CloudWatch Logs Insights Cost Calculator

Logs Insights-style pricing is often driven by how much data your queries scan. This calculator estimates monthly query scan cost from scanned GB/day and your per-GB scan price, and compares baseline vs peak query volume.

Inputs

GB scanned (per day)
Avg 74.07 Mbps scanning, 0.0093 GB/sec.
Scan price ($ / GB)
Queries (per day)
Avg GB per query
Est 300 GB/day.

Results

Monthly scan volume (est.)
24,320 GB
Estimated monthly scan cost
$121.60
Cost per GB scanned
$0.01 / GB

How to get your inputs

  • Volume: start from measured ingestion (GB/day) if you have it, then convert to monthly/retention where needed.
  • Retention: decide retention days and model steady-state GB-month.
  • Queries: model scan/query volume if your tool bills by GB scanned.
  • Estimator: use queries/day x avg GB per query when scan metrics are missing.

Result interpretation

  • If scans dominate, reduce query time ranges and pre-filter noisy fields.
  • If incident spikes dominate, limit dashboard refresh during outages.

Common mistakes

  • Modeling ingestion but forgetting retention (GB-month) and scan/query costs.
  • Keeping noisy logs forever instead of setting explicit retention tiers.

Input checklist

  • List top dashboards and their refresh cadence.
  • Estimate query window sizes for common investigations.
  • Separate automated queries from ad hoc troubleshooting.

Scenario planning

Scenario GB scanned/day Query frequency Notes
Baseline Expected Normal Daily dashboards
Peak High High Incident queries

Validate after changes

  • Check ingestion GB/day and retention GB-month after changes.
  • Check query scan GB and dashboard refresh frequency (common hidden driver).

Next steps

Guides All calculators Guide: Logs Insights pricing Guide: estimate scanned GB Guide: reduce scan costs Guide: log costs
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Example scenario

  • 800 GB/day scanned at $0.005/GB = about 24,320 GB scanned/month and ~$122/month.
  • Use a peak multiplier for incident dashboards and query bursts.

Included

  • Query scan cost estimate from GB scanned per day and $/GB scan pricing.
  • Useful for CloudWatch Logs Insights and similar per-scan log query models.
  • Baseline vs peak comparison for scan spikes.

Not included

  • Log ingestion charges and retention storage (model separately).
  • Provider-specific query minimums, caching, and index behavior.

How we calculate

  • Monthly scanned GB ~ GB scanned per day x 30.4.
  • Scan cost = monthly scanned GB x scan price per GB.
  • Use a peak multiplier when dashboards refresh more often or scan wider windows.
  • This tool estimates scan-only (not ingestion or retention).

FAQ

How do I estimate GB scanned per day?
Use provider query metrics (scanned bytes), or approximate from typical query time ranges and dataset size.
How do I reduce Logs Insights scan costs?
Reduce time ranges, filter early, avoid dashboards that repeatedly run broad queries, and reduce total log volume at source.

Related tools

Guide: Logs Insights pricing Guide: estimate scanned GB Guide: reduce scan costs Guide: log costs Log scan/search cost (generic) CloudWatch Logs cost (ingestion + retention)

Related guides

CloudWatch Logs Insights cost optimization (reduce GB scanned)
A practical playbook to reduce CloudWatch Logs Insights costs: measure GB scanned, fix query patterns, time-bound dashboards, and avoid repeated incident scans.
CloudWatch Logs Insights pricing: what to model (GB scanned)
A practical Logs Insights pricing checklist: the core unit is GB scanned. Model scanned GB from query habits, avoid dashboard re-scan traps, and validate with a measured baseline.
Estimate Logs Insights scanned GB (from query habits)
How to estimate CloudWatch Logs Insights cost: model GB scanned per query, query frequency, and time range. Includes a quick calculator workflow and common pitfalls.
CloudWatch Logs pricing: ingestion, retention, and queries
A practical CloudWatch Logs pricing guide: model ingestion (GB/day), retention (GB-month), and query/scan costs (Insights/Athena). Includes pitfalls and a validation checklist.
AWS CloudWatch Metrics Pricing & Cost Guide
CloudWatch metrics cost model: custom metrics, API requests, dashboards, and retention.
CloudWatch dashboards pricing: what to include (dashboard-month + API)
A practical guide to CloudWatch dashboard costs: dashboard-month charges plus the hidden drivers (metrics API requests, alarms, and high-cardinality metrics).
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Disclaimer

Educational use only. Not legal, financial, or professional advice. Results are estimates based on the inputs and assumptions shown on this page. Verify pricing and limits with your providers and documentation.

Last updated: 2026-01-28