Best server for… pricing
Best and cheapest server for a dev / staging server on AWS
Updated 2026-10-19
Cheapest sensible starting point for a dev / staging server: t4g.micro at $0.0084/h ($6.13/month) on demand in us-east-1. Move up to t4g.small when you outgrow it.
Recommendations (us-east-1, on demand, Linux)
| Instance | When | Size | $/h | $/month | 3-yr RI $/h | Cheapest region | $25k credits last |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| t4g.micro | Single small service | 2 vCPU / 1 GiB | $0.0084 | $6.13 | $0.0036 | ap-south-1 $0.0056 | 4,077 mo |
| t4g.small | Small full-stack staging | 2 vCPU / 2 GiB | $0.0168 | $12.26 | $0.0073 | ap-south-1 $0.0112 | 2,038 mo |
| t3.small | Same size on x86 if you need x86 binaries | 2 vCPU / 2 GiB | $0.0208 | $15.18 | $0.009 | us-east-1 $0.0208 | 1,646 mo |
How we chose
Sizing assumption (ours, not a vendor requirement): Low, bursty utilisation suits the burstable t-family; stop it outside working hours.
Prices come from the AWS Price List. Treat sizes as starting points: watch memory and CPU for a week, then resize.
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Questions
What is the cheapest AWS server for a dev / staging server?
Cheapest sensible starting point for a dev / staging server: t4g.micro at $0.0084/h ($6.13/month) on demand in us-east-1. Move up to t4g.small when you outgrow it.
Can I run a dev / staging server on AWS credits?
Yes, EC2 and RDS usage is covered by AWS promotional credits; the last column shows how long $25k lasts.
Prices and credit amounts are estimates and may change. Check AWS for current terms.