c5a.8xlargevsr5a.8xlarge
c5a.8xlarge is 32% cheaper than r5a.8xlarge on demand in US East (N. Virginia), saving $420.48 a month.
| At a glance | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand | $1.232/hr32% less | $1.808/hr |
| Lowest rate | $0.4063/hr22% lessSpot, can be interrupted | $0.5214/hrSpot, can be interrupted |
| Size | 32 vCPUs, 64 GiB | 32 vCPUs, 256 GiB |
| Processor | AMD EPYC 7R32 | AMD EPYC 7571 |
| 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 | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge vs c5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-demandPay by the hour | $1.232 | $1.808 | ▲ 47% |
| SpotCan be interrupted | 67% off$0.4063 | 71% off$0.5214 | ▲ 28% |
| 1-yr reservedNo upfront | 37% off$0.776 | 37% off$1.139 | ▲ 47% |
| 3-yr reservedNo upfront | 57% off$0.532 | 57% off$0.781 | ▲ 47% |
| 1-yr savings planHourly commitment | 27% off$0.895 | 27% off$1.314 | ▲ 47% |
| 3-yr savings planHourly commitment | 52% off$0.595 | 48% off$0.943 | ▲ 58% |
Key differences
The biggest lead each one has.
Where c5a.8xlarge leads
On-demand price$1.232 vs $1.808 per hour
32% cheaperNetwork baseline10 Gbps vs 7.5 Gbps
33% higherClock speed3.3 GHz vs 2.5 GHz
32% higherWhere r5a.8xlarge leads
Memory (GiB)256 vs 64
4× higherEBS baseline IOPS20,000 vs 13,300
50% higherSpecs
16 of 40 specs differ. Those are in bold.
| Compute4 of 10 differ | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| vCPUs | 32 | 32 |
| Physical cores | 16 | 16 |
| Threads per core | 2 | 2 |
| Architecture | x86_64 | x86_64 |
| Processor | AMD EPYC 7R32 | AMD EPYC 7571 |
| CPU maker | AMD | AMD |
| Clock speed | 3.3 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Sustained clock | 3.3 GHz | 2.5 GHz |
| Processor features | AMD Turbo; AVX; AVX2 | AVX; AVX2; AMD Turbo |
| Burstable | No | No |
| Memory1 of 1 differ | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Memory (GiB) | 64 | 256 |
| Networking2 of 8 differ | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Network | 10 Gigabit | Up to 10 Gigabit |
| Network baseline | 10 Gbps | 7.5 Gbps |
| Network peak | 10 Gbps | 10 Gbps |
| Enhanced networking | Yes (ENA) | Yes (ENA) |
| EFA | No | No |
| IPv6 | Yes | Yes |
| Max network interfaces | 8 | 8 |
| IPv4 addresses per interface | 30 | 30 |
| Storage7 of 11 differ | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | EBS only | EBS only |
| EBS optimized | Yes | Yes |
| EBS over NVMe | Required | Required |
| EBS throughput | 3170 Mbps | 3500 Mbps |
| EBS baseline bandwidth | 3,170 Mbps | 4,750 Mbps |
| EBS max bandwidth | 3,170 Mbps | 4,750 Mbps |
| EBS baseline throughput | 396.25 MB/s | 593.75 MB/s |
| EBS max throughput | 396.25 MB/s | 593.75 MB/s |
| EBS baseline IOPS | 13,300 | 20,000 |
| EBS max IOPS | 13,300 | 20,000 |
| Max EBS volumes | 27 | 27 |
| Instance details2 of 10 differ | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Family | c5a | r5a |
| Category | Compute optimized | Memory optimized |
| Current generation | Yes | Yes |
| Normalization factor | 64 | 64 |
| Bare metal | No | No |
| Hypervisor | Nitro | Nitro |
| Placement groups | Cluster, Partition, Spread | Cluster, Partition, Spread |
| Hibernation | No | No |
| Nitro Enclaves | Yes | Yes |
| Boot modes | Legacy BIOS, UEFI | Legacy BIOS, UEFI |
On-demand prices by region
Cheapest for c5a.8xlarge first. Linux, USD per hour.
| Region | c5a.8xlarge | r5a.8xlarge | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai)ap-south-1 | $0.752 | $1.144 | ▲ 52% |
| US East (N. Virginia)Used in summaryus-east-1 | $1.232 | $1.808 | ▲ 47% |
| US East (Ohio)us-east-2 | $1.232 | $1.808 | ▲ 47% |
| US West (Oregon)us-west-2 | $1.232 | $1.808 | ▲ 47% |
| Canada (Central)ca-central-1 | $1.344 | $1.984 | ▲ 48% |
| Asia Pacific (Seoul)ap-northeast-2 | $1.376 | $2.176 | ▲ 58% |
| EU (Ireland)eu-west-1 | $1.376 | $2.032 | ▲ 48% |
| EU (Frankfurt)eu-central-1 | $1.392 | $2.192 | ▲ 57% |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore)ap-southeast-1 | $1.408 | $2.176 | ▲ 55% |
| EU (London)eu-west-2 | $1.456 | $2.128 | ▲ 46% |
| EU (Milan)eu-south-1 | $1.456 | $2.128 | ▲ 46% |
| EU (Paris)eu-west-3 | $1.456 | $2.128 | ▲ 46% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East)us-gov-east-1 | $1.472 | $2.176 | ▲ 48% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West)us-gov-west-1 | $1.472 | $2.176 | ▲ 48% |
| US West (N. California)us-west-1 | $1.52 | $2.016 | ▲ 33% |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo)ap-northeast-1 | $1.536 | $2.192 | ▲ 43% |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney)ap-southeast-2 | $1.60 | $2.176 | ▲ 36% |
| South America (Sao Paulo)sa-east-1 | $1.888 | $2.896 | ▲ 53% |
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.