t3a.xlargevsm8a.xlarge

t3a.xlarge is 38% cheaper than m8a.xlarge on demand in US East (N. Virginia), saving $67.89 a month.

At a glancet3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
On-demand$0.1504/hr38% less$0.2434/hr
Lowest rate$0.0371/hr37% lessSpot, can be interrupted$0.0593/hrSpot, can be interrupted
Size4 vCPUs, 16 GiB4 vCPUs, 16 GiB
ProcessorAMD EPYC 7571AMD EPYC 9R45 Processor
Architecturex86_64x86_64
CPUBurstableBest for workloads that are mostly idleFull 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.

Optiont3a.xlargem8a.xlargem8a.xlarge vs t3a.xlarge
On-demandPay by the hour$0.1504$0.2434▲ 62%
SpotCan be interrupted75% off$0.037176% off$0.0593▲ 60%
1-yr reservedNo upfront37% off$0.0943——
3-yr reservedNo upfront57% off$0.065——
1-yr savings planHourly commitment28% off$0.108526% off$0.1789▲ 65%
3-yr savings planHourly commitment50% off$0.074949% off$0.1235▲ 65%

Key differences

The biggest lead each one has.

Where t3a.xlarge leads
On-demand price$0.1504 vs $0.2434 per hour
38% cheaper
CPU modelEarns credits while idle, then bursts
Burstable
Where m8a.xlarge leads
CPU modelSteady performance, no credits to manage
Full CPU
EBS max bandwidth10,000 Mbps vs 2,780 Mbps
3.6× higher
Network peak12.5 Gbps vs 5 Gbps
2.5× higher
Sustained clock4.5 GHz vs 2.2 GHz
2× higher

Specs

22 of 40 specs differ. Those are in bold.

Compute7 of 10 differt3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
vCPUs44
Physical cores24
Threads per core21
Architecturex86_64x86_64
ProcessorAMD EPYC 7571AMD EPYC 9R45 Processor
CPU makerAMDAMD
Clock speed2.5 GHzUp to 4.5 GHz
Sustained clock2.2 GHz4.5 GHz
Processor featuresAVX; AVX2; AMD TurboAMD Turbo; AVX; AVX2; AVX512
BurstableYesNo
MemoryAll 1 matcht3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
Memory (GiB)1616
Networking4 of 8 differt3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
NetworkUp to 5 GigabitUp to 15000 Megabit
Network baseline1.024 Gbps1.875 Gbps
Network peak5 Gbps12.5 Gbps
Enhanced networkingYes (ENA)Yes (ENA)
EFANoNo
IPv6YesYes
Max network interfaces44
IPv4 addresses per interface1520
Storage8 of 11 differt3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
StorageEBS onlyEBS only
EBS optimizedYesYes
EBS over NVMeRequiredRequired
EBS throughputUp to 2780 MbpsUp to 10000 Mbps
EBS baseline bandwidth695 Mbps1,250 Mbps
EBS max bandwidth2,780 Mbps10,000 Mbps
EBS baseline throughput86.875 MB/s156.25 MB/s
EBS max throughput347.5 MB/s1,250 MB/s
EBS baseline IOPS4,0006,000
EBS max IOPS15,70040,000
Max EBS volumes2732
Instance details3 of 10 differt3a.xlargem8a.xlarge
Familyt3am8a
CategoryGeneral purposeGeneral purpose
Current generationYesYes
Normalization factor88
Bare metalNoNo
HypervisorNitroNitro
Placement groupsPartition, SpreadCluster, Partition, Spread
HibernationYesYes
Nitro EnclavesNoYes
Boot modesLegacy BIOS, UEFILegacy BIOS, UEFI

On-demand prices by region

Cheapest for t3a.xlarge first. Linux, USD per hour.

Regiont3a.xlargem8a.xlargeDifference
Asia Pacific (Mumbai)ap-south-1$0.0986$0.2561▲ 160%
US East (N. Virginia)Used in summaryus-east-1$0.1504$0.2434▲ 62%
US East (Ohio)us-east-2$0.1504$0.2434▲ 62%
US West (Oregon)us-west-2$0.1504$0.2434▲ 62%
EU (Ireland)eu-west-1$0.1632$0.2713▲ 66%
EU (Frankfurt)eu-central-1$0.1728$0.2916▲ 69%
AWS GovCloud (US-West)us-gov-west-1$0.1757$0.3068▲ 75%
Asia Pacific (Tokyo)ap-northeast-1$0.1958$0.3144▲ 61%

Keep exploring

Each type’s own page, and how it compares with others.

t3a.xlargeGeneral purpose, t3a family, burstable
t3a.xlarge prices and specsEvery size in the t3a family

Compare t3a.xlarge with

t3.xlargem5a.xlargem5ad.xlargem6a.xlargem7a.xlargem8azn.xlarge
m8a.xlargeGeneral purpose, m8a family
m8a.xlarge prices and specsEvery size in the m8a family

Compare m8a.xlarge with

m8g.xlargem8i.xlarger8a.xlargec8a.xlargem8azn.xlargem7a.xlarge

Pay the committed rate, with commitment protection

The best committed rate on these two is 49–57% below on-demand. Connect your cloud accounts to unlock greater savings with commitment protection.

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AWS EC2 Linux prices in USD. Monthly figures use 730 hours. Prices last updated 12 Nov 2026.