Amazon WorkSpaces offers two virtual desktop options to support a variety of use cases and usage patterns.
Amazon WorkSpaces Personal
WorkSpaces Personal provides persistent virtual desktops for users such as developers, knowledge workers, and others who need to install applications, save files and data, and retain settings on their desktops for a personalized desktop experience. Users access the same virtual desktop each time they sign in.
Amazon WorkSpaces Pools
WorkSpaces Pools provides nonpersistent virtual desktops for users such as task workers and contact center employees who may not need to store files, data, and settings on their desktops. With WorkSpaces Pools, users access a fresh virtual desktop each time they sign in. Admins can enable some user settings, bookmarks, and files to be stored in a central storage repository like Amazon S3 or Amazon FSx to be accessed when the user starts a new session. Pools of virtual desktops can be configured to support any number of concurrent users, with customer-defined scaling policies in place to help optimize costs.
Pricing overview
WorkSpaces Personal provides virtual desktops with two pricing options:
- AlwaysOn virtual desktops are billed at a predictable, flat monthly rate for unlimited usage and provide instant access for users who use the service as their primary desktop.
- AutoStop hourly metering stops billing when a virtual desktop is not in use, preserving the state of apps and data, and resumes automatically when users sign on. It does not provide instant user access since the WorkSpaces instances require a short amount of start-up time before they are ready to use. Billing for AutoStop virtual desktops includes a low monthly base fee and an hourly fee when the instance is in use. AutoStop instances are best suited for part-time or occasional virtual desktop users.
WorkSpaces Pools offers hourly billing that combines a low monthly fee with an hourly fee when virtual desktops within the pool are in use. This allows for predictable costs for regular use and efficient billing for variable or sporadic needs.
Pools are charged an hourly usage fee based on the bundle chosen only for the instances connected to users. Virtual desktops within the pool that are not connected to users are charged a stopped-instance fee per hour, depending on the Region.
Windows licensing
Windows bundles for WorkSpaces Personal and WorkSpaces Pools include a Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Subscriber Access License (SAL) for each user. For WorkSpaces Pools, the license fee is incurred for each user who accesses a virtual desktop during the month in which a virtual desktop session occurs. You will be charged a monthly fee of $4.19 per user for each license. The license is charged in full and is not pro-rated, regardless of how often users access the virtual desktops in the month. WorkSpaces Personal allows you to bring your own licenses for Windows 10 or 11. To learn more about BYOL, visit Bring Your Own Windows Desktop Licenses.
Note: All WorkSpaces pricing includes the use of AWS Directory Service for Simple AD and AD Connector (where available). The use of AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory is not included. Learn more about AWS Directory Service pricing.
Pricing
-
WorkSpaces Personal
-
WorkSpaces Pools
-
WorkSpaces Personal
-
-
Ubuntu
-
Amazon Linux
-
Windows
-
Windows (BYOL)
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
-
Ubuntu
-
-
Amazon Linux
-
-
Windows
-
Each Windows Bundle Option includes a Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Subscriber Access License (SAL) per WorkSpace
-
Windows (BYOL)
-
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux
-
-
-
WorkSpaces Pools
-
-
Windows
-
Windows
-
Each Windows Bundle Option includes a Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Subscriber Access License (SAL) per WorkSpace with a monthly fee of $4.19 per user charged in addition to the hourly pricing.
Nonpersistent desktops do not include user volume
-
Note: For the best experience with video conferencing we recommend using Power or PowerPro bundles only.
