How much does DynamoDB Contributor Insights cost per month?

DynamoDB Contributor Insights costs $0.50 per rule per month plus $0.03 per million DynamoDB events matched. Enabling it on a single table with no GSIs creates four rules, setting the base monthly cost at $2.00. Event costs scale with traffic: a table processing 500 million events adds $15.00, for a total of $17.00/month. Tables with GSIs create additional rules at $0.50 each. Verify current pricing at aws.amazon.com/pricing — rates change.

How many rules does enabling DynamoDB Contributor Insights create?

Enabling Contributor Insights on a DynamoDB table creates two rules for the base table (most-accessed keys and most-accessed keys causing errors) plus two rules per Global Secondary Index. A table with zero GSIs creates four rules totaling $2.00/month in rule fees. A table with three GSIs creates eight rules totaling $4.00/month. Rules are managed by CloudWatch and appear in the CloudWatch Contributor Insights console after enabling.

What is the throttle-only mode for DynamoDB Contributor Insights?

Throttle-only mode, available as of August 2025, restricts event matching to DynamoDB requests that result in throttling errors. The per-rule monthly fee still applies, but the $0.03 per million events cost drops near-zero on well-provisioned tables because only throttled requests are counted. For a table with a 0.1% throttle rate processing 2 billion events per month, event costs fall from $60.00 to approximately $0.06. Use throttle-only mode for passive hot key monitoring with minimal cost. (Verify at docs.aws.amazon.com/amazondynamodb.)

4. What are AWS Contributor Insights?

AWS Contributor Insights is a CloudWatch feature that analyzes log data or DynamoDB request traffic to identify which values — partition keys, IP addresses, user IDs — are contributing most to overall activity. For DynamoDB, it surfaces the specific partition keys driving the most reads, writes, or throttling errors on a table or GSI. It replaces the need to aggregate application-level logs or add custom metrics to identify hot key patterns. Rules are priced at $0.50 each per month, plus $0.03 per million events matched.

What is DynamoDB used for?

DynamoDB is AWS’s fully managed NoSQL key-value and document database, designed for single-digit millisecond performance at any scale. Common use cases include session management, user profile storage, gaming leaderboards, shopping cart data, IoT telemetry, and any workload requiring consistent low-latency reads and writes at high throughput. DynamoDB charges separately for read capacity units (RCUs), write capacity units (WCUs), storage, and optional features like Contributor Insights, Streams, and Global Tables. Reserved Capacity on DynamoDB reduces provisioned throughput costs by 30-40% with a one-year commitment.

Does DynamoDB support a CloudWatch Contributor Insights mode specifically for throttled keys?

Yes. As of August 2025, DynamoDB Contributor Insights includes a throttle-only mode that matches only DynamoDB events that result in a throttling error. The rule fee of $0.50/rule/month still applies, but the per-event charge becomes negligible for tables with low throttle rates. This mode is suited for passive monitoring: it stays cost-minimal during healthy operation and activates when throttling actually occurs, pinpointing the exact partition keys involved. Full mode continues to track all read/write keys regardless of throttling status.

Is DynamoDB Contributor Insights the same as CloudWatch Contributor Insights?

DynamoDB Contributor Insights is a specific implementation of the broader CloudWatch Contributor Insights feature. CloudWatch Contributor Insights can analyze any structured CloudWatch Logs data using custom rules. DynamoDB-specific Contributor Insights creates managed rules automatically when enabled on a table — you do not write rule logic manually. The pricing model is the same ($0.50/rule/month + $0.03/million events), but DynamoDB Contributor Insights rules are auto-configured by AWS and tied directly to DynamoDB’s internal event stream rather than CloudWatch Logs.

Should I enable Contributor Insights before buying DynamoDB Reserved Capacity?

Enabling Contributor Insights before committing to Reserved Capacity is a sound practice for any table with significant traffic. Hot key patterns cause artificial over-provisioning — teams add capacity to compensate for throttled partitions rather than fixing the partition key design. Committing to Reserved Capacity on an over-provisioned table locks in the waste. At $2-17/month for Contributor Insights, identifying and resolving a hot key pattern before sizing your Reserved Capacity commitment can mean the difference between committing to the right number and committing to an inflated one. Once the table is right-sized, Reserved Capacity delivers 30-40% savings on that optimized baseline.

AWS, Dynamodb

DynamoDB Contributor Insights Pricing: Monitoring Hot Keys at a Cost

Learn exactly how DynamoDB Contributor Insights is billed, what drives costs, and when AWS’s throttled-keys mode can reduce monitoring spend.

Navanita Devi

Senior FinOps Practitioner

Updated September 7, 2026

17 min read

Key takeaways

Contributor Insights is billed through Amazon CloudWatch. Costs depend on rule count, matched-event volume, monitoring mode, and table schema.

Matched-event processing is usually the biggest cost driver. Tables with sort keys can generate more billable events than partition-key-only tables.

Throttled-keys mode is often the lowest-cost monitoring option. It maintains throttling visibility while generating far fewer billable events than full monitoring.

If you’ve ever tried to troubleshoot a DynamoDB hot partition, you’ve probably encountered CloudWatch Contributor Insights for DynamoDB.

