t3.xlargevsm5dn.xlarge
t3.xlarge is 39% cheaper than m5dn.xlarge on demand in US East (N. Virginia), saving $77.09 a month.
| At a glance | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| On-demand | $0.1664/hr39% less | $0.272/hr |
| Lowest rate | $0.0352/hr71% lessSpot, can be interrupted | $0.1219/hrSpot, can be interrupted |
| Size | 4 vCPUs, 16 GiB | 4 vCPUs, 16 GiB |
| Processor | Intel Skylake E5 2686 v5 | Intel Xeon Platinum 8259 (Cascade Lake) |
| Architecture | x86_64 | x86_64 |
| CPU | BurstableBest for workloads that are mostly idle | Full CPUSteady performance, no credits to manage |
Prices in US East (N. Virginia)
“Off” is the discount against each type’s own on-demand price. Linux, USD per hour.
| Option | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge vs t3.xlarge |
|---|---|---|---|
| On-demandPay by the hour | $0.1664 | $0.272 | ▲ 63% |
| SpotCan be interrupted | 79% off$0.0352 | 55% off$0.1219 | ▲ 246% |
| 1-yr reservedNo upfront | 37% off$0.1043 | 37% off$0.171 | ▲ 64% |
| 3-yr reservedNo upfront | 57% off$0.0719 | 61% off$0.106 | ▲ 47% |
| 1-yr savings planHourly commitment | 28% off$0.12 | 27% off$0.199 | ▲ 66% |
| 3-yr savings planHourly commitment | 50% off$0.0826 | 55% off$0.122 | ▲ 48% |
Key differences
The biggest lead each one has.
Where t3.xlarge leads
On-demand price$0.1664 vs $0.272 per hour
39% cheaperCPU modelEarns credits while idle, then bursts
BurstableMax EBS volumes27 vs 26
4% higherWhere m5dn.xlarge leads
CPU modelSteady performance, no credits to manage
Full CPUNetwork peak25 Gbps vs 5 Gbps
5× higherEBS max bandwidth4,750 Mbps vs 2,780 Mbps
71% higherSustained clock3.1 GHz vs 2.5 GHz
24% higherSpecs
21 of 41 specs differ. Those are in bold.
| Compute4 of 10 differ | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| vCPUs | 4 | 4 |
| Physical cores | 2 | 2 |
| Threads per core | 2 | 2 |
| Architecture | x86_64 | x86_64 |
| Processor | Intel Skylake E5 2686 v5 | Intel Xeon Platinum 8259 (Cascade Lake) |
| CPU maker | Intel | Intel |
| Clock speed | 3.1 GHz | 3.1 GHz |
| Sustained clock | 2.5 GHz | 3.1 GHz |
| Processor features | AVX; AVX2; Intel AVX; Intel AVX2; Intel AVX512; Intel Turbo | – |
| Burstable | Yes | No |
| MemoryAll 1 match | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Memory (GiB) | 16 | 16 |
| Networking3 of 8 differ | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Network | Up to 5 Gigabit | Up to 25 Gigabit |
| Network baseline | 1.024 Gbps | 4.1 Gbps |
| Network peak | 5 Gbps | 25 Gbps |
| Enhanced networking | Yes (ENA) | Yes (ENA) |
| EFA | No | No |
| IPv6 | Yes | Yes |
| Max network interfaces | 4 | 4 |
| IPv4 addresses per interface | 15 | 15 |
| Storage10 of 12 differ | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Storage | EBS only | 1 x 150 NVMe SSD |
| Local disks | – | 1 × 150 GB SSD |
| EBS optimized | Yes | Yes |
| EBS over NVMe | Required | Required |
| EBS throughput | Up to 2780 Mbps | Up to 3500 Mbps |
| EBS baseline bandwidth | 695 Mbps | 1,150 Mbps |
| EBS max bandwidth | 2,780 Mbps | 4,750 Mbps |
| EBS baseline throughput | 86.875 MB/s | 143.75 MB/s |
| EBS max throughput | 347.5 MB/s | 593.75 MB/s |
| EBS baseline IOPS | 4,000 | 6,000 |
| EBS max IOPS | 15,700 | 18,750 |
| Max EBS volumes | 27 | 26 |
| Instance details4 of 10 differ | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge |
|---|---|---|
| Family | t3 | m5dn |
| Category | General purpose | General purpose |
| Current generation | Yes | Yes |
| Normalization factor | 8 | 8 |
| Bare metal | No | No |
| Hypervisor | Nitro | Nitro |
| Placement groups | Partition, Spread | Cluster, Partition, Spread |
| Hibernation | Yes | No |
| Nitro Enclaves | No | Yes |
| Boot modes | Legacy BIOS, UEFI | Legacy BIOS, UEFI |
On-demand prices by region
Cheapest for t3.xlarge first. Linux, USD per hour.
| Region | t3.xlarge | m5dn.xlarge | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| US East (N. Virginia)Used in summaryus-east-1 | $0.1664 | $0.272 | ▲ 63% |
| US East (Ohio)us-east-2 | $0.1664 | $0.272 | ▲ 63% |
| US West (Oregon)us-west-2 | $0.1664 | $0.272 | ▲ 63% |
| EU (Ireland)eu-west-1 | $0.1824 | $0.304 | ▲ 67% |
| EU (Frankfurt)eu-central-1 | $0.192 | $0.324 | ▲ 69% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-East)us-gov-east-1 | $0.1952 | $0.342 | ▲ 75% |
| AWS GovCloud (US-West)us-gov-west-1 | $0.1952 | $0.342 | ▲ 75% |
| Asia Pacific (Singapore)ap-southeast-1 | $0.2112 | $0.334 | ▲ 58% |
| Asia Pacific (Tokyo)ap-northeast-1 | $0.2176 | $0.35 | ▲ 61% |
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.