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Key takeaways
1
AWS FinOps Agent launched in free public preview in us-east-1. Underlying API charges still apply.
2
EC2 M9g is available in four Regions, offering up to 25% better compute performance than Graviton4.
3
S3 Vectors automatically cuts query costs by up to 80% for indexes exceeding 10 million vectors.
4
RDS Performance Insights moved to CloudWatch Database Insights, while Bedrock Agents Classic closed to new customers.
5
New Bedrock models and AgentCore offer more options for building and managing AI agents.
The short answer
AWS June 2026 updates delivered the platform’s first dedicated FinOps Agent in preview in us-east-1, general availability of Graviton5-based EC2 M9g instances, and an automatic S3 Vectors query-price reduction for large indexes.The items that need action are commitment coverage and completed lifecycle transitions: verify Savings Plans coverage before migrating to M9g, confirm each RDS instance’s CloudWatch Database Insights mode and retention settings, and use AgentCore for net-new Bedrock agent projects. Most of the rest is upside down and you can capture with little risk.
Your June 2026 action checklist
1
Test AWS FinOps Agent on your largest account after enabling Cost Optimization Hub and Compute Optimizer.
2
Check Savings Plan coverage before migrating from M8g to M9g.
3
Compare May and June S3 Vectors costs to confirm savings.
4
Review each RDS instance’s Database Insights mode and retention.
5
Use AgentCore for new Bedrock agent projects.
AWS FinOps Agent: use the preview to learn how AWS reads your bill
The AWS FinOps Agent is AWS’s first AI tool built specifically for cloud cost management. In public preview since June 9, 2026, it answers natural-language cost questions, surfaces rightsizing and Savings Plans recommendations from Cost Optimization Hub and Compute Optimizer, investigates anomalies, and routes findings into Slack or Jira. It can also run recurring cost workflows on a schedule.Two details temper the “free” headline. AWS offers FinOps Agent at no additional charge during preview, but standard charges still apply to underlying API requests, including Cost Explorer API requests, as explained in the AWS FinOps Agent use-case documentation and Cloud Financial Management announcement. The preview is read-oriented: it investigates, reports, and files tickets, but does not resize, stop, or delete resources. A person still approves and acts.
Although the agent currently runs only in us-east-1, it covers cost and usage across commercial AWS Regions. For more context, see our FinOps X 2026 takeaways on managing AI spend. The practical move is to use the preview window to test its recommendations and identify any underlying API costs before paid terms arrive.
Graviton5 and M9g: check commitment coverage before migrating
AWS Graviton5, available in EC2 M9g and M9gd, reached general availability on June 10, 2026. AWS reports up to 25% better compute performance than comparable Graviton4-based instances, including gains for web applications, machine-learning inference, and databases.At launch, M9g and M9gd were available in US East (N. Virginia), US East (Ohio), US West (Oregon), and Europe (Frankfurt). Pricing and realized price-performance vary by Region, instance size, purchase option, and workload, so benchmark your application against current EC2 prices before migrating.
Early production results reinforce the performance case: ClickHouse reported a 36% boost without code changes, Honeycomb measured 36% better throughput per core, and HubSpot saw MySQL query duration fall by as much as 60% after moving RDS instances to M9g.
The FinOps question is coverage. Compute Savings Plans follow eligible usage across instance families, so M9g workloads remain covered. EC2 Instance Savings Plans are family-specific; an M8g plan does not cover M9g. Moving too early can therefore shift usage to on-demand rates.
Verify coverage first, migrate second, and add commitments only after the new baseline is clear. Our guides to Savings Plans versus Reserved Instances and Compute versus EC2 Instance Savings Plans explain how coverage behaves during family changes. For databases, review your RDS Reserved Instance strategy before committing to M9g.
S3 Vectors and GameLift: verify the passive savings
Amazon S3 Vectors reduced query data-processing charges by up to 80% for indexes with more than 10 million vectors. The change applies automatically in supported Regions and requires no application update. Smaller indexes receive little or no benefit, so confirm the change in your Cost and Usage Report instead of applying a flat savings estimate.Amazon GameLift Servers also made network bandwidth into and out of AWS free for generation-six-and-later instances, for both On-Demand and Spot usage, in supported Regions except China. If you use those instances, compare data-transfer line items across billing periods to verify the reduction.
