How We Reduced AWS Costs by 50% Without Cutting Features

C
CodeNex Engineering TeamEngineering Team
December 4, 2025
7 min read
#AWS#Cost Savings#Optimization#Cloud

How We Reduced AWS Costs by 50% Without Cutting Features

AWS is powerful but can get expensive fast. Here are the exact strategies we use to cut costs for our clients.

Strategy 1: Right-Sizing Instances

The Problem: Most companies over-provision resources "just in case."

The Solution:

  • Use AWS Compute Optimizer
  • Monitor actual usage for 2 weeks
  • Downsize instances that run at <30% CPU
  • Use burstable instances (t3/t4g) for variable workloads

Real Example: Client had 10 m5.2xlarge instances (8 vCPU, 32GB RAM) running at 15% CPU. Switched to t3.large with bursting. Saved $3,200/month.

Strategy 2: Reserved Instances & Savings Plans

The Problem: Paying on-demand prices for predictable workloads.

The Solution:

  • Commit to 1-year or 3-year terms
  • Start with Savings Plans (more flexible)
  • Use RIs for stable, long-running workloads

Savings: 30-70% compared to on-demand

Strategy 3: S3 Lifecycle Policies

The Problem: Storing rarely-accessed data in expensive storage tiers.

The Solution:

  • Move to S3 Intelligent-Tiering
  • Archive to Glacier after 90 days
  • Delete old logs/backups automatically

Real Example: 5TB of logs moved to Glacier. Saved $100/month.

Strategy 4: Auto Scaling & Scheduling

The Problem: Servers running 24/7 when only needed 9-5.

The Solution:

  • Use Auto Scaling Groups
  • Schedule EC2 instances to stop at night
  • Use Lambda for event-driven workloads

Real Example: Dev/staging environments only run 9am-6pm. Saved $800/month.

Strategy 5: Database Optimization

The Problem: Oversized RDS instances and expensive read replicas.

The Solution:

  • Use Aurora Serverless for variable workloads
  • Implement read-through caching (ElastiCache)
  • Use DynamoDB for high-throughput workloads

The Results

Across 20+ clients, we average:

  • 52% cost reduction in first 3 months
  • Zero downtime during optimization
  • Better performance through proper sizing

Cloud cost optimization is just one aspect of our cloud migration services. We help you migrate to the cloud with optimized costs from day one, avoiding expensive mistakes and ensuring you only pay for what you need.

Ready to optimize your AWS costs? Schedule a free cloud assessment