Virtual desktop bundles
The table below includes representative examples of virtual desktop workloads and the recommended bundle(s) for each, applicable to WorkSpaces Personal and WorkSpaces Pools. You can change bundles and customize them at any time.
| End-user Category | Workload Type | Example Users | Use Cases | Recommended Bundle(s) |
| End-users who conduct single task and use minimal applications | Light | Task workers, Front desk users | Data entry applications, Text editing, Bastion host | Value |
| Light-to-Medium | Task workers, Front desk users, Contact center employees | Data entry applications, Text editing, Bastion host, Live chat, Email, Messaging apps | Standard | |
| End-users who create complex spreadsheets, presentations, and large documents | Medium | Task workers, Contact center employees, Business analysts | Data entry applications, Live chat, Email, Messaging apps, Audio conferencing | Performance |
| End-users with high performance workloads | Medium-to-Heavy | Contact center employees, Knowledge worker, Software developers, Business intelligence analysts | Audio/Video conferencing, Software development using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) | Power |
| Heavy | Contact center employees, Knowledge worker, Software developers, Data scientists | Audio/Video conferencing, Screen sharing, Software development using an Integrated Development Environment (IDE), Big data analysis | PowerPro | |
| End-users with workloads that require graphics and heavy compute/memory resources | Heavy-to-Accelerated | Graphics/Architecture designers, CAD/CAM users | Graphics-intensive applications, such as remote graphics workstations, Computer | Graphics.g4dn |
| Accelerated | Video editors, Gamers and game developers, Data miner, GIS data engineers, AI scientists | Video transcoding and 3D rendering, Photo-realistic design, Graphics workstations, Game streaming, ML model training, ML inference | GraphicsPro, GraphicsPro.g4dn |
Pricing examples
WorkSpaces Personal pricing example
Using the US West (Oregon) Region, you launch virtual desktops for two sets of users. The first group of 100 users requires the monthly subscription option because they will use WorkSpaces as their full-time desktop for general productivity, while the second group of 10 users is better suited to hourly metering as they require occasional access to higher-performance machines.
For the first group of 100 users, you select the Windows Standard Bundle with a root volume of 175 GB and user volume of 100 GB running on Windows with a fixed monthly price of $44. per machine. Monthly spend for this group of users is as follows:
100 users x $44 monthly cost = $4,400 per month for first group of 100 users
For the second group of 10 part-time users, you select an Ubuntu Linux Power Bundle with a root volume of 80 GB and user volume of 10 GB with hourly metering. This virtual desktop has a fixed price of $7.25 per month + $0.66 per hour. Assuming each of the 10 users spends 5 hours per week on their virtual desktop (20 hours a month), monthly spend for this group of users is calculated as follows:
10 users x $7.25 monthly cost = $72.50 access cost
5 hours x 10 users x 4 weeks = 200 hours of usage
200 hours of usage x $0.66 per hour = $132 hourly usage cost
$72.50 access cost + $132 hourly usage cost = $204.50 per month for second group of 10 part-time users.
Total bill for the first and second group of users: $4, 400 + $204.50 = $4,604.50 per month.
WorkSpaces Pools pricing example
Using the US West (Oregon) Region, at the beginning of the month, you set up Standard bundle virtual desktops running Windows with an hourly usage price of $0.10. The expected usage pattern is 40 hours per week, Monday to Friday for 100 users during business hours.
For times you might require additional users, you plan a buffer of 10 users (10% of 100 users) to be able to access the pool. Assuming these 10 users do not log in the entire month, the monthly spend is calculated as follows:
(40 hours x 52 weeks) ÷ 12 months = 173.33 hours of usage during business hours per month.
173.33 hours x 100 concurrent users x $0.10 hourly price = $1,733.33 usage cost
$4.19 monthly Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Subscriber Access License (SAL) fee x 100 users = $419 RDS SAL cost
For the buffer of 10 additional users that have not logged in for the month, the stopped instance fee is charged as follows:
173.33 hours x 10 users = 1733.3 hours of stopped instances
1733.30 hours x $0.025 hourly stopped instance fee = $43.33
Total bill: $1,733.33 usage cost + $419 RDS SAL cost + $43.33 additional buffer users cost = $2,195.66 per month.
