- A
Purchase an EC2 Instance Reserved Instance for the current instance family only, and rely on On-Demand pricing for Lambda and any future EC2 types.
Why wrong: EC2 Instance Reserved Instances discount EC2 usage for a specific instance family (and matching attributes). They do not apply to AWS Lambda, so Lambda usage would stay On-Demand. They also reduce flexibility if the team later changes instance families/types.
- B
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan with a 1-year term for the expected average hourly spend across both EC2 and Lambda.
Compute Savings Plans provide discounts on eligible compute usage for EC2 and AWS Lambda (among other services) based on a committed $/hour amount. They do not require committing to a specific instance family/type, and they allow the team to change EC2 instance types and adjust which Lambda functions run while still receiving the discount.
- C
Purchase a Standard Reserved Instance for a specific Region and use it only to reduce network egress/transfer charges.
Why wrong: Reserved Instances discounts EC2 instance usage (compute). They do not directly discount network egress or S3/other transfer charges. This choice also does not cover Lambda discounts.
- D
Use EC2 Spot for EC2 workloads and keep Lambda on-demand, because Spot will automatically discount Lambda too.
Why wrong: EC2 Spot pricing applies to EC2 capacity only and does not automatically extend to AWS Lambda. Spot also introduces interruption risk for EC2, which may not align with the goal of a steady discount-based commitment across mixed EC2 and Lambda compute usage.
Quick Answer
The answer is to purchase a Compute Savings Plan with a 1-year term for the expected average hourly spend across both EC2 and Lambda. This is correct because a Compute Savings Plan provides the lowest-cost commitment that discounts both EC2 and Lambda usage while offering maximum flexibility—it automatically applies a consistent hourly discount to compute usage up to the committed amount, regardless of EC2 instance family, size, region, or whether you switch between EC2, Lambda, and Fargate. On the SAA-C03 exam, this question tests your understanding of the three Savings Plan types (Compute, EC2 Instance, and SageMaker) and the key distinction that only Compute Plans cover Lambda and allow instance family changes. A common trap is choosing an EC2 Instance Savings Plan, which locks you into a specific instance family in a region, failing the startup’s requirement for flexibility. Memory tip: “Compute covers all compute—EC2, Lambda, and Fargate—while EC2 locks you to a family.”
SAA-C03 Design Cost-Optimized Architectures Practice Question
This SAA-C03 practice question tests your understanding of design cost-optimized architectures. 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 startup runs a mix of workloads using both EC2 instances and AWS Lambda functions. Over the next 12 months, the team expects the overall level of compute usage to be fairly steady, but they may change EC2 instance types for performance tuning and they may add or remove Lambda functions. They want the lowest-cost commitment that will discount *both* EC2 and Lambda usage without requiring them to commit to a specific EC2 instance family (or a fixed instance type). Which AWS option best meets this requirement?
Clue words in this question
Noticing these words before you look at the options changes how you read each choice.
Clue:
"best"Why it matters: Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
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
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan with a 1-year term for the expected average hourly spend across both EC2 and Lambda.
B is correct because a Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest cost commitment that covers both EC2 and Lambda usage, with flexibility to change instance families, sizes, regions (within the same AWS organization), and even switch between EC2 and Fargate. It applies a consistent hourly discount to compute usage up to the committed amount, regardless of instance type or compute service, meeting the startup's need for a steady workload with potential changes.
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.
- ✗
Purchase an EC2 Instance Reserved Instance for the current instance family only, and rely on On-Demand pricing for Lambda and any future EC2 types.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Instance Reserved Instances discount EC2 usage for a specific instance family (and matching attributes). They do not apply to AWS Lambda, so Lambda usage would stay On-Demand. They also reduce flexibility if the team later changes instance families/types.
- ✓
Purchase a Compute Savings Plan with a 1-year term for the expected average hourly spend across both EC2 and Lambda.
Why this is correct
Compute Savings Plans provide discounts on eligible compute usage for EC2 and AWS Lambda (among other services) based on a committed $/hour amount. They do not require committing to a specific instance family/type, and they allow the team to change EC2 instance types and adjust which Lambda functions run while still receiving the discount.
Clue confirmation
The clue word "best" in the question point toward this answer.
Related concept
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
- ✗
Purchase a Standard Reserved Instance for a specific Region and use it only to reduce network egress/transfer charges.
Why it's wrong here
Reserved Instances discounts EC2 instance usage (compute). They do not directly discount network egress or S3/other transfer charges. This choice also does not cover Lambda discounts.
- ✗
Use EC2 Spot for EC2 workloads and keep Lambda on-demand, because Spot will automatically discount Lambda too.
Why it's wrong here
EC2 Spot pricing applies to EC2 capacity only and does not automatically extend to AWS Lambda. Spot also introduces interruption risk for EC2, which may not align with the goal of a steady discount-based commitment across mixed EC2 and Lambda compute usage.
Common exam traps
Common exam trap: answer the scenario, not the keyword
The trap here is that candidates often confuse Compute Savings Plans with EC2 Instance Savings Plans or Reserved Instances, assuming any 'Savings Plan' requires a specific instance family, when in fact Compute Savings Plans offer the broadest flexibility across EC2, Lambda, and Fargate.
Detailed technical explanation
How to think about this question
A Compute Savings Plan applies a flat hourly commitment (e.g., $10/hour) and automatically discounts eligible compute usage (EC2, Lambda, Fargate) up to that amount, with any excess billed at On-Demand rates. The discount is applied based on the compute resources consumed (vCPU and memory), not instance type, so changing instance families or adding Lambda functions still receives the same percentage discount. This plan is ideal for workloads with predictable baseline usage but variable compute configurations, as it avoids the 1-year or 3-year term lock-in to specific instance families that Reserved Instances require.
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
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FAQ
Questions learners often ask
What does this SAA-C03 question test?
Design Cost-Optimized Architectures — This question tests Design Cost-Optimized Architectures — Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer..
What is the correct answer to this question?
The correct answer is: Purchase a Compute Savings Plan with a 1-year term for the expected average hourly spend across both EC2 and Lambda. — B is correct because a Compute Savings Plan offers the lowest cost commitment that covers both EC2 and Lambda usage, with flexibility to change instance families, sizes, regions (within the same AWS organization), and even switch between EC2 and Fargate. It applies a consistent hourly discount to compute usage up to the committed amount, regardless of instance type or compute service, meeting the startup's need for a steady workload with potential changes.
What should I do if I get this SAA-C03 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: "best". Signals that multiple options may be partially correct. Choose the option that most directly solves the exact problem described, not the one that sounds most complete.
What is the key concept behind this question?
Read the scenario before looking for a memorised answer.
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Last reviewed: Jun 11, 2026
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