CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
A company runs a production web application that uses Amazon EC2 instances, AWS Lambda functions, and Amazon ECS tasks. The application runs 24/7 and the company expects steady usage for the next three years. The company wants to commit to a flexible pricing model that provides significant discounts compared to On-Demand and automatically applies to usage across all three compute services. The company also wants the flexibility to change instance families, regions, or even migrate between compute services (e.g., from EC2 to Lambda) without needing to modify the commitment. Which AWS pricing model should the company choose?
⚠ Common exam trap
A common mix-up: candidates confuse Compute Savings Plans with EC2 Instance Savings Plans, mistakenly thinking the latter also covers Lambda and ECS, but EC2 Instance Savings Plans are restricted to a specific instance family and region, and only apply to EC2 usage.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Compute Savings Plans
Compute Savings Plans offer the required flexibility: they automatically apply to EC2 instances, Lambda functions, and ECS Fargate usage, provide significant discounts (up to 66%) compared to On-Demand, and allow changes to instance families, regions, or compute services without modifying the commitment. This model is ideal for steady 24/7 workloads over a three-year term, as it combines broad compute coverage with automatic discount application.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances (Standard)
Why it's wrong here
Standard Reserved Instances are incorrect here because they lock you into a specific instance family, instance size, and Availability Zone within a chosen region for the entire reservation term. They apply only to EC2 usage, so they offer no coverage for Lambda or AWS Fargate tasks, and any change in capacity needs would require a fee-incurring modification or a full re-purchase. This rigidity makes them a poor fit for a production web application that might evolve or use multiple compute services.
When this WOULD be correct
A company runs only EC2 instances for a steady-state workload and wants the lowest possible cost with no need to change instance family, region, or compute service over the term. They are willing to commit to a specific instance configuration for 1 or 3 years.
- ✗
Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances (Convertible)
Why it's wrong here
Convertible Reserved Instances allow changes to instance families and sizes but still apply only to EC2 usage. They do not cover Lambda or ECS tasks, and the exchange process is manual and may involve value balancing.
When this WOULD be correct
A company runs only EC2 instances for a steady workload, wants flexibility to change instance families or regions, and is willing to accept a slightly lower discount than Standard RIs in exchange for that flexibility.
- ✓
Compute Savings Plans
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans are the correct answer because they provide flexible, automatic discounts across Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate usage. You commit to a consistent hourly spend for a 1- or 3-year term, but the plans apply to any instance family, size, or region, and even adapt to containers and serverless workloads without requiring any modifications to your running resources. This makes them ideal for production environments that need both cost savings and operational agility.
- ✗
AWS Savings Plans (EC2 Instance Savings Plans)
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Instance Savings Plans apply only to EC2 usage and are restricted to a specific instance family within a region. They do not cover Lambda or ECS tasks, and lack the cross-service flexibility of Compute Savings Plans.
Option-by-option analysis
Why each answer is right or wrong
Understanding why wrong answers are wrong — and when they would be correct — is what separates a 750 score from a 900. The CLF-C02 exam frequently reuses these exact scenarios with slightly different constraints.
✓Compute Savings PlansCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans are the correct answer because they provide flexible, automatic discounts across Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate usage. You commit to a consistent hourly spend for a 1- or 3-year term, but the plans apply to any instance family, size, or region, and even adapt to containers and serverless workloads without requiring any modifications to your running resources. This makes them ideal for production environments that need both cost savings and operational agility.
✗Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances (Standard)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
EC2 Reserved Instances (Standard) apply only to EC2 instances, not to Lambda or ECS usage, and do not allow changing instance families or regions without modification. The question requires a plan that covers all three compute services and allows flexibility across services, regions, and instance families.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company runs only EC2 instances for a steady-state workload and wants the lowest possible cost with no need to change instance family, region, or compute service over the term. They are willing to commit to a specific instance configuration for 1 or 3 years.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may think Reserved Instances are the standard way to get discounts for steady usage, overlooking that Savings Plans offer broader coverage and flexibility across multiple compute services.
