{
  "guide": "memory-optimised-against-general-purpose",
  "title": "Memory-optimised against general purpose: what a GB costs",
  "url": "https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/memory-optimised-against-general-purpose",
  "page": "https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/memory-optimised-against-general-purpose",
  "dataSource": "compute",
  "snapshotDate": "2026-10-25",
  "dateModified": "2026-11-01",
  "note": "Figures recomputed from the OptimToken catalogue at each build, the same ones the page prints. A figure quoted elsewhere is as of the day it was read; this file carries the current one.",
  "figures": {
    "unit": "dollars per hour for rates, hourly rate times 730 for monthly figures, fractions of the lower rung's price for uplifts, savings and premiums",
    "hoursAMonth": 730,
    "memorySteps": 21,
    "computeSteps": 18,
    "clouds": {
      "AWS": {
        "memorySteps": [
          {
            "from": "m5.large",
            "to": "r5.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "m5.xlarge",
            "to": "r5.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "m6i.large",
            "to": "r6i.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "m6i.xlarge",
            "to": "r6i.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "m6a.large",
            "to": "r6a.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0034,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "m6g.large",
            "to": "r6g.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.3091
          },
          {
            "from": "m6g.xlarge",
            "to": "r6g.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.3091
          },
          {
            "from": "m7g.large",
            "to": "r7g.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0031,
            "uplift": 0.3076
          },
          {
            "from": "m7g.xlarge",
            "to": "r7g.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0031,
            "uplift": 0.3076
          }
        ],
        "computeSteps": [
          {
            "from": "c5.large",
            "to": "m5.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0027,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c5.xlarge",
            "to": "m5.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0027,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c6i.large",
            "to": "m6i.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0027,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c6i.xlarge",
            "to": "m6i.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0027,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c5a.large",
            "to": "m5a.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0022,
            "uplift": 0.1169
          },
          {
            "from": "c6a.large",
            "to": "m6a.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0025,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c6a.xlarge",
            "to": "m6a.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0025,
            "uplift": 0.1294
          },
          {
            "from": "c6g.medium",
            "to": "m6g.medium",
            "vCPUs": 1,
            "memoryFrom": 2,
            "memoryTo": 4,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0022,
            "uplift": 0.1324
          },
          {
            "from": "c6g.large",
            "to": "m6g.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0022,
            "uplift": 0.1324
          },
          {
            "from": "c6g.xlarge",
            "to": "m6g.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0022,
            "uplift": 0.1324
          },
          {
            "from": "c7g.large",
            "to": "m7g.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0023,
            "uplift": 0.1255
          },
          {
            "from": "c7g.xlarge",
            "to": "m7g.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0023,
            "uplift": 0.1255
          }
        ],
        "medianUplift": 0.3125,
        "marginalGbHourly": 0.0034,
        "marginalGbMonthly": 2.4637,
        "impliedVcpuHourly": 0.0297,
        "gbPerVcpu": 8.8,
        "computeRowPremium": 0.0494,
        "sameMemorySwapSaving": 0.3438
      },
      "Alibaba": {
        "memorySteps": [
          {
            "from": "ecs.g7.large",
            "to": "ecs.r7.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.315
          },
          {
            "from": "ecs.g7.xlarge",
            "to": "ecs.r7.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.3117
          },
          {
            "from": "ecs.g8y.large",
            "to": "ecs.r8y.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0026,
            "uplift": 0.3148
          }
        ],
        "computeSteps": [
          {
            "from": "ecs.c7.large",
            "to": "ecs.g7.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.002,
            "uplift": 0.1168
          },
          {
            "from": "ecs.c7.xlarge",
            "to": "ecs.g7.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0022,
            "uplift": 0.1307
          },
          {
            "from": "ecs.c8y.large",