The feature helps identify heavily accessed and throttled keys that can create uneven traffic distribution, partition hotspots, and throughput bottlenecks.

For engineers diagnosing DynamoDB performance problems, it is often the fastest way to identify the exact keys responsible.

But Contributor Insights is not free.

Many teams enable it during a production incident and later discover recurring CloudWatch charges without fully understanding how billing works. Pricing depends on the number of rules DynamoDB creates, the number of matched events processed, the monitoring mode selected, and the table schema.

This guide explains exactly how DynamoDB Contributor Insights pricing works, how AWS counts billable events, and how Contributor Insights fits into broader DynamoDB cost optimization.

The Short Answer

In US East (N. Virginia), Contributor Insights includes:

One Contributor Insights rule per month at no charge
One million matched events per month at no charge

According to the Amazon CloudWatch pricing page:

Additional rules cost $0.50 per rule-month
Additional matched events cost $0.02 per million matched events

Note: Pricing varies by AWS Region.

Your total bill depends on:

Which Contributor Insights mode you use
How many rules DynamoDB creates
Whether tables or indexes include sort keys
The number of matched events generated
Whether throttling occurs

What Is DynamoDB Contributor Insights?

AWS describes Contributor Insights for DynamoDB as a diagnostic tool that helps identify:

Most accessed items
Most throttled items
Hot partitions
Uneven traffic distribution
Keys responsible for throughput consumption

When Contributor Insights is enabled on a table or global secondary index (GSI), DynamoDB automatically creates CloudWatch Contributor Insights rules that generate reports and visualizations about access patterns and throttling behavior.

AWS states that Contributor Insights is designed to have no performance impact on DynamoDB tables.

Also read: The DynamoDB Gospel: Everything About On-Demand Pricing

How DynamoDB Contributor Insights Billing Works

Contributor Insights pricing has two components.

1. Rule Charges

Each Contributor Insights rule incurs a monthly charge after the free allowance.

The important detail is that DynamoDB automatically creates rules on your behalf. The number of rules depends on:

Monitoring mode
Table schema
Presence of sort keys
Whether GSIs are monitored

A common mistake is assuming that one table equals one rule.

In reality, a single table can create multiple Contributor Insights rules depending on the selected mode and key structure.

2. Matched Event Charges

AWS also charges for matched events processed by Contributor Insights.

For most production workloads, event-processing charges become the primary cost driver because event volume scales with application activity.

How AWS Counts Billable Events

Billing is item-based, not simply request-based.

According to the Contributor Insights billing documentation:

Each item read or written through a supported data-plane operation generates one event.
If the table or index includes a sort key, each item generates two events because DynamoDB tracks both partition-key and partition-plus-sort-key dimensions.
A Query operation always generates one event regardless of the number of items returned.
In throttled-keys mode, only qualifying throttled requests generate events, except that a Query operation always generates one event regardless of mode or the number of items returned.

Batch Operation Example

Assume an application performs:

One GetItem
One PutItem
One BatchWriteItem containing five items

In accessed-and-throttled mode:

A partition-key-only table generates 7 events.
A partition-and-sort-key table generates 14 events.

In throttled-keys mode:

Only throttled requests generate events.
If only the PutItem is throttled, the table generates 1 event without a sort key or 2 events with a sort key.

This is why request count alone is often a poor predictor of Contributor Insights costs.

Accessed-and-Throttled Mode vs Throttled-Keys Mode

AWS introduced throttled-keys mode for DynamoDB Contributor Insights to provide a lower-cost monitoring option focused exclusively on throttling events.

Feature	Accessed and Throttled Keys Mode	Throttled Keys Mode
Tracks successful requests	Yes	No
Tracks throttled requests	Yes	Yes
Most accessed items reports	Yes	No
Most throttled items reports	Yes	Yes
Event volume	High	Usually much lower
Continuous monitoring cost	Higher	Usually lower
Best use case	Traffic analysis and troubleshooting	Always-on throttling visibility

Because throttled-keys mode generally generates events only when throttling occurs, it often produces far fewer billable events than full monitoring mode.

One exception is the Query operation, which always generates one Contributor Insights event regardless of the selected monitoring mode. As a result, throttled-keys mode can often remain enabled continuously with minimal cost impact.

How Many Rules Does DynamoDB Create?

Rule count depends on the selected monitoring mode and table schema.

Configuration	Rules Created
Accessed-and-throttled mode, partition key only	2
Accessed-and-throttled mode, partition key + sort key	4
Throttled-keys mode, partition key only	1
Throttled-keys mode, partition key + sort key	2

AWS creates separate rules for:

Most accessed partition keys
Most throttled partition keys
Most accessed partition-and-sort-key pairs
Most throttled partition-and-sort-key pairs

depending on mode and schema. This rule count directly affects monthly charges.

Pricing Example 1: Accessed-and-Throttled Mode

Let’s assume the following:

One DynamoDB table
Partition key only
No GSIs
Accessed-and-throttled mode enabled
500 million matched events during the month
No other Contributor Insights rules or matched events in the account

In accessed-and-throttled mode, DynamoDB creates two rules for this configuration.

