Question: Is ElastiCache expensive?

Answer

The cost of using Amazon ElastiCache depends on several factors, including the cache node type, region, usage hours, and data transfer. However, compared to managing your own caching infrastructure and paying for hardware, power, and maintenance costs, ElastiCache can be a cost-effective solution.

ElastiCache offers two pricing models: On-Demand and Reserved Instances. With On-Demand, you pay only for what you use with no upfront payment or long-term commitment. The Reserved Instance model allows you to reserve capacity for one or three-year terms and receive a discounted rate for the capacity used during that time.

Here's an example of how to calculate the cost of an ElastiCache cluster:

Suppose you want to create an ElastiCache cluster with two cache nodes (cache.m5.large) in the US East (N. Virginia) region, running 24/7 for a month, with a total of 250 GB of cached data. The On-Demand price for this configuration would be approximately $0.134 per hour per node, which translates to about $195.36 per month for the entire cluster.

# Example ElastiCache cost calculation command
aws elasticache describe-cache-clusters \
--region us-east-1 \
--query "CacheClusters[].CacheNodeType" \
--output text | sort | uniq -c

Keep in mind that these are rough estimates, and your actual costs may vary depending on your specific configuration and usage patterns. It's recommended that you use the AWS Simple Monthly Calculator to estimate your ElastiCache costs before launching a production environment.