AWS · Free tool
AWS EBS gp2 vs gp3 cost calculator
Plug in your provisioned EBS gp2 fleet. The calculator shows what gp3 would cost on the same workload, the monthly savings, and the annualized savings from migrating. No downtime, no detach, one CLI command per volume. The most-missed line in the AWS audit playbook.
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 125No detach, no snapshot, no restart. The volume stays attached and online. State goes optimizing then the modification completes. Run it during a quiet hour and forget about it.
Why this is the most-missed savings line
gp3 launched in December 2020. Volumes created before that date are still gp2 unless someone migrated them. AWS does not auto-convert. Most accounts run their compute fleet for years without anyone reviewing the EBS volume type.
For volumes above 333 GB, gp3 is straight cheaper. For everything else it depends on the IOPS profile, but the cases where gp2 wins are rare in practice. The audit pattern is to list every gp2 volume, sort by size, and migrate in batches starting with the largest ones.
The migration is the safest production change in the AWS catalog. No detach, no snapshot, no restart, no application change. Modify the volume type, wait for optimizing to complete, the volume is on the new type. Performance during the modification is unchanged. We have run hundreds of these against live databases without an incident.
Run this on your real account
Free 14-day audit, read-only IAM role, one-page CFO summary.
We pull every EBS volume in the account, identify the gp2 fleet that is overpaying, and hand the engineer the exact list with volume IDs and projected per-volume savings. The audit is free, the report is yours, no upsell call.
Frequently asked
Is gp3 always cheaper than gp2?
For nearly all workloads, yes. gp3 storage is 20 percent cheaper per GB than gp2 ($0.08 vs $0.10 in US regions). gp3 includes 3,000 IOPS and 125 MB/s with no extra charge. The break-even where gp2 wins is when you need under 1,000 IOPS on a tiny volume, which is rare in practice. For volumes above 333 GB, gp3 is always cheaper. Below that, it depends on whether you need the extra IOPS gp3 includes for free.
Does the migration require downtime?
No. AWS supports in-place volume modification from gp2 to gp3 with no detach, no snapshot, no instance restart. The volume stays attached and online. Performance during the modification is unchanged. The state goes through optimizing for a few minutes to a few hours depending on volume size, then the volume is fully on the new type. The aws ec2 modify-volume command runs against a live, attached volume.
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. Most teams created their EC2 fleet years ago, the volumes work, no one had a reason to touch them. The savings sits there waiting to be claimed. Most audits we run still find 60 to 80 percent of an accounts EBS provisioned space on gp2.
When should I stay on gp2?
Almost never. The two narrow cases: a volume under 100 GB where gp2 baseline IOPS (3 per GB) is enough and you do not need the 3,000 IOPS gp3 includes, AND you have an automation reason to leave the volume type alone. Both must be true. In every other case migrate.
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