{
  "guide": "savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances",
  "title": "Savings plans against reserved instances: what the flexibility costs",
  "url": "https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances",
  "page": "https://optimtoken.optimnow.io/guides/savings-plans-vs-reserved-instances",
  "dataSource": "compute",
  "snapshotDate": "2026-10-25",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-25",
  "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": "discount as a fraction of the on-demand hourly rate; Linux, US East, no upfront",
    "clouds": {
      "AWS": {
        "rows": 51,
        "instruments": {
          "savingsPlan1yr": {
            "name": "Compute Savings Plan, 1 year",
            "rows": 50,
            "median": 0.2743,
            "min": 0.2125,
            "max": 0.2885
          },
          "reserved1yr": {
            "name": "Standard Reserved Instance, 1 year",
            "rows": 51,
            "median": 0.3698,
            "min": 0.336,
            "max": 0.383
          },
          "savingsPlan3yr": {
            "name": "Compute Savings Plan, 3 years",
            "rows": 50,
            "median": 0.5,
            "min": 0.46,
            "max": 0.5195
          },
          "reserved3yr": {
            "name": "Standard Reserved Instance, 3 years",
            "rows": 51,
            "median": 0.5673,
            "min": 0.5445,
            "max": 0.5908
          }
        },
        "flexibilityPremium": {
          "oneYear": {
            "rows": 50,
            "median": 0.0941,
            "min": 0.0579,
            "max": 0.1575
          },
          "threeYears": {
            "rows": 50,
            "median": 0.0652,
            "min": 0.0418,
            "max": 0.108
          }
        },
        "thirdYearAdds": {
          "plan": 0.2266,
          "reserved": 0.1984
        },
        "reservedSplit": {
          "gap": 0.0226,
          "higher": {
            "families": [
              "c5",
              "c5a",
              "c6g",
              "m5",
              "m5a",
              "m6g",
              "r5",
              "r6g",
              "t3",
              "t3a",
              "t4g"
            ],
            "min": 0.3636,
            "max": 0.3735
          },
          "lower": {
            "families": [
              "c6a",
              "c6i",
              "c7g",
              "m6a",
              "m6i",
              "m7g",
              "m7i",
              "r6a",
              "r6i",
              "r7g"
            ],
            "min": 0.3362,
            "max": 0.341
          }
        },
        "planSpread": {
          "min": 0.2636,
          "max": 0.2828
        },
        "noReservation": [],
        "noSavingsPlan": [],
        "accelerated": [
          {
            "instanceType": "p3.2xlarge",
            "onDemandHourly": 3.06,
            "savingsPlan1yr": null,
            "reserved1yr": 0.3699,
            "cpuSavingsPlan1yr": 0.2748
          },
          {
            "instanceType": "g5.xlarge",
            "onDemandHourly": 1.006,
            "savingsPlan1yr": 0.2125,
            "reserved1yr": 0.37,
            "cpuSavingsPlan1yr": 0.2748
          }
        ]
      },
      "Azure": {
        "rows": 18,
        "instruments": {
          "savingsPlan1yr": {
            "name": "savings plan for compute, 1 year",
            "rows": 18,
            "median": 0.3198,
            "min": 0.267,
            "max": 0.3269
          },
          "reserved1yr": {
            "name": "reservation, 1 year",
            "rows": 13,
            "median": 0.4097,
            "min": 0.3826,
            "max": 0.4114
          },
          "savingsPlan3yr": {
            "name": "savings plan for compute, 3 years",
            "rows": 18,
            "median": 0.5344,
            "min": 0.4679,
            "max": 0.5621
          },
          "reserved3yr": {
            "name": "reservation, 3 years",
            "rows": 13,
            "median": 0.6052,
            "min": 0.6047,
            "max": 0.6208
          }
        },
        "flexibilityPremium": {
          "oneYear": {
            "rows": 13,
