AWS Free Tier Services You Should Use

Welcome to the world of AWS Free Tier – a sandbox where you can spin up real cloud resources without touching your wallet. Whether you’re a student, hobbyist, or a seasoned developer testing a new idea, the Free Tier gives you a taste of production‑grade services at zero cost (as long as you stay within the limits). In this guide we’ll walk through the most valuable free services, show you how to wire them together with Python, and sprinkle in some pro tips to keep your bill at $0.

Compute: Run Code Without Paying a Dime

The compute category is the backbone of any cloud app. AWS offers two free‑tier compute options that cater to different workloads: Amazon EC2 and AWS Lambda.

Amazon EC2 – Free‑tier Eligible t2.micro

EC2 gives you a full‑blown virtual machine. The free tier includes 750 hours per month of a t2.micro instance (Linux, RHEL, or Windows) for the first 12 months. That’s enough to keep a single instance running 24/7.

• Use case: Host a small web server, a dev environment, or a self‑hosted CI runner.
• Limitations: Only one t2.micro at a time, limited to 30 GB of SSD storage (EBS) and 15 GB of data transfer out.

AWS Lambda – 1 M free requests per month

Lambda lets you execute code in response to events without provisioning servers. The free tier grants 1 million requests and 400,000 GB‑seconds of compute each month, forever.

Because you only pay for the time your function runs, Lambda is perfect for sporadic workloads like image processing, webhook handling, or scheduled jobs.

import json

def lambda_handler(event, context):
    # Echo back the received payload
    return {
        "statusCode": 200,
        "body": json.dumps({
            "message": "Hello from Lambda!",
            "input": event
        })
    }

Pro tip: Keep your Lambda package under 50 MB (zipped) to stay within the free tier’s deployment size limit. Use layers to share common libraries across functions.

Storage: Keep Data Cheap and Accessible

Data storage is where most projects spend their budget. AWS gives you generous free quotas for object storage, block storage, and file storage.

Amazon S3 – 5 GB Standard Storage + 20 000 GET/PUT requests

S3 is the go‑to service for storing files, static website assets, or data lakes. The free tier covers 5 GB of standard storage, 20 000 GET, and 2 000 PUT requests each month.

Below is a quick Python script that creates a bucket, uploads a file, and makes it publicly readable – all using the free tier.

import boto3
import botocore

s3 = boto3.resource('s3')
bucket_name = 'my-free-tier-bucket-12345'  # Bucket names must be globally unique

# Create bucket (region must be specified for most regions)
try:
    s3.create_bucket(
        Bucket=bucket_name,
        CreateBucketConfiguration={'LocationConstraint': 'us-east-1'}
    )
    print(f'Bucket {bucket_name} created')
except botocore.exceptions.ClientError as e:
    print(e)

# Upload a local file
s3.Object(bucket_name, 'hello.txt').upload_file('hello.txt')
print('File uploaded')

# Make the object publicly readable
s3.ObjectAcl(bucket_name, 'hello.txt').put(ACL='public-read')
print('Object is now public')

Pro tip: Enable S3 Lifecycle policies to transition older objects to the free‑tier‑eligible S3 Glacier Deep Archive after 30 days. This can dramatically reduce storage costs if you ever exceed the free limit.

Amazon EFS – 5 GB of Standard Storage

EFS provides a fully managed NFS file system that can be mounted by multiple EC2 instances. The free tier gives you 5 GB of standard storage for the first 12 months – ideal for sharing configuration files or logs between small instances.

Amazon Elastic Block Store (EBS) – 30 GB of General Purpose SSD

Every free‑tier EC2 instance comes with 30 GB of gp2 SSD storage. Use it for your OS disk, databases, or any persistent data that needs low‑latency access.

Databases: Managed Data Stores at No Cost

Running a database on a VM can be a maintenance nightmare. AWS offers managed database services that are free‑tier friendly.

Amazon RDS – 750 hours of db.t2.micro

RDS supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, Oracle (BYOL), and SQL Server (Express). The free tier gives you 750 hours per month of a db.t2.micro instance, 20 GB of SSD storage, and 20 GB of backup.

Typical use cases include small web apps, prototyping, or learning SQL without installing anything locally.

Amazon DynamoDB – 25 GB of storage + 25 WCUs/RCUs

DynamoDB is a fully managed NoSQL key‑value store. The free tier provides 25 GB of storage, 25 write capacity units (WCUs), and 25 read capacity units (RCUs) each month – enough for low‑traffic APIs or session stores.

Here’s a compact Python example that creates a table, inserts an item, and queries it using the boto3 library.

import boto3

dynamodb = boto3.resource('dynamodb', region_name='us-east-1')

# Create a table named 'Books' with a primary key 'ISBN'
table = dynamodb.create_table(
    TableName='Books',
    KeySchema=[{'AttributeName': 'ISBN', 'KeyType': 'HASH'}],
    AttributeDefinitions=[{'AttributeName': 'ISBN', 'AttributeType': 'S'}],
    ProvisionedThroughput={'ReadCapacityUnits': 5, 'WriteCapacityUnits': 5}
)

# Wait until the table exists
table.meta.client.get_waiter('table_exists').wait(TableName='Books')
print('Table created')

# Insert an item
table.put_item(Item={'ISBN': '978-1492051367', 'Title': 'Fluent Python', 'Author': 'Luciano Ramalho'})
print('Item inserted')

# Retrieve the item
response = table.get_item(Key={'ISBN': '978-1492051367'})
print('Fetched item:', response['Item'])

Pro tip: Switch DynamoDB to on‑demand mode once you outgrow the free capacity. The on‑demand pricing is pay‑per‑request and often cheaper for spiky workloads.

