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In this guide, you’ll discover actionable tips to reduce your AWS CloudWatch bills while maintaining robust monitoring. Whether you’re on a tight startup budget or running enterprise-scale workloads, these best practices help you get maximum value at minimal cost.

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Table of Contents

  1. Leverage the Free Tier
  2. Optimize Metrics and Alarms
  3. Control Data Ingestion and Retention
  4. Efficient Dashboard Management
  5. Reduce Log Volume
  6. Use Event Filtering
  7. Regular Audits and Insights
  8. Cost Allocation and Budget Alerts

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1. Leverage the Free Tier

AWS CloudWatch provides a free tier that may cover most basic monitoring needs:
  • Use default metrics (CPU, network, disk) before adding custom metrics.
  • Stick to the built-in dashboards and alarms; avoid unnecessary custom dashboards.
  • Install the CloudWatch Agent only if you require memory or swap metrics.

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2. Optimize Metrics and Alarms

Keep your metric and alarm usage lean:
  • Audit and delete redundant or outdated custom metrics.
  • Combine related alarms with metric math or composite alarms to lower your alarm count.
  • Prefer AWS-managed metrics over custom ones when possible.
Optimization AreaAction ItemBenefit
Custom MetricsRemove low-value or duplicate metricsLower ingestion costs
AlarmsMerge similar triggers with composite alarmsFewer alarms to manage
Built-in MetricsUse default metrics for standard monitoringNo extra charges

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3. Control Data Ingestion and Retention

Only ingest what you need and set appropriate retention:
  • Define log retention periods based on compliance and troubleshooting requirements.
AWS CloudWatch automatically applies retention schedules to metrics (1-minute, 5-minute, 1-hour). You cannot customize metric retention—focus on reducing ingestion volume.
  • Archive old logs to Amazon S3 or Glacier for cost-effective long-term storage.

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4. Efficient Dashboard Management

Optimize dashboards to cut widget and API request costs:
  • Consolidate related views into shared dashboards.
  • Remove unused or low-value dashboards on a regular schedule.

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5. Reduce Log Volume

Minimize the log data you send to CloudWatch:
  • Filter and process logs at the source with Fluentd or the CloudWatch Agent.
  • Enable compression on log streams to reduce storage usage.
  • Use subscription filters to forward only critical log patterns for downstream analytics.

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6. Use Event Filtering

Avoid unnecessary event processing:
  • Create precise filter patterns in Amazon EventBridge (formerly CloudWatch Events).
  • Transform or route events at the edge to minimize downstream Lambda invocations and related charges.

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7. Regular Audits and Insights

Periodic reviews can uncover hidden savings:
  • Schedule monthly or quarterly usage audits to identify idle metrics, alarms, and dashboards.
  • Leverage CloudWatch Logs Insights for efficient, in-place log querying instead of exporting data.

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8. Cost Allocation and Budget Alerts

Track and cap your CloudWatch expenses:
  • Tag all monitoring resources (log groups, dashboards, alarms) for accurate cost allocation.
  • Set up AWS Budgets with email or SNS alerts when spending approaches thresholds.
Implementing even a few of these strategies can significantly lower your CloudWatch costs without sacrificing visibility or uptime.
The image lists tips for CloudWatch cost optimization, including utilizing the free tier, optimizing metrics, controlling data retention, and setting budget alerts.

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