c5a.xlargevsm5a.xlarge
c5a.xlarge is 10% cheaper than m5a.xlarge on demand in US East (N. Virginia), saving $13.14 a month.
| At a glance | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand | $0.154/hr10% less | $0.172/hr |
| Lowest rate | $0.0636/hr5% lessSpot, can be interrupted | $0.0672/hrSpot, can be interrupted |
| Size | 4 vCPUs, 8 GiB | 4 vCPUs, 16 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.xlarge | m5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge vs c5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-demandPay by the hour | $0.154 | $0.172 | ▲ 12% |
| SpotCan be interrupted | 59% off$0.0636 | 61% off$0.0672 | ▲ 6% |
| 1-yr reservedNo upfront | 37% off$0.097 | 37% off$0.108 | ▲ 11% |
| 3-yr reservedNo upfront | 56% off$0.067 | 57% off$0.074 | ▲ 10% |
| 1-yr savings planHourly commitment | 27% off$0.112 | 27% off$0.126 | ▲ 12% |
| 3-yr savings planHourly commitment | 52% off$0.074 | 49% off$0.087 | ▲ 18% |
Key differences
The biggest lead each one has.
Where c5a.xlarge leads
On-demand price$0.154 vs $0.172 per hour
10% cheaperClock speed3.3 GHz vs 2.5 GHz
32% higherEBS max bandwidth3,170 Mbps vs 2,880 Mbps
10% higherWhere m5a.xlarge leads
EBS baseline IOPS6,000 vs 1,600
3.8× higherMemory (GiB)16 vs 8
2× higherSpecs
15 of 40 specs differ. Those are in bold.
| Compute4 of 10 differ | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| vCPUs | 4 | 4 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 2 |
| 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.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Memory (GiB) | 8 | 16 |
| NetworkingAll 8 match | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Up to 10 Gigabit | Up to 10 Gigabit |
| Network baseline | 1.25 Gbps | 1.25 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 | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | EBS only | EBS only |
| EBS optimized | Yes | Yes |
| EBS over NVMe | Required | Required |
| EBS throughput | Up to 3170 Mbps | Up to 2120 Mbps |
| EBS baseline bandwidth | 400 Mbps | 1,085 Mbps |
| EBS max bandwidth | 3,170 Mbps | 2,880 Mbps |
| EBS baseline throughput | 50 MB/s | 135.625 MB/s |
| EBS max throughput | 396.25 MB/s | 360 MB/s |
| EBS baseline IOPS | 1,600 | 6,000 |
| EBS max IOPS | 13,300 | 16,000 |
| Max EBS volumes | 27 | 27 |
| Instance details3 of 10 differ | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Family | c5a | m5a |
| Category | Compute optimized | General purpose |
| Current generation | Yes | Yes |
| Normalization factor | 8 | 8 |
| Bare metal | No | No |
| Hypervisor | Nitro | Nitro |
| Placement groups | Cluster, Partition, Spread | Cluster, Partition, Spread |
| Hibernation | No | Yes |
| Nitro Enclaves | Yes | Yes |
| Boot modes | Legacy BIOS, UEFI | Legacy BIOS, UEFI |
On-demand prices by region
Cheapest for c5a.xlarge first. Linux, USD per hour.
| Region | c5a.xlarge | m5a.xlarge | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Asia Pacific (Mumbai)ap-south-1 | $0.094 | $0.111 | ▲ 18% |
| US East (N. Virginia)Used in summaryus-east-1 | $0.154 | $0.172 | ▲ 12% |
| US East (Ohio)us-east-2 | $0.154 | $0.172 | ▲ 12% |
| US West (Oregon)us-west-2 | $0.154 | $0.172 | ▲ 12% |
| Canada (Central)ca-central-1 | $0.168 | $0.192 | ▲ 14% |
| Asia Pacific (Seoul)ap-northeast-2 | $0.172 | $0.212 | ▲ 23% |
| EU (Ireland)eu-west-1 | $0.172 | $0.192 | ▲ 12% |
| EU (Frankfurt)eu-central-1 | $0.174 | $0.208 | ▲ 20% |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore)ap-southeast-1 | $0.176 | $0.216 | ▲ 23% |
| EU (London)eu-west-2 | $0.182 | $0.2 | ▲ 10% |
| EU (Milan)eu-south-1 | $0.182 | $0.202 | ▲ 11% |
| EU (Paris)eu-west-3 | $0.182 | $0.202 | ▲ 11% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East)us-gov-east-1 | $0.184 | $0.218 | ▲ 18% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West)us-gov-west-1 | $0.184 | $0.218 | ▲ 18% |
| US West (N. California)us-west-1 | $0.19 | $0.202 | ▲ 6% |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo)ap-northeast-1 | $0.192 | $0.224 | ▲ 17% |
| Asia Pacific (Sydney)ap-southeast-2 | $0.2 | $0.216 | ▲ 8% |
| South America (Sao Paulo)sa-east-1 | $0.236 | $0.276 | ▲ 17% |
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.