AWS Cost Optimization
LevelFour finds and fixes waste across 53 AWS services. It connects with read-only access, analyzes real utilization at P95 granularity, then opens Terraform pull requests that rightsize EC2 and RDS, modernize storage, schedule idle resources, and surface Savings Plan and Reserved Instance gaps. Your team reviews and merges; the bill drops the next billing cycle. SOC 2 Type II, setup in under 15 minutes.
How does LevelFour reduce AWS costs?
LevelFour connects to your AWS accounts with a read-only IAM role and analyzes utilization across EC2, RDS, EBS, S3, Lambda, EKS, and 47 other services. For each opportunity, an oversized instance, an idle resource, a gp2 volume that should be gp3, or uncovered Savings Plan spend, it drafts the exact Terraform change and opens a pull request with the estimated savings. You review the diff, merge it, and the savings land on your next invoice. Optimizations average up to 35% and are measured at P95 utilization, so performance headroom is preserved.
- ✓EC2 and RDS rightsizing from P95 CPU, memory, and IOPS
- ✓Savings Plans and Reserved Instance coverage analysis
- ✓gp2 to gp3 EBS migration and orphaned snapshot cleanup
- ✓Idle resource detection and off-hours scheduling
- ✓S3 lifecycle rules and storage-class transitions
- ✓Graviton migration candidates and NAT/data-transfer review
Where AWS costs actually add up
Most AWS overspend clusters in a few predictable places. EC2 and RDS instances provisioned for peak then left oversized. On-demand spend that never gets covered by Savings Plans or Reserved Instances. gp2 EBS volumes still running when gp3 delivers the same or better IOPS for roughly 20 percent less. Orphaned snapshots and unattached volumes that bill indefinitely. S3 data sitting in Standard when it should transition to Infrequent Access or Glacier. NAT Gateway processing fees and cross-AZ data transfer, which are billed per gigabyte and rarely tagged to an owner. LevelFour scans utilization across all of these and quantifies each at P95.
AWS cost optimization best practices
The practices that hold up over time are simple but easy to skip. Tag and allocate spend so every line on the bill has an owner. Rightsize from P95 utilization, not from a single peak, so you cut waste without starving performance. Cover steady-state workloads with Savings Plans or Reserved Instances, and leave variable spend on demand. Automate cleanup of idle resources, orphaned snapshots, and unattached volumes rather than relying on quarterly sweeps. Put every change in version control so it is reviewable and reversible. LevelFour encodes these into a continuous loop, drafting each fix as a merge-ready infrastructure-as-code pull request.
Manual vs automated AWS cost optimization
The manual path is real work that is never finished. You export Cost Explorer data, read CloudWatch metrics, hand-write the Terraform to resize an instance or migrate a volume, then repeat as utilization drifts. By the time one pass lands, new waste has accrued. Automated optimization closes that gap. LevelFour analyzes utilization continuously and ships each fix as an infrastructure-as-code pull request by default, with optional supervised automated apply or a manual path if you prefer. For AWS you choose how every change executes: automated apply, an IaC pull request, or manual. The bill keeps trending down instead of drifting back up.
How LevelFour measures and de-risks savings
Savings claims are only useful if they survive production. LevelFour measures every estimate at P95 utilization, so a rightsize keeps headroom for real traffic spikes rather than tuning to an average that breaks under load. Access is read-only by default through an IAM role, so analysis never touches running infrastructure. Each opportunity arrives as a reviewable diff in a pull request with its estimated savings attached, so your team approves the exact change before anything ships. Nothing applies until you merge, or until you opt into supervised automated apply within your own guardrails. AWS optimizations reach up to 35 percent, measured at P95.
Amazon Web Services services LevelFour optimizes
53 services, each with the optimization LevelFour applies and the typical savings.
EC2
Avg 35% savings on compute. Auto-implemented. Zero performance impact guaranteed.
RDS
Reduce database costs by up to 40%. Unused instances detected and flagged within 24h.
ElastiCache
Right-size caching layer. Typical savings: 25–40%. Commitment gaps identified.
EBS
gp2→gp3 saves 20% with better performance. Orphaned snapshots cleaned.
S3
Reduce storage costs by tiering infrequently accessed data. Fully automated.
Lambda
Optimize serverless costs. Over-provisioned memory is the #1 Lambda waste pattern.
