How is compute cost charged in AWS?

In AWS, compute costs are charged on a per-hour or per-second basis, depending on the service being used. This pricing model allows users to pay for only the resources they consume, making it flexible and cost-effective, especially for scenarios where workloads may vary in intensity. For example, when using Amazon EC2 (Elastic Compute Cloud), you are billed based on the number of hours an instance runs. Alternatively, with Amazon ECS (Elastic Container Service) or AWS Lambda, you are billed based on the actual duration of your tasks or functions, allowing for precise pricing based on actual usage.

Charging on a per-hour or per-second basis enables users to optimize costs, as they can scale resources up or down as needed without being locked into long-term commitments or flat-rate pricing, which would not reflect their actual usage patterns. This approach reflects the cloud's nature of flexibility and scalability, allowing companies to adapt their resources according to their workload requirements.