c5.2xlargevsc5a.2xlarge
c5a.2xlarge is 9% cheaper than c5.2xlarge on demand in US East (N. Virginia), saving $23.36 a month.
| At a glance | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand | $0.34/hr | $0.308/hr9% less |
| Lowest rate | $0.1208/hrSpot, can be interrupted | $0.1129/hr7% lessSpot, can be interrupted |
| Size | 8 vCPUs, 16 GiB | 8 vCPUs, 16 GiB |
| Processor | Intel Xeon Platinum 8124M | AMD EPYC 7R32 |
| Architecture | x86_64 | x86_64 |
Prices in US East (N. Virginia)
“Off” is the discount against each type’s own on-demand price. Linux, USD per hour.
| Option | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge vs c5.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-demandPay by the hour | $0.34 | $0.308 | ▼ 9% |
| SpotCan be interrupted | 64% off$0.1208 | 63% off$0.1129 | ▼ 7% |
| 1-yr reservedNo upfront | 37% off$0.214 | 37% off$0.194 | ▼ 9% |
| 3-yr reservedNo upfront | 58% off$0.142 | 57% off$0.133 | ▼ 6% |
| 1-yr savings planHourly commitment | 28% off$0.246 | 27% off$0.224 | ▼ 9% |
| 3-yr savings planHourly commitment | 52% off$0.164 | 52% off$0.149 | ▼ 9% |
Key differences
The biggest lead each one has.
Where c5.2xlarge leads
EBS baseline IOPS10,000 vs 3,200
3.1× higherClock speed3.4 GHz vs 3.3 GHz
3% higherWhere c5a.2xlarge leads
On-demand price$0.308 vs $0.34 per hour
9% cheaperSpecs
15 of 41 specs differ. Those are in bold.
| Compute6 of 11 differ | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| vCPUs | 8 | 8 |
| Physical cores | 4 | 4 |
| Threads per core | 2 | 2 |
| Architecture | x86_64 | x86_64 |
| Processor | Intel Xeon Platinum 8124M | AMD EPYC 7R32 |
| CPU maker | Intel | AMD |
| Clock speed | 3.4 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Sustained clock | 3.4 GHz | 3.3 GHz |
| Processor features | Intel AVX; Intel AVX2; Intel AVX512; Intel Turbo | AMD Turbo; AVX; AVX2 |
| Burstable | No | No |
| ECU | 39 | – |
| MemoryAll 1 match | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Memory (GiB) | 16 | 16 |
| NetworkingAll 8 match | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Up to 10 Gigabit | Up to 10 Gigabit |
| Network baseline | 2.5 Gbps | 2.5 Gbps |
| Network peak | 10 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| Enhanced networking | Yes (ENA) | Yes (ENA) |
| EFA | No | No |
| IPv6 | Yes | Yes |
| Max network interfaces | 4 | 4 |
| IPv4 addresses per interface | 15 | 15 |
| Storage7 of 11 differ | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | EBS only | EBS only |
| EBS optimized | Yes | Yes |
| EBS over NVMe | Required | Required |
| EBS throughput | Up to 2250 Mbps | Up to 3170 Mbps |
| EBS baseline bandwidth | 2,300 Mbps | 800 Mbps |
| EBS max bandwidth | 4,750 Mbps | 3,170 Mbps |
| EBS baseline throughput | 287.5 MB/s | 100 MB/s |
| EBS max throughput | 593.75 MB/s | 396.25 MB/s |
| EBS baseline IOPS | 10,000 | 3,200 |
| EBS max IOPS | 20,000 | 13,300 |
| Max EBS volumes | 27 | 27 |
| Instance details2 of 10 differ | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Family | c5 | c5a |
| Category | Compute optimized | Compute optimized |
| Current generation | Yes | Yes |
| Normalization factor | 16 | 16 |
| Bare metal | No | No |
| Hypervisor | Nitro | Nitro |
| Placement groups | Cluster, Partition, Spread | Cluster, Partition, Spread |
| Hibernation | Yes | No |
| Nitro Enclaves | Yes | Yes |
| Boot modes | Legacy BIOS, UEFI | Legacy BIOS, UEFI |
On-demand prices by region
Cheapest for c5.2xlarge first. Linux, USD per hour.
| Region | c5.2xlarge | c5a.2xlarge | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai)ap-south-1 | $0.34 | $0.188 | ▼ 45% |
| US East (N. Virginia)Used in summaryus-east-1 | $0.34 | $0.308 | ▼ 9% |
| US East (Ohio)us-east-2 | $0.34 | $0.308 | ▼ 9% |
| US West (Oregon)us-west-2 | $0.34 | $0.308 | ▼ 9% |
| EU (Stockholm)eu-north-1 | $0.364 | $0.328 | ▼ 10% |
| Canada (Central)ca-central-1 | $0.372 | $0.336 | ▼ 10% |
| Asia Pacific (Seoul)ap-northeast-2 | $0.384 | $0.344 | ▼ 10% |
| EU (Ireland)eu-west-1 | $0.384 | $0.344 | ▼ 10% |
| EU (Frankfurt)eu-central-1 | $0.388 | $0.348 | ▼ 10% |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore)ap-southeast-1 | $0.392 | $0.352 | ▼ 10% |
| EU (London)eu-west-2 | $0.404 | $0.364 | ▼ 10% |
| EU (Milan)eu-south-1 | $0.404 | $0.364 | ▼ 10% |
| EU (Paris)eu-west-3 | $0.404 | $0.364 | ▼ 10% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East)us-gov-east-1 | $0.408 | $0.368 | ▼ 10% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West)us-gov-west-1 | $0.408 | $0.368 | ▼ 10% |
| Middle East (Bahrain)me-south-1 | $0.422 | $0.38 | ▼ 10% |
| US West (N. California)us-west-1 | $0.424 | $0.38 | ▼ 10% |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo)ap-northeast-1 | $0.428 | $0.384 | ▼ 10% |
| Asia Pacific (Hong Kong)ap-east-1 | $0.432 | $0.388 | ▼ 10% |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney)ap-southeast-2 | $0.444 | $0.4 | ▼ 10% |
| Africa (Cape Town)af-south-1 | $0.456 | $0.412 | ▼ 10% |
| South America (Sao Paulo)sa-east-1 | $0.524 | $0.472 | ▼ 10% |
Keep exploring
Each type’s own page, and how it compares with others.
AWS EC2 Linux prices in USD. Monthly figures use 730 hours. Prices last updated 12 Nov 2026.