Bedrock and AgentCore: revisit the build-versus-managed decision
June expanded model choice in Amazon Bedrock with Google’s Gemma 4, xAI’s Grok 4.3, and Anthropic’s Claude Fable 5. Because model access and prices change frequently, confirm current terms on the Amazon Bedrock pricing page before building a cost model around one provider.The Amazon Bedrock AgentCore harness also reached general availability. Teams can define a model, tools, and instructions in configuration while AWS manages the orchestration loop, compute, memory, identity, and observability.
If you currently run custom orchestration on EC2 or Lambda, compare that full operating cost with AgentCore’s consumption-based pricing, not just model-token charges.
Agents Classic entered maintenance mode for new customers on July 30, 2026. Existing workloads remain available for allowlisted accounts with qualifying prior Bedrock Agents usage, but AWS recommends AgentCore for new development and future migration.
There is no announced migration deadline for those existing workloads, so prioritize migration based on feature needs rather than treating this as an emergency shutdown.
RDS Performance Insights and other lifecycle follow-ups
AWS ended the standalone Performance Insights console experience on July 31, 2026, and moved the workflow into CloudWatch Database Insights. This did not eliminate paid retention. In Standard mode, the default remains seven days, and teams can retain data for one to 24 months at the same Performance Insights pricing. Advanced mode adds features such as execution plans and on-demand analysis.Review the mode, retention, and feature requirements of each instance. Use Standard where existing metrics and retention are sufficient; pay for Advanced only where its added diagnostics justify the cost. AWS’s RDS Database Insights guidance is the source of truth, while our Performance Insights cost breakdown helps with the FinOps calculation.
While reviewing RDS settings, revisit backup retention. For active instances, AWS provides automated-backup storage up to the total provisioned database storage in a Region at no additional charge; only backup storage above that pooled allocation is billable.
Estimate the charge from the retained full backup and daily changed blocks, subtract the available free allocation, and apply the current rate for your Region and engine. See our RDS backup snapshot pricing guide for the method, then validate the result against the official Amazon RDS pricing page.
One other lifecycle change:
The AWS Copilot CLI reached end of support on June 12, 2026. Teams that still depend on it should plan a move to AWS CDK or native ECS and App Runner tooling to retain security and maintenance coverage. For agent workloads, AWS’s Agents Classic guidance explains eligibility, continued support, and AgentCore migration paths.
How Usage.ai helps reduce AWS costs
AWS releases such as Graviton5, FinOps Agent, and S3 Vectors can improve efficiency, but savings still depend on how effectively teams manage commitments, coverage gaps, and changing workloads.Usage.ai helps teams identify AWS commitment opportunities based on actual usage patterns. With FlexFlex Insured Commitments, teams can get the 57% savings of a three-year commitment with none of the commitment risk.
If eligible usage drops and a qualifying EC2 Flex Commitment ends up costing more than the On-Demand rate for that usage, we provide cashback protection on the difference, subject to program terms.
Our fee is a percentage of realized savings only. If we don’t save you money, you don’t pay anything.
Frequently asked questions
Is the AWS FinOps Agent free?
AWS offers it at no additional charge during preview in us-east-1. Standard per-request charges still apply for underlying APIs the agent calls, including Cost Explorer API requests. Treat it as free to try, not free of every related cost.
Do existing Savings Plans cover Graviton M9g instances?
Compute Savings Plans cover eligible M9g usage across instance families. EC2 Instance Savings Plans are family-specific, so an M8g plan does not cover M9g. Check the plan type before migrating.
Do I need to change anything to receive the S3 Vectors price reduction?
No. It applies automatically to indexes with more than 10 million vectors in supported Regions. Verify the actual benefit in your Cost and Usage Report.
What changed for RDS Performance Insights?
The standalone console experience ended on July 31, 2026. CloudWatch Database Insights Standard retains the familiar metrics, with seven-day default retention and paid one- to 24-month options. Advanced is needed for features such as execution plans and on-demand analysis.
Should new agent projects use AgentCore or Agents Classic?
Use AgentCore for new projects. Agents Classic no longer accepts new customers, although existing eligible customers can continue operating their agents and have no announced migration deadline.
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