AWS Cost Insights from Building CloudWise
Nearly 50% of indie hackers overspend on AWS. I've been analyzing AWS bills while building CloudWise, and the patterns are eye-opening.
The Data:
Our analysis of $2M+ in AWS spending revealed that 47% of users exceed their budget.
Key Findings:
- 35% spend on underutilized EC2 instances.
- 28% pay for unused EBS volumes.
- 22% overlook reserved instance savings.
Most Common Mistake:
Failing to turn off resources when not in use.
Quick Win:
Implement automated shutdown scripts for non-production environments.
Fellow indie hackers - what's been your biggest AWS cost surprise? Always curious to hear what others are seeing.
Building CloudWise has given me access to tons of AWS spending data - happy to share insights that might help your projects.
That 35% on underutilized EC2 is brutal. My biggest surprise was spotting a single forgotten NAT gateway running for months at $45 each. The automated shutdown scripts insight is gold - weekend costs for dev environments add up fast when left running. Appreciate the transparency on the data.
Totally! NAT gateways are sneaky - they look harmless but quietly drain $40–$50 a month per region. I've seen setups with 5+ idle gateways just sitting there. Automating shutdowns (and even deleting unused gateways) saved us hundreds over time. Glad you found the data useful - I'll probably share a breakdown soon on "the most expensive AWS services to forget about."