Multi-Region Resilience
Multi-Region Resilience is available on WorkSpaces Personal and provisions standby WorkSpaces in a secondary AWS Region of your choice. Pricing components are similar to regular WorkSpaces, with hourly metering options. You pay a small, fixed monthly fee per virtual desktop to cover infrastructure and storage costs, and a low, flat rate for each hour of usage during the month. Because you only access your standby WorkSpaces when performing maintenance work or when your WorkSpaces are not reachable in your primary Region, they are offered at a lower fixed monthly fee than regular WorkSpaces. You can mix the standby WorkSpaces and regular WorkSpaces within your AWS account.
Note: Multi-Region Resilience is currently supported by WorkSpaces Personal only.
-
Windows Bundle Options
-
Windows Bundle Options - Bring Your Own License (BYOL) *
-
Windows Bundle Options
-
Each Windows Bundle Option includes a Microsoft Remote Desktop Services (RDS) Subscriber Access License (SAL) per WorkSpace
-
Windows Bundle Options - Bring Your Own License (BYOL) *
-
Note:
- Hourly billing consists of an hourly rate charged when your standby WorkSpaces are running, and a monthly fee for fixed infrastructure costs. With hourly billing, standby WorkSpaces that are not being used automatically stop after a specified period of inactivity, and hourly charges are suspended.
- Standby WorkSpaces only provide an hourly metering option even if your primary WorkSpaces are using monthly metering option.
- Amazon WorkSpaces Multi-Region Resilience provisions standby WorkSpaces in your preferred secondary Region using the same bundle of selected WorkSpaces in your primary Region without copying the root volume and user volume. Therefore, the standby WorkSpaces will provide the same hardware configurations as your primary WorkSpaces without preserving your applications and user data.
- Amazon WorkSpaces Multi-Region Resilience pricing includes the use of AWS Directory Service for Simple Active Directory and Active Directory Connector (where available). The use of AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory is not included. Details about AWS Directory Service pricing can be found here.
For more information, please see the Amazon WorkSpaces FAQs.
Pricing Example 1: Create standby WorkSpaces
In your primary Region, US West (Oregon,) you launched WorkSpaces for 100 users who require the monthly subscription option because they will use WorkSpaces as their full-time desktop for general productivity. In your secondary Region, US East (N. Virginia), you created 100 standby WorkSpaces for the same group of users.
In your primary Region, you select the Windows Value Bundle with 1vCPU, 2 GB memory, 80 GB root volume and 10 GB user volume, running on Windows with a fixed price of $25 per machine per month. With the monthly subscription option, users have unlimited access to their WorkSpaces. Monthly spend for this group of users is 100 users x $25 per WorkSpace for a total of $2,500 per month.
In your secondary Region, the standby WorkSpaces will have the same, but with hourly metering. With hourly metering, the standby WorkSpace has a fixed price of $3.25 per month + $0.22 per hour. Let’s assume you will update 100 WorkSpaces in your primary Region monthly. Accordingly, the system updates each standby WorkSpace automatically using the latest bundles of your primary WorkSpace, which will take 1 hour per month per WorkSpace. Monthly spend for the standby WorkSpaces is calculated as follows:
100 users x $3.25 access cost = $325 flat access cost
100 hour of usage x $0.22 = $22 variable hourly usage cost
$325 access cost + $22 hourly usage cost = $347 total bill
Your total bill for US West (Oregon) and US East (N. Virginia) is $2,847 per month.
Pricing example 1: Create standby WorkSpaces
In your primary Region, US West (Oregon,) you launched WorkSpaces for 100 users who require the monthly subscription option because they will use WorkSpaces as their full-time desktop for general productivity.
In your secondary Region, US East (N. Virginia), you created 100 standby WorkSpaces for the same group of users. In your primary Region, you select the Windows Value Bundle with a fixed price of $25 per machine per month.
Monthly spend for this group of users: 100 users x $25 per WorkSpace = $2,500 per month.
In your secondary Region, the standby WorkSpaces will have the same configuration, but with hourly metering. The standby WorkSpace has a fixed price of $3.25 per month + $0.22 per hour.
