What is AWS Lambda's pricing model?

AWS Lambda, a serverless compute service provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS), has a unique pricing model that charges users based on the number of requests and the compute time used to run their functions. The pricing components for AWS Lambda are as follows:

1. Requests: You are charged based on the number of requests made to your Lambda functions. Each time a request triggers a Lambda function, it is counted as one request. Requests are billed separately from compute time.

2. Compute Time: AWS Lambda charges for the compute time it takes to execute your function code. You are billed in increments of 100 milliseconds, and the total compute time is calculated based on the amount of memory allocated to the function.

3. Memory Allocation: AWS Lambda allows you to configure the amount of memory allocated to your function, ranging from 128 MB to 3008 MB. The amount of memory you allocate also determines the CPU power, network bandwidth, and ephemeral storage available to your function.

4. Duration: The duration of your function's execution is rounded up to the nearest 100-millisecond increment, and you are billed accordingly. For example, if your function runs for 150 ms, you will be billed for 200 ms of compute time.

5. Pricing by Region: The pricing for Lambda may vary by AWS region. Different regions may have slightly different pricing rates.

6. Free Tier: AWS offers a free tier for Lambda, which includes 1 million free requests and 400,000 GB-seconds of compute time per month for the first 12 months after signing up for an AWS account.

It's important to note that you pay only for the compute time and resources consumed during the execution of your function. AWS Lambda automatically scales and provisions resources as needed to handle the incoming request load, and you are not charged for idle or unused resources.

AWS Lambda's pricing model makes it cost-effective for applications with varying workloads, as you only pay for the actual resources used during function execution. The combination of on-demand scaling and precise billing based on execution time and memory allocation makes Lambda an effective choice for serverless computing, as it allows you to focus on your code and its functionality without worrying about infrastructure costs.