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AWS · Free tool

AWS EBS gp2 vs gp3 cost calculator

Plug in the gp2 fleet. The calculator shows what gp3 would cost on the same workload, the monthly savings, and the annualized upside from migrating. No downtime, no detach, one CLI command per volume.

Rates

Side-by-side monthly cost

gp2 current

$0

per month

gp3 after migration

$0

per month

Net monthly savings

$0

gp3 storage

$0

gp3 extra IOPS

$0

Above 3,000 included.

gp3 extra throughput

$0

Above 125 MB/s included.

Annualized savings

$0

12 months of the gp3 migration.

The migration is one CLI command per volume

aws ec2 modify-volume \
  --volume-id vol-xxxxxxxx \
  --volume-type gp3 \
  --iops 3000 \
  --throughput 125

No detach, no snapshot, no restart. The volume stays attached and online.

Why this line is missed

gp3 launched in December 2020. Volumes created before then are still gp2 unless someone migrated them. AWS does not auto-convert, and most accounts run their compute fleet for years without reviewing EBS type.

For volumes above 333 GB, gp3 is straight cheaper. For smaller volumes it depends on the IOPS profile, but the cases where gp2 wins are rare. Sort gp2 volumes by size and migrate the largest batches first.

The production change is simple: no detach, no snapshot, no restart, and no application change. Modify the volume type, wait for optimizing to complete, and the volume is on gp3.

Run this on your real account

Free 14-day audit, read-only IAM role, one-page CFO summary.

We pull every EBS volume, identify the gp2 fleet that is overpaying, and hand engineering the exact volume IDs with projected per-volume savings.

Frequently asked

Is gp3 always cheaper than gp2?

For nearly all workloads, yes. gp3 storage is 20 percent cheaper per GB than gp2 in US regions. gp3 includes 3,000 IOPS and 125 MB/s with no extra charge. For volumes above 333 GB, gp3 is always cheaper.

Does the migration require downtime?

No. AWS supports in-place modification from gp2 to gp3 with no detach, no snapshot, and no instance restart. The volume stays attached and online while the state moves through optimizing.

Why do most accounts still have gp2?

gp3 launched in December 2020. Volumes created before that date defaulted to gp2 and never migrated themselves. AWS does not auto-convert, so the saving stays hidden until someone audits EBS volume types.

When should I stay on gp2?

Almost never. The narrow case is a small volume where gp2 baseline IOPS is enough, you do not need gp3 included performance, and there is an automation reason to leave the type alone.

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