I checked the free tier for t4g.small extended until the end of 2026 using CUR
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The Amazon EC2 t4g instance was released in 2020. A free trial has been available since its launch.
This free tier has been extended yearly, and at the end of last year, it was announced that the free trial period for the t4g.small instance would be extended until December 31, 2026.
I had the opportunity to verify that this extension was correctly reflected in the system as of January 2026 by checking the actual billing logs using Cost and Usage Report (CUR) 2.0, which I'll introduce here.
Verification Environment
Rather than using Cost Explorer's summary view, I referenced CUR 2.0 data exported to S3 to check detailed statements.
To eliminate the influence of special discounts or aggregations from resellers or organizations, I used a standalone account with personal credit card payment.
- Contract Type: Personal use (Direct AWS contract, standalone account)
- Period: January 1, 2026 to January 5, 2026
- Region: Asia Pacific (Tokyo) - ap-northeast-1
- Instance Type: t4g.small (AWS Graviton2)
- Operating Status: 24/7 continuous operation
December 2025 Billing Results
From the confirmed billing information for December 2025, I confirmed that the t4g.small instance cost was free.
Verification of Billing Data using CUR 2.0
I extracted records for January 4, 2026, to check the free tier application status. The actual CUR output data was as follows:
CUR Record Details (January 4, 2026)
| Field (English) | Field (Japanese) | Value |
|---|---|---|
| bill_billing_period_start_date | 請求期間開始 | 2026-01-01 00:00:00+00:00 |
| bill_billing_period_end_date | 請求期間終了 | 2026-02-01 00:00:00+00:00 |
| line_item_usage_start_date | 使用開始時刻 | 2026-01-04 00:00:00+00:00 |
| line_item_usage_end_date | 使用終了時刻 | 2026-01-05 00:00:00+00:00 |
| line_item_usage_type | 使用量タイプ | APN1-BoxUsage:t4g.small |
| line_item_usage_amount | 使用量 | 24.0 時間 |
| line_item_unblended_cost | 未ブレンドコスト | $0.0 |
| line_item_line_item_description | 説明 | $0.00 per On Demand Linux t4g.small Instance hour under 750 free hrs/month of t4g free trial ending Dec 31 2025 |
| line_item_resource_id | リソースID | i-******** |
| product_instance_type | インスタンスタイプ | t4g.small |
| product_region | リージョン | ap-northeast-1 |
Analysis from the Logs
I confirmed that the line_item_unblended_cost was $0.0, verifying that the free tier was correctly applied as of January 2026.
Note that at the time of writing (early January), the description text still shows "2025" as the end date, but based on the fact that the actual billing amount is calculated as $0, I determined that the extension period has already been applied in AWS's internal billing logic.
Verification of "Additional Costs"
In this t4g.small test environment, I confirmed that standard pay-as-you-go charges were still applied for the following resources:
1. EBS Volume (gp3)
While the instance is free, storage is still charged.
- Usage Type:
APN1-EBS:VolumeUsage.gp3 - Cost: About $0.08 / day (for 25GB)
- Calculation: $0.096 (GB-month) × 25GB ÷ days in month
2. IPv4 Public Address
Charges for public IPv4 addresses, which became paid from February 2024, were also incurred.
- Usage Type:
APN1-PublicIPv4:InUseAddress - Cost: $0.12 / day ($0.005 × 24 hours)
3. Data Transfer Out
In this verification, data transfer was minimal, so no additional costs were incurred. Please note that data transfer charges apply when transferring more than 100GB per month to the internet.
As a result of the verification, while the t4g.small itself is free, running it with a standard configuration (25GB EBS + Public IP) incurs maintenance costs of about $6.15 per month.
Cost Comparison between t4g.small and t3.small (Including Standard Rates)
In addition to this free tier extension, I compared the monthly maintenance costs for three patterns including normal rates after the free tier ends (or exceeds 750 hours per month) between the x86 architecture equivalent t3.small and t4g.small.
Monthly Maintenance Cost Estimate (750 hours/month operation - Tokyo Region)
| Item | ① t4g.small (Free Tier) | ② t4g.small (Standard Rate) | ③ t3.small (Standard Rate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| EC2 Instance | $0.00 | $12.60 | $15.60 |
| EBS (25GB gp3) | $2.40 | $2.40 | $2.40 |
| IPv4 Address | $3.75 | $3.75 | $3.75 |
| Monthly Total | $6.15 | $18.75 | $21.75 |
※ Prices are estimated based on Tokyo region on-demand rates (Linux) as of January 2026.
- t4g.small: $0.0168/hour
- t3.small: $0.0208/hour
- IPv4: $0.005/hour
Comparative Analysis
- Free Tier Cost Benefit:
When the free tier applies (①), it is $15.6 (about 2,300 yen) cheaper per month compared to the standard t3.small (③). - Graviton is Advantageous Even After Free Tier Ends:
Even after using up the free tier (②), t4g.small is about 19% cheaper ($12.60 vs $15.60) than t3.small for computational resources.
Limitations and Considerations
The t4g.small free tier has the following limitations. Please check the official FAQ page for details.
- One Account per Organization:
If you use AWS Organizations, the free tier (750 hours per month) is shared across the entire organization. Even if you run t4g.small instances on multiple accounts, only 750 hours in total will be free. - CPU Credits:
If you run high loads for extended periods in Unlimited mode (default), additional charges will occur when CPU credits are depleted. The free tier only applies to "instance running time," not surplus CPU credit charges.
Summary
Based on actual CUR 2.0 data, I confirmed that the t4g.small free tier is correctly applied until December 31, 2026. I recommend using t4g.small for ARM architecture workload verification, development environments, or lightweight servers that run continuously.
Also, when operating t4g.small under the free tier, about 60% of the total cost was for the IPv4 address ($3.75). To minimize costs, a configuration without a public IPv4 would be effective, but I plan to further verify the practicality of configurations using only IPv6 addresses and private IPv4 addresses.