Networking & Content Delivery: Keep Traffic Fast and Free

Even if you’re only testing, a reliable network layer is essential. AWS offers several free‑tier networking services that can make your app globally accessible.

Amazon API Gateway – 1 M API calls per month

API Gateway lets you create, publish, and manage RESTful APIs. The free tier includes 1 million API calls each month, perfect for exposing Lambda functions or backend services.

Example: Connect a Lambda function (the one we wrote earlier) to an HTTP endpoint using API Gateway. The integration is done via the console, but the resulting endpoint can be invoked with curl or any HTTP client.

Amazon CloudFront – 1 TB data transfer out

CloudFront is AWS’s CDN. The free tier provides 1 TB of data transfer out and 2 million HTTP/HTTPS requests per month for the first 12 months. Use it to serve static assets from S3 with low latency.

Amazon VPC – Free by default

A VPC (Virtual Private Cloud) isolates your resources. There’s no charge for creating a VPC; you only pay for the resources you launch inside it (e.g., NAT gateways). Stick to the default VPC for simple projects to avoid extra costs.

Pro tip: When using a NAT gateway, switch to a NAT instance (t2.micro) within the free tier to avoid the $0.045 per hour NAT gateway fee.

Monitoring & Security: Stay Informed Without Paying

Visibility into your resources is crucial, even during free‑tier experiments. AWS provides monitoring and security tools that are free or have generous free quotas.

Amazon CloudWatch – 10 custom metrics, 5 GB log data

CloudWatch collects metrics, logs, and events. The free tier includes 10 custom metrics, 5 GB of log ingestion, and 5 GB of log storage per month.

Example: Send a custom metric from a Python script to CloudWatch.

import boto3
import random

cloudwatch = boto3.client('cloudwatch')

def publish_metric():
    value = random.randint(0, 100)
    cloudwatch.put_metric_data(
        Namespace='MyApp',
        MetricData=[{
            'MetricName': 'RandomNumber',
            'Value': value,
            'Unit': 'Count'
        }]
    )
    print(f'Published RandomNumber={value}')

if __name__ == '__main__':
    publish_metric()

AWS Identity and Access Management (IAM) – Free

IAM lets you create users, groups, and roles with fine‑grained permissions. There’s no charge for IAM itself; you only pay for the services you access.

Best practice: Create a dedicated IAM user for each project and attach the “AWSFreeTierFullAccess” custom policy that restricts actions to the free‑tier resources you plan to use.

AI/ML Services: Experiment with Intelligence at No Cost

AWS’s AI/ML portfolio is often perceived as expensive, but several services have free‑tier allowances that let you prototype without spending.

Amazon Rekognition – 5 000 images per month

Rekognition offers image and video analysis. The free tier includes 5 000 images for label detection, face detection, and moderation per month.

Amazon Comprehend – 50 000 units per month

Comprehend provides natural language processing (sentiment analysis, entity recognition). The free tier gives you 50 000 units (roughly 50 000 characters) per month.

Example: Sentiment analysis with Comprehend.

import boto3

comprehend = boto3.client('comprehend', region_name='us-east-1')
text = "AWS Free Tier is an amazing way to learn cloud computing without breaking the bank."

response = comprehend.detect_sentiment(Text=text, LanguageCode='en')
print('Sentiment:', response['Sentiment'])
print('Scores:', response['SentimentScore'])

Pro tip: Combine Rekognition and Lambda to automatically tag images uploaded to S3. This serverless pipeline stays within the free tier if you keep the volume low.

Putting It All Together: A Sample Serverless Blog

To illustrate how the free tier services can interlock, let’s outline a minimal serverless blog platform:

1. Static site hosting: Store HTML/CSS/JS in an S3 bucket and serve it via CloudFront.
2. API layer: Use API Gateway to expose a REST endpoint.
3. Backend logic: Attach a Lambda function to the endpoint for CRUD operations.
4. Data store: Persist blog posts in DynamoDB.
5. Image processing: Trigger another Lambda (via S3 event) that runs Rekognition to auto‑generate tags.
6. Monitoring: Push request latency to CloudWatch custom metrics.

All components are covered by the free tier, meaning you can run a fully functional blog for months without incurring any charges – as long as you respect the usage limits.

Best Practices for Staying Within the Free Tier

• Set up billing alerts: In the AWS Billing console, create an alarm that notifies you at $0, $5, and $10 thresholds.
• Tag resources: Tag every resource with Environment=FreeTier and use AWS Cost Explorer to filter by tag.
• Automate cleanup: Use Lambda + CloudWatch Events to terminate idle EC2 instances or delete unused snapshots nightly.
• Monitor free‑tier quotas: The “Free Tier Usage” page shows remaining hours, requests, and storage in real time.

Pro tip: When you reach a free‑tier limit, AWS automatically disables the service for that month rather than charging you. However, some services (like NAT gateways) incur charges immediately, so always double‑check the pricing page.

Conclusion

The AWS Free Tier is more than a marketing gimmick – it’s a fully functional sandbox that lets you build, experiment, and learn on real cloud infrastructure. By focusing on the services highlighted above—EC2, Lambda, S3, DynamoDB, API Gateway, CloudWatch, and a handful of AI/ML APIs—you can craft end‑to‑end applications without ever opening your credit card statement. Remember to keep an eye on usage, tag everything, and automate cleanup; those small habits will protect you from surprise charges as your projects grow. Happy building, and may your free‑tier adventures be both educational and cost‑free!