Component	Cost
First rule	Free
Second rule	$0.50
First 1 million events	Free
Remaining 499 million events	$9.98
Total monthly cost	$10.48

Events

499 million ÷ 1 million × $0.02 = $9.98

Rule

1 paid rule × $0.50 = $0.50

Total monthly cost: $9.98 + $0.50 = $10.48/month

For high-volume tables running full monitoring mode, matched-event charges typically represent the majority of Contributor Insights costs.

Pricing Example 2: Throttled-Keys Mode

Let’s assume the following:

One DynamoDB table
Partition key only
No GSIs
Throttled-keys mode enabled
2 million throttled events during the month
No other Contributor Insights rules or matched events consume the account’s free allowance

For this configuration, DynamoDB creates one throttling rule.

Component	Cost
Rule	Free
First 1 million events	Free
Remaining 1 million events	$0.02
Total monthly cost	$0.02

This example illustrates why throttled-keys mode can be dramatically cheaper than accessed-and-throttled mode.

Successful GetItem and BatchWriteItem operations generate no billable events in this mode, while a Query operation always generates one event regardless of mode.

When Is Contributor Insights Worth the Cost?

Contributor Insights is typically most valuable when diagnosing problems that standard CloudWatch metrics cannot easily explain.

Hot Partitions

Contributor Insights helps identify specific partition keys generating disproportionate traffic. This is often the fastest way to confirm a hot-key problem.

Capacity Planning

Access-pattern visibility can reveal:

Read concentration
Write concentration
Skewed traffic distribution
Uneven key usage

before those patterns become production issues.

Throttling Investigations

AWS specifically recommends Contributor Insights as part of the broader DynamoDB throttling diagnosis workflow when investigating partition-level throttling.

Also read: DynamoDB Transactions Pricing Explained

Security and Permissions Checklist Before Enabling Contributor Insights

Before enabling Contributor Insights broadly, review the following considerations documented in the Contributor Insights security guidance.

Check	Why It Matters
Sensitive partition keys	Frequently accessed key values may appear in reports
CloudWatch IAM permissions	Users with CloudWatch access may see key information
DAX usage	DAX cache hits are not visible in Contributor Insights
PartiQL workloads	Contributor Insights does not support PartiQL requests
Compliance requirements	Validate whether key exposure aligns with organizational policy

AWS also notes that users with appropriate CloudWatch permissions can view FGAC-protected primary-key values through Contributor Insights reports.

Contributor Insights and DynamoDB Commitments

Contributor Insights does not directly reduce DynamoDB costs.

Instead, it helps teams understand whether throttling originates from:

Key-design problems
Traffic concentration
Capacity shortages
Scaling configuration issues

before making commitment decisions.

DynamoDB Commitment Options

DynamoDB currently offers two primary commitment mechanisms.

Option	Best For	Maximum Advertised Savings
Database Savings Plans	Customers seeking flexibility across eligible AWS database services	Up to 18% on eligible on-demand throughput and up to 12% on eligible provisioned throughput
Reserved Provisioned Capacity	Stable provisioned-capacity workloads in one Region using the Standard table class	Up to 77% with a three-year commitment

AWS applies Reserved Provisioned Capacity first where both commitment types could apply to the same eligible usage.

Before purchasing commitments, it is generally worth determining whether throttling is caused by workload-design issues rather than insufficient capacity.

Also read: AWS Database Savings Plans: The Complete Guide

How Usage.ai Fits

Contributor Insights helps teams identify hot partitions, throttled keys, and uneven access patterns before making long-term cost decisions. Once a DynamoDB workload is properly optimized, organizations can evaluate whether stable AWS usage is a good candidate for commitment-based discounts.

At Usage.ai, we continuously analyze AWS usage across your cloud environment to identify commitment opportunities and optimize coverage as workloads evolve.

With Flex Insured Commitments, teams can get the up to 57% savings of a 3-year AWS commitment with none of the commitment.

If a commitment ever costs more than the equivalent On-Demand usage, our Cashback Protection covers the difference, helping organizations maximize savings while retaining flexibility as workloads evolve.

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Frequently asked questions

Is DynamoDB Contributor Insights free?

Partially. In US East (N. Virginia), AWS includes one Contributor Insights rule and one million matched events each month at no charge. Additional usage is billed according to CloudWatch Contributor Insights pricing.

Why is throttled-keys mode cheaper?

Because, except for Query operations, it generates events only when throttling occurs. Successful GetItem and BatchWriteItem operations do not create billable events in this mode.

Does a table with a sort key cost more to monitor?

Potentially. Tables with sort keys can generate additional Contributor Insights rules and additional events because DynamoDB tracks both partition keys and partition-plus-sort-key pairs.

Does Contributor Insights support PartiQL?

No. AWS documentation states that Contributor Insights does not support PartiQL requests.

Can Database Savings Plans reduce Contributor Insights charges?

No. Contributor Insights charges are CloudWatch monitoring costs. Database Savings Plans and Reserved Provisioned Capacity apply to eligible DynamoDB usage, not Contributor Insights monitoring charges.