← CLF-C02·Amazon Web Services

Question 4 of 1,024

Billing, Pricing, and Support →mediumMultiple ChoiceObjective-mapped

Quick Answer

The answer is Compute Savings Plans with a 3-year, all upfront commitment. This pricing model delivers the lowest cost for a 3-year predictable workload because it offers the deepest discount—up to 66% off On-Demand rates—while still allowing instance family flexibility, meaning you can switch between instance families, operating systems, or even AWS regions within the compute scope without losing the savings. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this scenario tests your understanding that Compute Savings Plans are designed for steady-state, 24/7 workloads where cost minimization is critical, but you still need operational agility. A common trap is choosing Reserved Instances, which lock you to a specific instance family and lack that flexibility. Remember the memory tip: “Compute Savings Plans = Cheapest + Changeable,” contrasting with Reserved Instances which are “Cheaper but Fixed.”

CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question

This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of billing, pricing, and support. Match the stated requirement to the specific cloud service, access model, or configuration option — many options are valid in isolation but not for this scenario. After answering, compare your reasoning against the explanation and wrong-answer breakdown below. Once you have made your selection, read the full explanation to reinforce the concept and understand why each distractor is designed to mislead on exam day.

A company runs a set of Amazon EC2 instances that handle a consistent, predictable workload 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The company expects to continue running this workload for the next three years. The finance team wants to minimize the total cost of these EC2 instances while maintaining flexibility to change instance families if needed. Which AWS pricing option should the company choose to meet these requirements?

Clue words in this question

Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.

Clue: "minimum / minimize"
Why it matters: Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

Question 1mediummultiple choice

Full question →

A
On-Demand instances
Why wrong: On-Demand pricing has no commitment but is the most expensive option for continuous, long-term usage. It does not minimize costs for a predictable 3-year workload.
B
EC2 Instance Savings Plans (1-year, no upfront)
Why wrong: EC2 Instance Savings Plans provide a discount but lock the workload to a specific instance family (e.g., c5) in a region. The 1-year term yields a lower discount than a 3-year term, and the lack of upfront payment reduces savings further. It also restricts flexibility to change instance families.
C
Compute Savings Plans (3-year, all upfront)
Compute Savings Plans offer the broadest flexibility, covering changes to instance families, regions, and even other compute services (e.g., AWS Fargate, AWS Lambda). A 3-year term with all upfront payment provides the highest discount (up to 66%) for consistent usage, making this the most cost-effective choice that also allows instance family changes.
D
Spot Instances
Why wrong: Spot Instances offer significant discounts (up to 90%), but they can be interrupted by AWS when capacity is needed. They are not suitable for a consistent, 24/7 workload that requires reliability and cannot tolerate interruptions.

Full breakdown with real-world context →

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 (3-year, all upfront)

Compute Savings Plans (3-year, all upfront) provide the highest discount (up to 66%) for consistent, predictable workloads running 24/7 for three years, and they offer flexibility to change instance families, operating systems, or regions within the compute scope. This matches the requirement to minimize cost while maintaining the ability to switch instance families.

Key principle: Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Answer analysis

Option-by-option breakdown

For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.

✗
On-Demand instances
Why it's wrong here
On-Demand pricing has no commitment but is the most expensive option for continuous, long-term usage. It does not minimize costs for a predictable 3-year workload.
✗
EC2 Instance Savings Plans (1-year, no upfront)
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Instance Savings Plans provide a discount but lock the workload to a specific instance family (e.g., c5) in a region. The 1-year term yields a lower discount than a 3-year term, and the lack of upfront payment reduces savings further. It also restricts flexibility to change instance families.
✓
Compute Savings Plans (3-year, all upfront)
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans offer the broadest flexibility, covering changes to instance families, regions, and even other compute services (e.g., AWS Fargate, AWS Lambda). A 3-year term with all upfront payment provides the highest discount (up to 66%) for consistent usage, making this the most cost-effective choice that also allows instance family changes.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "minimum / minimize" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
✗
Spot Instances
Why it's wrong here
Spot Instances offer significant discounts (up to 90%), but they can be interrupted by AWS when capacity is needed. They are not suitable for a consistent, 24/7 workload that requires reliability and cannot tolerate interruptions.

Common exam traps

Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword

The trap here is that candidates often confuse EC2 Instance Savings Plans (which lock instance family) with Compute Savings Plans (which allow instance family changes), or they overlook that Spot Instances are unsuitable for non-interruptible workloads despite their low cost.

Detailed technical explanation

How to think about this question

Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance, regardless of family, size, OS, or region, and also cover Fargate and Lambda usage, offering up to 66% discount over On-Demand with a 3-year all upfront commitment. The discount is applied to the compute portion of the instance cost, and any usage beyond the committed amount is charged at On-Demand rates, ensuring flexibility for unexpected changes.

KKey Concepts to Remember

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
Find the constraint that changes the correct option.
Eliminate answers that are true in general but not in this case.

TExam Day Tips

Watch for words such as best, first, most likely and least administrative effort.
Review why wrong options are wrong, not only why the correct option is correct.

Key takeaway

Answer the scenario, not the keyword: identify the specific constraint before choosing the most familiar-sounding option.

Real-world example

How this comes up in practice

A startup's cloud architect reviews their monthly bill and notices costs are higher than expected for a long-running batch job. Switching from on-demand instances to Reserved Instances — or using Spot/Preemptible VMs — can reduce compute costs by up to 72 %. Questions like this test whether you understand the tradeoffs between commitment, flexibility, and cost across cloud pricing models.

What to study next

Got this wrong? Here's your next step.

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

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FAQ

Questions learners often ask

What does this CLF-C02 question test?

Billing, Pricing, and Support — This question tests Billing, Pricing, and Support — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..

What is the correct answer to this question?

The correct answer is: Compute Savings Plans (3-year, all upfront) — Compute Savings Plans (3-year, all upfront) provide the highest discount (up to 66%) for consistent, predictable workloads running 24/7 for three years, and they offer flexibility to change instance families, operating systems, or regions within the compute scope. This matches the requirement to minimize cost while maintaining the ability to switch instance families.

What should I do if I get this CLF-C02 question wrong?

Identify which exam domain this question belongs to, review the core concept, then practise similar questions from the same domain.

Are there clue words in this question I should notice?

Yes — watch for: "minimum / minimize". Asks for the least resource use — fewest addresses, smallest subnet, lowest overhead. Eliminate over-provisioned options even if they would technically work.

What is the key concept behind this question?

Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.

About these practice questions

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Same concept, more angles

1 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 plans to run a fleet of Amazon EC2 instances continuously for 3 years to support a steady-state application. The company wants the lowest possible cost for this predictable workload while maintaining the flexibility to change instance families if needed. Which AWS purchasing option should the company choose?

medium

A.On-Demand Instances
B.Standard Reserved Instances
✓ C.Compute Savings Plans
D.Spot Instances

Why C: Compute Savings Plans offer the lowest cost for a predictable, steady-state workload over 3 years while allowing flexibility to change instance families. Unlike Reserved Instances, which lock you to a specific instance family, Compute Savings Plans apply to any EC2 instance (including those in different families) within a chosen region, automatically providing the highest discount (up to 66% vs On-Demand) for consistent compute usage.

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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.