner Cloud
Two to four times the hardware per dollar, 20 TB of traffic included.
From ~€4.50/mo (2 vCPU / 4 GB, 20 TB EU traffic); US locations slightly higher
See all 5 AWS (EC2 compute) alternatives comparedCompare the free options head-to-head
Pricing is verified against the vendor's published figures and dated above. Vendors change prices — confirm current numbers with Amazon Web Services before you commit. More cloud & vps decisions on Macrostack.