            "to": "ecs.g8y.large",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0025,
            "uplift": 0.1825
          },
          {
            "from": "ecs.c8y.xlarge",
            "to": "ecs.g8y.xlarge",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0025,
            "uplift": 0.1814
          }
        ],
        "medianUplift": 0.3148,
        "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
        "marginalGbMonthly": 2.19,
        "impliedVcpuHourly": 0.0262,
        "gbPerVcpu": 8.7333,
        "computeRowPremium": 0.0477,
        "sameMemorySwapSaving": 0.3447
      },
      "Azure": {
        "memorySteps": [
          {
            "from": "D2s_v5",
            "to": "E2s_v5",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "D4s_v5",
            "to": "E4s_v5",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0038,
            "uplift": 0.3125
          },
          {
            "from": "D2as_v5",
            "to": "E2as_v5",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0034,
            "uplift": 0.314
          },
          {
            "from": "D2ps_v5",
            "to": "E2ps_v5",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.3117
          },
          {
            "from": "D4ps_v5",
            "to": "E4ps_v5",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.003,
            "uplift": 0.3117
          }
        ],
        "computeSteps": [],
        "medianUplift": 0.3125,
        "marginalGbHourly": 0.0034,
        "marginalGbMonthly": 2.4638,
        "impliedVcpuHourly": 0.0295,
        "gbPerVcpu": 8.7407,
        "computeRowPremium": null,
        "sameMemorySwapSaving": 0.3438
      },
      "DigitalOcean": {
        "memorySteps": [
          {
            "from": "g-2vcpu-8gb",
            "to": "m-2vcpu-16gb",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0039,
            "uplift": 0.3298
          }
        ],
        "computeSteps": [
          {
            "from": "c-2",
            "to": "g-2vcpu-8gb",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 4,
            "memoryTo": 8,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0078,
            "uplift": 0.4921
          },
          {
            "from": "c-4",
            "to": "g-4vcpu-16gb",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0079,
            "uplift": 0.504
          }
        ],
        "medianUplift": 0.3298,
        "marginalGbHourly": 0.0039,
        "marginalGbMonthly": 2.8288,
        "impliedVcpuHourly": 0.0315,
        "gbPerVcpu": 8.129,
        "computeRowPremium": -0.1975,
        "sameMemorySwapSaving": 0.3351
      },
      "GCP": {
        "memorySteps": [
          {
            "from": "n2-standard-2",
            "to": "n2-highmem-2",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0042,
            "uplift": 0.3481
          },
          {
            "from": "n2-standard-4",
            "to": "n2-highmem-4",
            "vCPUs": 4,
            "memoryFrom": 16,
            "memoryTo": 32,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0042,
            "uplift": 0.3481
          },
          {
            "from": "n2d-standard-2",
            "to": "n2d-highmem-2",
            "vCPUs": 2,
            "memoryFrom": 8,
            "memoryTo": 16,
            "marginalGbHourly": 0.0037,
            "uplift": 0.3491
          }
        ],
        "computeSteps": [],
        "medianUplift": 0.3481,
        "marginalGbHourly": 0.0042,
        "marginalGbMonthly": 3.0842,
        "impliedVcpuHourly": 0.0317,
        "gbPerVcpu": 7.4911,
        "computeRowPremium": null,
        "sameMemorySwapSaving": 0.326
      }
    },
    "averagePerGbHourly": {
      "Compute Optimized": {
        "rows": 26,
        "median": 0.017
      },
      "General Purpose": {
        "rows": 38,
        "median": 0.0107
      },
      "Memory Optimized": {
        "rows": 21,
        "median": 0.0071
      }
    },
    "workedExamples": [
      {
        "provider": "AWS",
        "memory": 32,
        "generalPurpose": {
          "instanceType": "m5.2xlarge",
          "vCPUs": 8,
          "hourly": 0.384
        },
        "memoryOptimised": {
          "instanceType": "r5.xlarge",
          "vCPUs": 4,
          "hourly": 0.252
        },
        "saving": 0.3438,
        "annualAtFleet": {
          "instances": 20,
          "dollars": 23126.4
        }
      },
      {
        "provider": "Azure",
        "memory": 32,
        "generalPurpose": {
          "instanceType": "D8s_v5",
          "vCPUs": 8,
          "hourly": 0.384
        },
        "memoryOptimised": {
          "instanceType": "E4s_v5",
          "vCPUs": 4,
          "hourly": 0.252
        },
        "saving": 0.3438,
        "annualAtFleet": {
          "instances": 20,
          "dollars": 23126.4
        }
      },
      {
        "provider": "GCP",
        "memory": 32,
        "generalPurpose": {
          "instanceType": "n2-standard-8",
          "vCPUs": 8,
          "hourly": 0.3884
        },
        "memoryOptimised": {
          "instanceType": "n2-highmem-4",
          "vCPUs": 4,
          "hourly": 0.2618
        },
        "saving": 0.326,
        "annualAtFleet": {
          "instances": 20,
          "dollars": 22180.32
        }
      }
    ],
    "noLadder": [
      "OCI",
      "OVH"
    ]
  }
}