            "median": 0.0865,
            "min": 0.0651,
            "max": 0.0974
          },
          "threeYears": {
            "rows": 13,
            "median": 0.0786,
            "min": 0.0628,
            "max": 0.095
          }
        },
        "thirdYearAdds": {
          "plan": 0.2189,
          "reserved": 0.2104
        },
        "reservedSplit": {
          "gap": 0.0267,
          "higher": {
            "families": [
              "Dpsv5",
              "Easv5",
              "Epsv5",
              "Esv5"
            ],
            "min": 0.4097,
            "max": 0.4111
          },
          "lower": {
            "families": [
              "Dasv5",
              "Dsv5"
            ],
            "min": 0.3826,
            "max": 0.3831
          }
        },
        "planSpread": {
          "min": 0.313,
          "max": 0.3269
        },
        "noReservation": [
          "B1s",
          "B2s",
          "F2s_v2",
          "F4s_v2"
        ],
        "noSavingsPlan": [],
        "accelerated": [
          {
            "instanceType": "NC6s_v3",
            "onDemandHourly": 3.06,
            "savingsPlan1yr": 0.267,
            "reserved1yr": null,
            "cpuSavingsPlan1yr": 0.3221
          }
        ]
      }
    },
    "orderedPlanLockPlanLock": true,
    "matchedShape": {
      "a": {
        "instanceType": "m5.2xlarge",
        "provider": "AWS",
        "vCPUs": 8,
        "memoryGB": 32,
        "onDemandHourly": 0.384,
        "savingsPlan1yr": {
          "hourly": 0.282,
          "discount": 0.2656
        },
        "reserved1yr": {
          "hourly": 0.242,
          "discount": 0.3698
        },
        "savingsPlan3yr": {
          "hourly": 0.195,
          "discount": 0.4922
        },
        "reserved3yr": {
          "hourly": 0.166,
          "discount": 0.5677
        }
      },
      "b": {
        "instanceType": "D8s_v5",
        "provider": "Azure",
        "vCPUs": 8,
        "memoryGB": 32,
        "onDemandHourly": 0.384,
        "savingsPlan1yr": {
          "hourly": 0.2633,
          "discount": 0.3143
        },
        "reserved1yr": {
          "hourly": 0.2369,
          "discount": 0.3831
        },
        "savingsPlan3yr": {
          "hourly": 0.1767,
          "discount": 0.5398
        },
        "reserved3yr": {
          "hourly": 0.1517,
          "discount": 0.6049
        }
      },
      "fleet": 10,
      "hoursAYear": 8760
    },
    "breakEven": {
      "instanceType": "m5.2xlarge",
      "provider": "AWS",
      "officeHoursAWeek": 60,
      "officeUtilisation": 0.3562,
      "onDemandAYearOnOfficeHours": 1198.08,
      "instruments": [
        {
          "key": "savingsPlan1yr",
          "name": "Compute Savings Plan, 1 year",
          "discount": 0.2656,
          "breakEvenUtilisation": 0.7344,
          "breakEvenHoursAWeek": 123.375,
          "committedAYear": 2470.32,
          "officeRatio": 2.0619
        },
        {
          "key": "reserved1yr",
          "name": "Standard Reserved Instance, 1 year",
          "discount": 0.3698,
          "breakEvenUtilisation": 0.6302,
          "breakEvenHoursAWeek": 105.875,
          "committedAYear": 2119.92,
          "officeRatio": 1.7694
        },
        {
          "key": "savingsPlan3yr",
          "name": "Compute Savings Plan, 3 years",
          "discount": 0.4922,
          "breakEvenUtilisation": 0.5078,
          "breakEvenHoursAWeek": 85.3125,
          "committedAYear": 1708.2,
          "officeRatio": 1.4258
        },
        {
          "key": "reserved3yr",
          "name": "Standard Reserved Instance, 3 years",
          "discount": 0.5677,
          "breakEvenUtilisation": 0.4323,
          "breakEvenHoursAWeek": 72.625,
          "committedAYear": 1454.16,
          "officeRatio": 1.2137
        }
      ]
    },
    "leftOut": [
      {
        "provider": "GCP",
        "rows": 22,
        "reason": "commitment figures are typed estimates, not read from the provider's list"
      },
      {
        "provider": "Alibaba",
        "rows": 13,
        "reason": "commitment figures are typed estimates, not read from the provider's list"
      }
    ]
  }
}