Amazon DynamoDB Pricing Simplified: A 2024 Guide For Cost Savings

You’re not alone if you’ve had trouble understanding Amazon DynamoDB pricing. Getting a handle on DynamoDB costs can be complex and tedious. 

But with the right tools and resources, it doesn’t have to be. In this bookmarkable guide, we’ll break it down step-by-step so you can tell what drives DynamoDB costs. 

That’s a big deal because you can then pinpoint where and when to reduce your DynamoDB costs with confidence — without sacrificing performance or any of the DynamoDB features you care about.

First, a quick background.

What Does DynamoDB Do?

Amazon DynamoDB is a modern Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) offered by Amazon Web Services (AWS). DynamoDB is best known for being a fully managed, NoSQL database service. 

This is great because it frees your team from the time-consuming work of provisioning, scaling, and maintaining hardware while also patching software issues.

Here are some key DynamoDB features you get when you subscribe.

Amazon DynamoDB Use Cases

DynamoDB is an ideal service for high-performance applications as it is fast, NoSQL, and highly available (single-digit millisecond latency). These include use cases that require fast and reliable read/write operations, such as streaming, IoT, gaming leaderboards, and high-traffic e-commerce applications.

Yet, understanding pricing for Amazon DynamoDB can help you assess how well-suited the service is to specific use cases in your business. 

Amazon DynamoDB Costs Explained: How Does DynamoDB Pricing Work?

DynamoDB pricing is based on three main factors; reading (reads), writing (writes), and storing data. These are the core DynamoDB features. There are additional charges for optional features.

DynamoDB optional features include the following:

Here’s the thing, and this is important to note.

How much you pay for DynamoDB is based on the pricing mode you choose; On-Demand Capacity vs Provisioned Capacity. On-Demand Mode allows you to scale DynamoDB tables and operations as your workload changes. This flexibility works a lot like Amazon EC2 On-Demand instances do. 

On the other hand, provisioned mode requires you to specify how many read/write requests per second you need in advance (but can auto-scale to meet changing needs at additional fees, of course). Think of this as you would Amazon EC2 Reservations (cheaper rates for committing to a certain usage level over a given period).

Here’s the kicker. The specific DynamoDB capacity mode you choose also determines how much you pay for each pricing factor we highlighted earlier.

That’s not all. 

Amazon DynamoDB charges are based on billing units, not dollar amounts. This means that each pricing factor has a unique billing unit. And you’ll need to remember each if you want to understand how DynamoDB pricing works. An unnecessary hassle, you say?

Not to worry. Here’s a quick table with the details you’ll want to know.

Table: A list of DynamoDB pricing factors, what they do, and their billing units.

How Much Does DynamoDB Cost?

As we mentioned moments earlier, DynamoDB charges are based on the type of capacity mode you choose; On-Demand or Provisioned mode.

Here are the basics for calculating and understanding costs for each capacity mode available in DynamoDB.

Pricing for DynamoDB On-Demand Capacity Mode explained

DynamoDB On-Demand capacity mode prices depend on the type of request (read, write, or storage), operation (transactional, eventually consistent, strongly consistent), table class you use (Standard, Standard Infrequent Access), and AWS Region you are based in. 

Prices for DynamoDB On-Demand reads and writes are as follows:

For writes:

For reads:

Quick example: A strong read request for a 2 KB item will consume 1 RRU. A transactional read request for it would consume 2 WCUs while an eventually consistent read request for a similar-size item will cost 1 RRU.

In addition, if you choose the Standard table class in the US East (Ohio) Region, expect to pay $1.25 per million WRUs for writes and $0.25 per million RRUs for reads. And if you pick the Standard Infrequent Access table class, prices start at $1.56 per million WRUs for writes and $0.31 per million RRUs for reads. 

Pricing for data storage in DynamoDB’s On-Demand capacity mode starts at $0.25 per GB-month for the Standard table class and $0.10 for the Standard Infrequent Access tale class. 

Here’s a neat table that makes it easier to digest the prices.

Table: DynamoDB pricing in dollars.

DynamoDB’s costs vary slightly if you use Provisioned Capacity. Over time, however, these small differences can add up to a lot of savings (or unnecessary bill items) as your workload increases. Consider the following.

Pricing for DynamoDB Provisioned Capacity Mode explained

Here, you specify how many writes and reads your application requires per second. However, actual billing is based on an hourly rate.

Pricing for Provisioned Capacity mode in DynamoDB is calculated based on:

For reads:

Larger items require more RCUs, which are priced in 4KB increments.

For writes:

Quick example: A standard write request for a 2 KB item will consume 2 WCUs while a transactional write request for a 5 KB item would consume 10 WCUs.

Let’s organize all of it into a table.

Table: Prices for DynamoDB’s Provisioned Capacity mode.

If all these manual calculations seem a little too much, that’s because they are. But there is a way to get around them without losing the level of cost intelligence you need to make crucial DynamoDB cost tradeoffs. 

How To Control And Optimize Amazon DynamoDB Costs – The Smarter Way

You may have noticed by now that calculating DynamoDB costs can get a bit confusing.

Despite AWS’s Pricing Calculator for DynamoDB, understanding DynamoDB costs is still a challenge. With all the variables involved, such as the different billing units, it is easy to see why.

Here’s the thing, though. It’s difficult to figure out where to reduce DynamoDB usage without compromising performance while not understanding what factors are driving your DynamoDB costs.

In that case, CloudZero can help. Unlike conventional cost tools, CloudZero captures deep DynamoDB cost data. It then enriches it with insights from your apps and infrastructure. CloudZero then delivers your DynamoDB cost insights in detail without being overwhelming. These details include:

New Relic, Drift, and Upstart are some of the ambitious brands already using CloudZero. Upstart reduced its cloud costs by $20 million dollars with the help CloudZero!

With CloudZero, Remitly now allocates 50% more costs without tagging. Want to get similar results or better? Here’s your risk-free chance. to experience CloudZero for yourself.

DynamoDB Pricing FAQ 

What does the DynamoDB Free Tier offer?

It offers 25 provisioned Write Capacity Units (WCU) and 25 provisioned Read Capacity Units (RCU). These can handle 200M requests each month. Also, the DynamoDB Free Tier offers 25GB of free storage per month.  

What are the factors that affect Amazon DynamoDB pricing?

You are charged based on your read/write requests, data storage, and data transfers out, as well as optional features, such as backups/restores.

How much does DynamoDB cost per month?

Your DynamoDB spend will depend on the DynamoDB features you choose and how much you use them. You pay only for what you use.

Is DynamoDB worth it?

Yes, depending on your use case. With DynamoDB, you’ll have a reliable, fully managed, NoSQL database at your disposal. With its vast amount of data and flexibility across AWS services, it can also be more affordable than many DynamoDB alternatives.  

Does DynamoDB provide good or reliable long-term storage?

Amazon DynamoDB’s Standard Infrequent Access tables are designed and optimized for long-term data storage while the Standard table class is suitable for rapidly changing data.

Author: Cody Slingerland

Cody Slingerland, a FinOps certified practitioner, is an avid content creator with over 10 years of experience creating content for SaaS and technology companies. Cody collaborates with internal team members and subject matter experts to create expert-written content on the CloudZero blog.