Question 491 of 988
CLF-C02 Billing, Pricing, and Support Practice Question
A company has been using Amazon EC2 instances for a production application for the past 12 months. The finance team wants to understand historical spending patterns and identify opportunities to reduce costs. Specifically, they need to see which EC2 instance families and sizes are being underutilized and get recommendations for purchasing Reserved Instances to save money compared to current On-Demand pricing. The team wants to use a native AWS tool that provides a visual dashboard of costs, usage trends, and actionable recommendations. Which AWS tool should the finance team use?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to confuse AWS Compute Optimizer (which focuses on right-sizing) with Cost Explorer (which provides both historical cost visualization and RI purchase recommendations), leading them to choose D instead of C.
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
✓
AWS Cost Explorer
AWS Cost Explorer is the correct choice because it provides a visual dashboard of historical cost and usage data, including the ability to filter by EC2 instance families and sizes to identify underutilized resources. It also offers Reserved Instance (RI) purchase recommendations based on historical On-Demand usage, enabling the finance team to compare costs and identify savings opportunities directly within the native AWS console.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
AWS Budgets
Why it's wrong here
AWS Budgets allows you to set spending limits and receive alerts when costs exceed thresholds, but it does not provide historical cost analysis, usage trends, or Reserved Instance recommendations. It is not designed for exploring past spending or identifying specific optimization opportunities.
When this WOULD be correct
A finance team wants to set a cost threshold for EC2 usage and receive alerts when spending exceeds that threshold, without needing historical analysis or RI recommendations. AWS Budgets would be the correct tool for monitoring and alerting on cost limits.
- ✗
AWS Trusted Advisor
Why it's wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor includes cost optimization checks and can suggest Reserved Instances, but it lacks a detailed historical cost and usage dashboard. It does not offer the same granularity for analyzing trends over time or visualizing spending by instance family.
When this WOULD be correct
A company wants a quick, automated assessment of their AWS account against best practices, including cost optimization checks like identifying idle resources or underutilized EC2 instances, and they need a prioritized list of recommendations without requiring a custom dashboard. The question would ask for a tool that provides a high-level overview of cost savings opportunities and other best practice checks.
- ✓
AWS Cost Explorer
Why this is correct
AWS Cost Explorer is the correct tool. It provides an interactive dashboard of historical costs and usage, allows filtering by EC2 instance family, and generates Reserved Instance purchase recommendations based on your past usage. It is specifically designed for cost analysis and optimization.
- ✗
AWS Compute Optimizer
Why it's wrong here
AWS Compute Optimizer provides right-sizing recommendations based on instance utilization metrics, but it does not analyze cost history or provide Reserved Instance recommendations. While it helps reduce costs by suggesting instance type changes, it does not fulfill the requirement for historical spending analysis.
When this WOULD be correct
AWS Compute Optimizer would be correct if the question asked: 'Which AWS tool analyzes EC2 instance utilization patterns and recommends optimal instance types and sizes to reduce cost and improve performance?' It focuses on right-sizing, not cost history or RI purchasing.
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.
✓AWS Cost ExplorerCorrect answer▾
Why this is correct
AWS Cost Explorer is the correct tool. It provides an interactive dashboard of historical costs and usage, allows filtering by EC2 instance family, and generates Reserved Instance purchase recommendations based on your past usage. It is specifically designed for cost analysis and optimization.
✗AWS BudgetsWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Budgets allows you to set cost and usage budgets and receive alerts, but it does not provide a visual dashboard of historical spending patterns, underutilized EC2 instance families, or specific Reserved Instance purchase recommendations.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A finance team wants to set a cost threshold for EC2 usage and receive alerts when spending exceeds that threshold, without needing historical analysis or RI recommendations. AWS Budgets would be the correct tool for monitoring and alerting on cost limits.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse AWS Budgets with Cost Explorer because both involve cost management, but Budgets focuses on alerting against set limits rather than analyzing historical data and providing savings recommendations.
✗AWS Trusted AdvisorWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Trusted Advisor provides cost optimization recommendations, but it does not offer a visual dashboard of historical cost and usage trends or detailed Reserved Instance purchase recommendations. The question specifically requires a tool with a visual dashboard for historical spending analysis and RI recommendations, which is AWS Cost Explorer.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
A company wants a quick, automated assessment of their AWS account against best practices, including cost optimization checks like identifying idle resources or underutilized EC2 instances, and they need a prioritized list of recommendations without requiring a custom dashboard. The question would ask for a tool that provides a high-level overview of cost savings opportunities and other best practice checks.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Trusted Advisor's cost optimization checks with the more comprehensive cost analysis and visualization capabilities of Cost Explorer, or they may think Trusted Advisor's recommendations include detailed RI purchase advice.
✗AWS Compute OptimizerWrong answer — click to see why▾
Why this is wrong here
AWS Compute Optimizer provides recommendations for optimal instance types and sizes based on utilization, but it does not offer a visual dashboard of historical cost and usage trends or Reserved Instance purchase recommendations. The question specifically requires a tool for historical spending analysis and RI recommendations, which is Cost Explorer's function.
★ When this WOULD be the correct answer
AWS Compute Optimizer would be correct if the question asked: 'Which AWS tool analyzes EC2 instance utilization patterns and recommends optimal instance types and sizes to reduce cost and improve performance?' It focuses on right-sizing, not cost history or RI purchasing.
Why candidates choose this
Candidates may confuse Compute Optimizer's right-sizing recommendations with cost optimization, but it lacks the cost dashboard and RI analysis features that Cost Explorer provides.
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?”
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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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