Assuming you will update 100 WorkSpaces in your primary Region monthly, requiring 1 hour per month per WorkSpace. Monthly spend for the standby WorkSpaces is calculated as follows:
100 users x $3.25 access cost = $325 access cost
100 hours of usage x $0.22 = $22 hourly usage cost
$325 access cost + $22 hourly usage cost = $347 total bill
Your total bill for US West (Oregon) and US East (N. Virginia): $2,500 primary WorkSpaces cost + $347 standby WorkSpaces cost = $2,847 per month total cost
Data replication
You can enable data replication for your standby WorkSpaces through Multi-Region Resilience to automatically replicate root and user volume data from your primary WorkSpaces to your standby WorkSpaces. Data replication incurs a monthly fee per gigabyte of storage of the primary WorkSpaces root and user volumes.
Note:
- Data replication is only available for standby WorkSpaces through Amazon WorkSpaces Multi-Region Resilience.
- Data replication is one-way, replicating data from your primary Region to the secondary Region.
- Enabling data replication incurs monthly fees, which are prorated for only the first month. In subsequent months, the monthly fees are incurred for the full month.
- The data replication fee is calculated based on the per-GB storage size of the root volume and user volume of your primary WorkSpaces. If you modify the volume size of your primary WorkSpaces, the volume size of your standby WorkSpaces and the data replication fee will change accordingly.
- Data replication pricing includes the use of AWS Directory Service for Active Directory Connector (where available). The use of AWS Directory Service for Microsoft Active Directory is not included in the data replication pricing. Details about AWS Directory Service pricing can be found here.
For more information, please see the Amazon WorkSpaces FAQs.
Pricing Example 2: Enable one-way data replication for existing standby WorkSpaces
In your primary Region, US East (N. Virginia), you currently have 100 Windows Performance WorkSpaces.
In your secondary Region, US West (Oregon), you have 100 Performance standby WorkSpaces with the same configuration. You've now enabled data replication for the standby WorkSpaces, allowing the root volume and user volume data to replicate from your primary Region to the secondary Region.
The monthly cost for enabling data replication for 100 Performance standby WorkSpaces is calculated as follows:
(80GB root volume + 50GB user volume) x monthly fee of $0.08 per GB x 100 WorkSpaces = $1,040 per month
Free tier
WorkSpaces Personal
Two Standard Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, Windows, or Amazon Linux virtual desktops bundles with 80 GB Root and 50 GB User volumes, running in hourly metering mode, for up to 40 hours of combined use per month for the first three months using WorkSpaces.
WorkSpaces Pools
Two Standard Windows virtual desktop bundles with 200 GB Root volume, running in hourly metering mode, for up to 40 hours of combined use per month for the first three months using WorkSpaces.
Education pricing
WorkSpaces Personal
Education pricing is available for WorkSpaces for qualified educational users of Microsoft Windows. With this offer, education organizations save $3.52 per user per month or $0.03 per user per hour by using licensing discounts from Microsoft. You can take advantage of this discount if you qualify, based on Microsoft Licensing Terms and Documentation. If you think you might qualify, please create a case. Select Regarding: Account and Billing Support, Service: Billing, Category: Qualify as Educational Institution, and enter the required info. We will review your information and work with you to reduce your fees and costs.
**The offer expires on April 1, 2025, regardless of when you started receiving benefits under the offer. After April 1, 2025, the WorkSpaces you launched during the promotion period will automatically be billed at the applicable rate unless removed. When calculating your use of Ubuntu WorkSpaces under this offer, we will aggregate your use across all AWS Regions. We can terminate this offer at any time, for any reason.
WorkSpaces Pools
Schools, universities, and certain public institutions may qualify for a reduced Microsoft RDS SAL user fee of $0.44 per user per month. Please refer to the Microsoft Licensing Terms and Documents for qualification requirements. If you think you qualify, please contact us.
If you have Microsoft License Mobility, you may be eligible to bring your own Microsoft RDS Server Access Licenses (SAL) and use them with WorkSpaces Pools. For users covered by your own licenses, you won’t incur monthly user fees. To learn more, visit License Mobility or consult with your Microsoft representative.
Discover more Amazon WorkSpaces resources