AWS · Free tool
Elastic IPs on stopped instances and unassociated addresses bill $0.005 per hour each. Count them, see the monthly total, and decide whether the cleanup sprint is worth fifteen minutes or a full afternoon.
Estimated monthly idle EIP cost
$0
$0 per year
| Idle addresses | 0 |
|---|---|
| Unassociated | 0 |
| On stopped instances | 0 |
| Per address / month | $0 |
Releasing an unassociated EIP is immediate savings with no downtime risk if DNS no longer points at the address. For stopped instances, disassociate first or start the instance if you still need the static IP.
Migration runbooks keep Elastic IPs during DNS cutover and never schedule the release step. Terraform destroys the instance but the address was allocated outside state. The line stays small until you multiply it across every sandbox account.
When is an Elastic IP free?
An Elastic IP is free while associated with a running EC2 instance or network interface. AWS charges $0.005 per hour when the address is unassociated or attached to a stopped instance.
Why do stopped instances still incur EIP charges?
Stopped instances are not running resources. The Elastic IP reservation persists, so AWS bills the hourly idle rate until you disassociate and release the address or start the instance again.
How do I find idle addresses quickly?
Run describe-addresses and filter for AssociationId null. Cross-check remaining associations against instance state and release addresses with no DNS dependency.
