- A
Reserved Instances
Why wrong: Reserved Instances are tied to a specific instance type, region, and sometimes AZ and OS. They do not apply to Lambda or Fargate and are less flexible than Compute Savings Plans.
- B
Spot Instances
Why wrong: Spot Instances provide discounts for interruption-tolerant workloads but cannot be committed to for a fixed term. They do not apply to Lambda or Fargate.
- C
Savings Plans
Compute Savings Plans apply discounts on any combination of EC2 instances, Lambda, and Fargate compute spend in exchange for committing to a minimum hourly usage. This provides RI-level discounts with cross-service flexibility.
- D
Dedicated Hosts
Why wrong: Dedicated Hosts provide physical servers for single-customer use, often for licensing compliance. They are more expensive and do not apply discounts across compute services.
Quick Answer
The answer is Savings Plans. This is correct because Savings Plans allow you to commit to a consistent hourly spend, such as $10 per hour, and automatically apply that discount across EC2, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate usage, regardless of instance family, size, operating system, or region. This cross-service discount flexibility is exactly what Reserved Instances lack, as RIs are locked to a specific instance family and region. On the AWS Certified Cloud Practitioner CLF-C02 exam, this question tests your understanding of purchasing options and their scope; a common trap is assuming Reserved Instances offer the same flexibility, but they do not. Remember the memory tip: Savings Plans save you money across services, while Reserved Instances are restricted to one instance type.
CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
This CLF-C02 practice question tests your understanding of billing, pricing, and support. The scenario asks you to isolate a root cause — eliminate options that address a different problem before choosing. 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 mixed workloads on AWS — some on EC2, some on Lambda, and some on Fargate — and wants to commit to a consistent hourly spend on compute to receive discounts similar to Reserved Instances, but with the flexibility to apply those discounts across different compute services and instance types. Which purchasing option provides this flexibility?
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
Savings Plans
Savings Plans (C) offer the flexibility to commit to a consistent hourly spend (e.g., $10/hour) and automatically apply the discount across EC2 instances, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate usage, regardless of instance family, size, OS, or region. This matches the requirement for a Reserved Instance-like discount with cross-service and cross-instance flexibility, which Reserved Instances cannot provide because they are tied to a specific instance family and region.
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.
- ✗
Reserved Instances
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances are tied to a specific instance type, region, and sometimes AZ and OS. They do not apply to Lambda or Fargate and are less flexible than Compute Savings Plans.
- ✗
Spot Instances
Why it's wrong here
Spot Instances provide discounts for interruption-tolerant workloads but cannot be committed to for a fixed term. They do not apply to Lambda or Fargate.
- ✓
Savings Plans
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans apply discounts on any combination of EC2 instances, Lambda, and Fargate compute spend in exchange for committing to a minimum hourly usage. This provides RI-level discounts with cross-service flexibility.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Dedicated Hosts
Why it's wrong here
Dedicated Hosts provide physical servers for single-customer use, often for licensing compliance. They are more expensive and do not apply discounts across compute services.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Reserved Instances with Savings Plans, assuming RIs also provide cross-service flexibility, but RIs are locked to a specific instance family and region, whereas Savings Plans (especially Compute Savings Plans) offer the broadest flexibility across EC2, Lambda, and Fargate.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
Savings Plans are applied at the account or organizational level and use a per-hour commitment (in USD) that is first applied to compute usage in a specific order: EC2 instance savings plans apply to a specific instance family within a region, while Compute Savings Plans apply to any compute service (EC2, Lambda, Fargate) across any region, instance family, or OS. The discount is calculated based on the on-demand rate minus the committed rate, and unused commitment is not refunded, making accurate forecasting critical for cost optimization.
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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Billing, Pricing, and Support — study guide chapter
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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: Savings Plans — Savings Plans (C) offer the flexibility to commit to a consistent hourly spend (e.g., $10/hour) and automatically apply the discount across EC2 instances, AWS Lambda, and AWS Fargate usage, regardless of instance family, size, OS, or region. This matches the requirement for a Reserved Instance-like discount with cross-service and cross-instance flexibility, which Reserved Instances cannot provide because they are tied to a specific instance family and region.
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.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
About these practice questions
Courseiva creates original exam-style practice questions with explanations and wrong-answer analysis. It does not publish real exam questions, exam dumps, or protected exam content. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
Same concept, more angles
2 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 has predictable workloads running 24/7. Which EC2 pricing option would provide the most significant cost savings compared to On-Demand pricing?
medium- A.Spot Instances
- B.On-Demand Instances
- ✓ C.Reserved Instances
- D.Dedicated Hosts
Why C: Reserved Instances (RIs) provide a significant discount (up to 72%) over On-Demand pricing in exchange for a one- or three-year commitment. Since the company has predictable, 24/7 workloads, RIs are the ideal choice because they match the steady-state usage pattern and offer the highest cost savings for always-on instances.
Variation 2. Which AWS pricing model provides the largest discount compared to On-Demand pricing in exchange for a 1 or 3-year commitment with full upfront payment?
easy- A.Spot Instances
- B.On-Demand Instances
- ✓ C.Reserved Instances (All Upfront, 3-year)
- D.Compute Savings Plans (1-year, No Upfront)
Why C: Reserved Instances (All Upfront, 3-year) provide the largest discount compared to On-Demand pricing because the customer commits to a 1- or 3-year term and pays the entire amount upfront, which gives AWS predictable capacity planning and reduces billing overhead. This model can offer discounts of up to 72% off On-Demand rates, significantly more than partial upfront or no upfront options, and is the most cost-effective for steady-state workloads.
Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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.
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