Dynamodb Cost Calculator

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Reviewed by David Chen, CFA Certified Financial Analyst specializing in cloud infrastructure and TCO analysis.

This DynamoDB Cost Calculator provides an estimate of your monthly AWS spending for an Amazon DynamoDB table using the On-Demand capacity model. Simply input your anticipated usage metrics below to get an instant, itemized cost breakdown.

DynamoDB Cost Calculator

Estimated Total Monthly Cost

DynamoDB Cost Formula (Simplified)

$$ \text{Total Cost} = (\text{Storage} \times \text{Rate}_{\text{GB}}) + (\text{Reads} \times \text{Rate}_{\text{Read}}) + (\text{Writes} \times \text{Rate}_{\text{Write}}) $$
Formula Source: AWS DynamoDB Pricing | AWS Well-Architected Framework

Variables Explained

  • Monthly Read Request Units (Millions): The total number of read requests you expect over a month, measured in millions. On-Demand reads are billed per million units.
  • Monthly Write Request Units (Millions): The total number of write requests you expect over a month, measured in millions. On-Demand writes are billed per million units.
  • Total Data Storage (GB): The average amount of data stored in your DynamoDB table in Gigabytes over the month.

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What is DynamoDB Cost Calculator?

A DynamoDB Cost Calculator is a specialized tool designed to estimate the monthly expenses associated with running an Amazon DynamoDB database. Since DynamoDB employs a pay-as-you-go model that bills based on capacity units and storage, understanding the consumption metrics is crucial for cost management. This calculator helps users budget and plan for their cloud infrastructure spending.

Unlike traditional relational databases, DynamoDB’s primary cost drivers are not fixed server sizes, but the actual operations performed (reads and writes) and the data stored. By simulating usage patterns before deployment, organizations can avoid surprise bills and optimize their access patterns to be more cost-efficient.

How to Calculate DynamoDB Cost (Example)

Let’s calculate the estimated cost for a table storing 100 GB, processing 20 million reads, and 5 million writes per month (using the rates in the script):

  1. Storage Cost: 100 GB * $0.25/GB = $25.00
  2. Read Cost: 20 Million Reads * $0.25/Million Reads = $5.00
  3. Write Cost: 5 Million Writes * $1.25/Million Writes = $6.25
  4. Total Estimated Monthly Cost: $25.00 + $5.00 + $6.25 = $36.25

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is the difference between Provisioned and On-Demand capacity?
Provisioned capacity requires you to specify the throughput (RCUs/WCUs) you need, offering a predictable cost that can save money if usage is steady. On-Demand capacity charges you for the actual requests (RRUs/WRUs) your application performs, providing flexibility without managing capacity planning.

Does the item size affect my cost?
Yes. DynamoDB measures capacity units in block sizes (4KB for reads, 1KB for writes). A 10KB read request consumes 3 Read Capacity Units (RCUs). Therefore, the larger your item size, the more units each operation consumes, directly increasing your cost.

Are backups and global tables included in this calculation?
No. This calculator focuses only on the core storage and throughput costs. Features like DynamoDB Backups (Point-in-Time Recovery), Global Tables (replication), and Accelerator (DAX) are billed separately.

How can I reduce my DynamoDB costs?
Common cost-saving strategies include enabling auto-scaling for Provisioned capacity, minimizing unused indexes, implementing proper TTL (Time To Live) to expire old data, and ensuring your queries are efficiently utilizing partition and sort keys to reduce RCU consumption.

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