CloudWatch Metrics Cost Calculator

Estimate CloudWatch Metrics-style cost with a simple model: custom metrics + alarms + dashboards + API requests. Use your effective region pricing and compare baseline vs peak scenarios.

Inputs

Custom metrics (metric-month)
Price ($ / metric-month)
Alarms (alarm-month)
Price ($ / alarm-month)
Dashboards (dashboard-month)
Price ($ / dashboard-month)
API requests (per month)
Avg 3.81 req/sec.
Widgets per dashboard
Dashboard refresh (sec)
Dashboard viewers
Automation req/min
Est 7,004,160 requests/month.
API price ($ / 1k requests)
Scenario presets

Results

Estimated monthly total
$730.00
Custom metrics
$600.00
Alarms
$15.00
Dashboards
$15.00
API requests
$100.00
API requests (per month)
10,000,000
Metrics share
82.2%

How to get your inputs

  • Counts: start from inventory (custom metrics, alarms, dashboards) per account/environment.
  • Cardinality: model multiplicative dimensions (service x env x cluster x pod).
  • API polling: add dashboard refresh and automation polling scenarios.

Result interpretation

  • If metrics dominate, reduce custom metric count or high-cardinality dimensions.
  • If API polling dominates, reduce dashboard refresh and automation query frequency.

Common mistakes

  • Using a single average and ignoring peak/high-cardinality scenarios.
  • Forgetting API polling and dashboard refresh costs.

Input checklist

  • List custom metrics by namespace and environment.
  • Estimate dashboard refresh rate and viewer count.
  • Separate automation polling from human dashboard usage.

Scenario planning

Scenario Metrics Alarms Dashboards API requests
Baseline Expected Expected Current Normal
Peak High High High Incident polling

Validate after changes

  • Measure actual custom metric/series counts and alarm/dashboards after rollout.
  • Watch API request volume trends (dashboards + automation).

Next steps

Guides All calculators Guide: CloudWatch metrics pricing Guide: estimate custom metrics Guide: CloudWatch dashboards pricing Guide: estimate metrics API requests
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Example scenario

  • 2,000 custom metrics, 150 alarms, 5 dashboards, and 10M API requests per month.
  • Use a peak multiplier for incident dashboards and heavy API polling.

Included

  • Custom metrics (metric-month) estimate.
  • Alarm-month and dashboard-month estimates.
  • API request estimate using $ per 1k requests.
  • Optional dashboard/automation API request estimator.
  • Baseline vs peak comparison for usage spikes.

Not included

  • Logs, traces, and other observability products billed separately.
  • Tiered pricing steps and free allowances unless you reflect them in your pricing inputs.

How we calculate

  • Custom metrics cost = metric-month x $ per metric-month.
  • Alarm cost = alarm-month x $ per alarm-month.
  • Dashboard cost = dashboard-month x $ per dashboard-month.
  • API cost = (API requests / 1,000) x $ per 1k requests.
  • Model a peak month to capture incidents and dashboard bursts.
  • Total = sum of the above line items.

FAQ

Is time series cardinality the same as custom metrics?
They are related but not identical. High-cardinality dimensions can create many unique series/metrics. Use your provider's definition and measure your actual counts when possible.
What should I use for API requests?
Use your monitoring/export workload (GetMetricData, GetMetricStatistics, dashboards, and automation). If you don't know yet, start with a small value and model a high-usage scenario.
How do I reduce CloudWatch Metrics costs?
Reduce custom metric count (especially high-cardinality dimensions), delete unused alarms and dashboards, and reduce API polling/query frequency.

Related tools

Guide: CloudWatch metrics pricing Guide: estimate custom metrics Guide: CloudWatch dashboards pricing Guide: estimate metrics API requests Guide: reduce metrics costs Time series cost (generic)

Related guides

AWS CloudWatch Metrics Pricing & Cost Guide
CloudWatch metrics cost model: custom metrics, API requests, dashboards, and retention.
CloudWatch metrics cost optimization: reduce custom metric sprawl
A practical playbook to reduce CloudWatch metrics costs: control custom metric cardinality, right-size resolution, reduce API polling, and validate observability coverage.
Estimate CloudWatch custom metrics (time series count)
How to estimate CloudWatch custom metric volume for cost models: count unique time series (metric name * dimension combinations), model high-cardinality dimensions, and validate with inventory methods.
Estimate CloudWatch metrics API requests (dashboards and polling)
How to estimate CloudWatch metrics API request volume for cost models: derive requests from dashboards and tooling polling, include refresh rates, and validate with measured usage.
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).
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.
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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