AWS EC2 (reference VMs)
Sibling records disagree:
- identity_kind:
compute/aws-ec2says email, compute/aws-ec2-windows says card
- Free allowance
- USD 100 of credit on a new account, inside the 6-month free-plan window after which the account closes
- Verdict
- triala time-boxed or one-time trial, not a recurring allowance
- Cost
- free tierpaid plans from USD 36.93/month
- Identity
- emailno card, phone required
- Binding limit
- per-ip-shaping100 GB a month of free data transfer out, aggregated across all AWS services and regions
- Evidence
- reported7 sources; a third party said so
- Freshness
- stale on 2026-11-17checked 2026-11-02 (live); stale on 2026-11-17
| Free tier | USD 100 of credit on a new account, inside the 6-month free-plan window after which the account closes unit mixed; metered on wall-clock |
|---|---|
| Price | none stated |
| Limits |
not stated |
| Binding | per-ip-shaping the 6-month account window ends the offer |
| Identity | email an AWS account: an email address, or an existing Google, Apple, GitHub or Amazon login, quoted 'Create an account with a sign-in method you already have, such as Google or GitHub.' and 'Enter your email or choose a login such as Google, Apple, GitHub, or Amazon.'; no card for most new customers, quoted "No. A payment method isn't required to sign up for most new customers." and 'No credit card required to start for most new customers.', while the advanced sign-up states "You can't proceed with the sign-up process until you add a valid payment method."; a phone number in the advanced sign-up, quoted 'This number is used for identity verification purposes and to confirm the ownership of your account. You must be able to receive calls and SMS messages at this phone number.'; no country limit on signup, quoted 'The AWS Free Tier is available to all new customers.', and the credits and account plan selections are 'not available in the China (ZHY) and China (BJS) regions' and not in AWS GovCloud (US) |
| Egress | not stated |
| Per-object cap | not stated |
| Retention | not stated |
| Interface | unknown |
| Reliability | no reliability event recorded |
| Evidence note | reported the on-demand pricing page was read on 2026-10-22. |
| Parsed numbers |
|
Evidence 7
| date | source | what it proved |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-02 | aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/ | not published |
| 2026-10-22 | aws.amazon.com/ec2/pricing/on-demand/ | 'On-Demand Instances let you pay for compute capacity by the hour or second (minimum of 60 seconds) with no long-term commitments' and 'AWS customers receive 100 GB of free data transfer out to the internet free each month, aggregated across all AWS Services and Regions' and 'All In-use and Idle Elastic IP addresses are charged', quoted |
| 2026-11-02 | aws.amazon.com/free/free-tier-faqs/ | no payment method is required for most new customers, and one can be requested as identity verification |
| 2026-11-02 | aws.amazon.com/start-here/ | signup accepts an existing Google or GitHub login and needs no credit card for most new customers |
| 2026-11-02 | docs.aws.amazon.com/accounts/latest/reference/getting-starte | the advanced sign-up requires a phone number that receives calls and SMS, for identity verification |
| 2026-11-02 | aws.amazon.com/free/free-tier-faqs/ | no country is excluded from signing up |
| 2026-11-02 | aws.amazon.com/free/free-tier-faqs/ | the credits and plan selections are unavailable in the two China regions |
More fields 11
| keep rate | 1.0 |
|---|---|
| billing model | flat-pool |
| session cap | {"wall_clock_min": null,"idle_reap_s": null,"restart_required": false,"note": "no session cap; an instance runs until it is stopped or terminated"} |
| network out | {"allow_outbound": true,"allow_inbound_listen": true,"ports": "security groups","static_ip": "charged whether in use or idle","ipv6": true,"per_session_bytes": "100 GB a month free egress, then metered"} |
| price note | a VPS bills by the month with an hourly rate capped at the monthly figure, so the two columns answer two questions: destroying the box between runs versus keeping it up. |
| free tier kind | one-time-credit |
| m10h usd | 14.73 |
| m24h usd | 36.93 |
| price basis | 10 h/day column = 300 h at the hourly rate, which is what a server destroyed between runs costs; 24/7 column = the monthly cap, because a VPS kept up all month stops at the cap. |
| granularity | {"min_billed_s": 60,"rounding_s": null} |
| burst x | 1.0 |
Unknown values 10
- chaining: a source was read and is silent on this field
- egress metered: egress metering was not published
- egress terms: a source was read and is silent on this field
- interface: the access interface was not established
- limits note: a source was read and is silent on this field
- per object cap stated: a source was read and is silent on this field
- reliability note: nothing of this kind was observed
- retention notes: the field may be stated in a source that was not read
- retention stated: a source was read and is silent on this field
- tooling: a source was read and is silent on this field