RDS Reserved Instance Opportunity
CostLens surfaces AWS Cost Explorer Reserved Instance purchase recommendations for steady-state RDS databases, with break-even and estimated savings.
RDS Reserved Instances cost up to ~69% less than on-demand for the same database. For predictable, always-on databases that's pure savings. CostLens reads AWS's own Cost Explorer recommendation and presents it as an actionable, sized purchase option.
How it works
CostLens queries Cost Explorer
Calls ce:GetReservationPurchaseRecommendation for Amazon RDS (runs once — Cost Explorer is global).
Parses each recommendation
Extracts instance family, term, payment option, recommended quantity, estimated monthly savings, and break-even months.
Filters to meaningful spend
Only surfaces recommendations where covered on-demand spend exceeds $100/month.
What to do
- Open the recommendation — the detail view shows term, payment option, break-even months, and annual savings.
- Confirm the database is genuinely steady-state (RIs are a 1- or 3-year commitment).
- Purchase the Reserved Instance in the AWS console. This check is advisory — it informs the decision rather than buying automatically.
Sized from your real usage
The recommendation comes from AWS Cost Explorer, sized on your actual RDS usage over the lookback window — not a generic estimate.
Required IAM permissions
Read-only — covered by the CostLens ReadOnlyAccess policy from AWS Accounts:
ce:GetReservationPurchaseRecommendation
Limitations
- Advisory only — RI purchases are customer-initiated in the AWS console.
- Defaults to a 1-year, No Upfront recommendation; other terms/payment options can be compared in the AWS console.