EKS
Kubernetes cost allocation and optimization. Full K8s optimization.
Savings Plans
Maximize discount coverage. Unused commitments detected and reallocated.
Reserved Instances
Full RI portfolio optimization. Expiring RIs renewed or converted.
Elastic IPs
Eliminate idle IP charges. Compounds across accounts.
Load Balancers
Remove unused load balancers. Reduce fixed-cost overhead.
NAT Gateway
NAT is a hidden cost driver. Attribution by team.
Redshift
Reduce data warehouse costs. Pause non-production clusters.
CloudWatch
Log retention policies often overlooked, with significant savings at scale.
DynamoDB
Right-size capacity mode. Reserved capacity for predictable workloads.
ECS / Fargate
Right-size task definitions. Fargate Spot for batch workloads.
OpenSearch
Right-size domains. Move cold indices to UltraWarm tier.
CloudFront
Optimize cache hit ratio. Reduce origin requests.
Route 53
Eliminate orphaned DNS resources. Consolidate hosted zones.
SQS
Remove unused queues. Right-size visibility timeout and retention.
SNS
Remove orphaned topics. Consolidate notification pipelines.
API Gateway
HTTP APIs are up to 70% cheaper than REST APIs for simple proxies.
EMR
Spot on task nodes saves 60%. Transient clusters for batch jobs.
Kinesis
Right-size shard count. Switch to on-demand for variable loads.
MSK
Right-size broker instances. Enable tiered storage for cost reduction.
Glue
Right-size DPU allocation. Flex execution for non-urgent jobs.
SageMaker
Shut down idle notebooks. Spot training saves up to 70%.
Transfer Family
Eliminate idle transfer servers. Per-protocol charges add up.
ECR
Image retention policies reduce storage costs significantly.
Secrets Manager
Move non-sensitive configs to Parameter Store. Reduce per-secret charges.
Aurora
Serverless v2 for variable workloads. Reserved Instances for steady-state.
Neptune
Right-size graph database instances. Detect idle clusters.
DocumentDB
Right-size document database instances. Idle clusters flagged.
Timestream
Storage tiering for time-series data reduces long-term costs.
QLDB
Eliminate idle ledger charges. Optimize IO.
Elastic Beanstalk
Underlying resources often overlooked for optimization.
Lightsail
Right-size instance plans. Remove idle resources.
EFS
Infrequent Access class saves up to 92%. Throughput mode optimization.
FSx
Throughput and storage capacity rightsizing across FSx variants.
AWS Backup
Reduce redundant backup policies. Optimize retention and replication.
VPN
Eliminate idle VPN connections. Hourly charges add up.
Direct Connect
Right-size port capacity. Optimize data transfer paths.
Transit Gateway
Attachment fees compound across AZs. Optimize topology.
Global Accelerator
Eliminate idle accelerators. Review endpoint utilization.
PrivateLink
Unused endpoints accumulate hourly charges silently.
Athena
Query optimization reduces per-query costs dramatically.
QuickSight
Unused licenses are a common overspend category.
Bedrock
Model selection and throughput tuning for AI workloads.
Step Functions
Express workflows are dramatically cheaper for sub-5-minute executions.
X-Ray
Sampling rate optimization reduces costs without losing insight.
GuardDuty
Volume tier optimization for security monitoring.
CodeBuild
Right-size build compute. Caching reduces billable minutes.
WorkSpaces
AutoStop mode and idle detection for virtual desktops.
Amazon Web Services cost optimization FAQ
Which AWS services does LevelFour optimize?
53 AWS services, including EC2, RDS, ElastiCache, EBS, S3, Lambda, EKS, DynamoDB, Redshift, CloudWatch, and more. The full list with the optimization applied to each is below.
How much can I save on AWS with LevelFour?
AWS optimizations average up to 35%, measured at P95 utilization. Actual savings depend on your current rightsizing, commitment coverage, and how many idle resources you are running.
Does LevelFour change my AWS infrastructure automatically?
No. By default LevelFour is read-only and proposes every change as a Terraform pull request. Nothing is applied until your team reviews and merges, or you opt into supervised automation within your own guardrails.
How long does AWS setup take?
Under 15 minutes. You connect your account with a read-only IAM role; there are no agents to install and no code changes required.
Cost optimization by platform