AWS CloudWatch Logs Hidden Costs 2026
What they don't show you on the pricing page
AWS CloudWatch Logs costs $0.00 to $0.50 per GB as of June 2026, with 10 plans available. Plans: Logs - Data Scanned by Logs Insights at $0.01/GB, Contributor Insights for CloudWatch Logs at $0.5/GB, Application Signals and transaction search at $0.35/GB, X-Ray Traces - Retrieved/Scanned at $5e-7/GB, Custom Metrics at $0.3/GB, API Requests at $0.01/GB, Metrics Insights Queries at $0.01/GB, Metric Streams at $0.003/GB, Anomaly Detection Alarms at $0.1/GB, and Composite Alarms at $0.5/GB. Pricing depends on your chosen tier, contract length, and negotiated discounts.
Use the interactive pricing calculator to estimate your exact cost based on team size and requirements.
- Free tier: No free tier available
AWS CloudWatch Logs offers 10 pricing tiers: Logs - Data Scanned by Logs Insights, Contributor Insights for CloudWatch Logs, Application Signals and transaction search, X-Ray Traces - Retrieved/Scanned, Custom Metrics, API Requests, Metrics Insights Queries, Metric Streams, Anomaly Detection Alarms, Composite Alarms. Paid plans include Logs - Data Scanned by Logs Insights at $0.01/GB, Contributor Insights for CloudWatch Logs at $0.5/rule, Application Signals and transaction search at $0.35/GB.
AWS CloudWatch Logs true cost runs 70% above the listed $5e-7-$0.5/GB price as of June 2026. For a 25-person team, expect ~$51 in year-one costs vs the $30 base license. Verified from 1 sources by CostBench.
Example: True Cost for 25 Users
| License (25 × $0.1 × 12) | $30/yr |
| Implementation (one-time) | +$15,000–$50,000 |
| Premium Support (20%) | +$6/yr |
| Training (25 × $500) | +$12,500 |
| Admin (part-time) | +$15,000–$25,000/yr |
| Estimated Year 1 Total | ~$51 |