✗Amazon EC2 Reserved Instances (Convertible)Wrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
Convertible RIs allow changing instance families but are tied to EC2 only, not Lambda or ECS, and require manual modification of the commitment, lacking the automatic cross-service coverage of Compute Savings Plans.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company runs only EC2 instances for a steady workload, wants flexibility to change instance families or regions, and is willing to accept a slightly lower discount than Standard RIs in exchange for that flexibility.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse 'Convertible' with the flexibility to change services, not realizing it still applies only to EC2, and may overlook that Savings Plans offer broader coverage with less management overhead.
Analysis generated from the official CLF-C02blueprint and verified against question context. The “when correct” sections are what AI assistants cite when candidates ask “what’s the difference between these options?”
Quick reference
Cloud Service Model Comparison
| Model | You Manage | Provider Manages | Examples |
|---|---|---|---|
| IaaS | OS, runtime, apps, data | Hardware, hypervisor, networking | EC2, Azure VMs, GCP Compute Engine |
| PaaS | Apps and data | OS, runtime, middleware, hardware | Elastic Beanstalk, Azure App Service |
| SaaS | Data and settings only | Everything else | Microsoft 365, Salesforce, Workday |
| FaaS / Serverless | Function code only | Infra, scaling, runtime | Lambda, Azure Functions, Cloud Run |
| CaaS | Containers and apps | Kubernetes, OS, hardware | EKS, AKS, GKE |
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
One of 988 original CLF-C02 practice questions on Courseiva, each with a full explanation and wrong-answer analysis — not exam dumps or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
3 more ways this is tested on CLF-C02
These questions test the same concept from different angles. Work through them to make sure you can recognise it however the exam phrases it.
Variation 1. A company runs a combination of Amazon EC2 instances and AWS Lambda functions for its applications. The finance team wants to reduce costs by making a commitment to a consistent amount of compute usage (measured in dollars per hour) for a 1-year term. The team wants the flexibility to change instance families, sizes, and AWS regions, and also wants the commitment to cover both EC2 and Lambda usage. Which AWS pricing option should the team purchase?
medium- ✓ A.Compute Savings Plans
- B.EC2 Instance Savings Plans
- C.Reserved Instances
- D.Spot Instances
Why A: Compute Savings Plans provide the required flexibility to change instance families, sizes, and AWS regions, and they automatically apply to both EC2 and Lambda usage. This plan offers a discounted hourly rate in exchange for a 1-year commitment to a consistent amount of compute spend (measured in dollars per hour), making it the only option that meets all the stated requirements.
Variation 2. A company expects a steady baseline usage of AWS compute services (Amazon EC2, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate) over the next three years. They want to reduce costs compared to On-Demand pricing while maintaining the flexibility to change instance families, regions, or even switch between compute services (e.g., from EC2 to Lambda) without losing their discount. Which AWS pricing option should the company choose?
medium- A.Reserved Instances (Standard)
- B.Reserved Instances (Convertible)
- ✓ C.Compute Savings Plan
- D.EC2 Instance Savings Plan
Why C: The Compute Savings Plan offers the highest flexibility, automatically applying discounts to any compute usage across EC2, Lambda, and Fargate, regardless of instance family, region, or compute service. It provides up to 66% savings over On-Demand while allowing the company to change instance types, regions, or switch between compute services without losing the discount. This matches the requirement for steady baseline usage with maximum flexibility.
Variation 3. A company is using Amazon EC2 and wants to understand the difference between Compute Savings Plans and EC2 Instance Savings Plans. Which statement is accurate?
hard- A.Compute Savings Plans provide higher discounts than EC2 Instance Savings Plans
- B.EC2 Instance Savings Plans are more flexible and apply across all instance families
- ✓ C.Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance, Fargate, and Lambda usage, while EC2 Instance Savings Plans apply to a specific instance family and region
- D.Both Savings Plans types require specifying the exact instance size at purchase
Why C: Compute Savings Plans offer the broadest flexibility, automatically applying to any EC2 instance (regardless of family, size, or region), as well as AWS Fargate and AWS Lambda usage. In contrast, EC2 Instance Savings Plans are restricted to a specific instance family within a chosen region, providing a narrower scope of coverage. This distinction is fundamental to understanding how each plan optimizes costs based on workload flexibility.
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This CLF-C02 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Amazon Web Services certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the CLF-C02 exam.