# \#AWS mystery DynamoDB charge

**URL:** <https://community.cloudbank.org/t/aws-mystery-dynamodb-charge/70>\
**Category:** AWS\
**Created:** [September 25, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cloudbank.org/t/aws-mystery-dynamodb-charge/70 "2020-09-25T15:33:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![rob](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.cloudbank.org/rob/32/5_2.png) [@rob](https://community.cloudbank.org/u/rob)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 3:33pm UTC](https://community.cloudbank.org/t/aws-mystery-dynamodb-charge/70/1 "2020-09-25T15:33:52Z")

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Paraphrasing a case study: “I created DynamoDB tables on AWS: With no data in them yet, no API calls, no read/write… and yet we are seeing a $0.65 charge on Nutanix Beam. Where is that charge originating?”

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rob](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex016/user_avatar/community.cloudbank.org/rob/32/5_2.png) [@rob](https://community.cloudbank.org/u/rob)\
**Post date:** [September 25, 2020, 3:45pm UTC](https://community.cloudbank.org/t/aws-mystery-dynamodb-charge/70/2 "2020-09-25T15:45:20Z")

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The big picture concept here is that DynamoDB has read/write capacity defaults which are put in place as “Provisioned” meaning there is a charge for them whether they are used or not. You do have the ability to modify these settings; so this definitely comes under the “learning the ropes” category of cloud use.

To continue the paraphrase of the Researcher - CloudBank helpdesk conversation, CloudBank responded thus:

"Per Nutanix Beam: You are incurring a $.09 daily charge for API operation **CommittedThroughput**. Some searching / digging around leads us to your DynamoDB Dashboard:

Total capacity for US East (Ohio)  
Provisioned read capacity 15 (Max: 80000)  
Provisioned write capacity 15 (Max: 80000)

[This article](https://www.serverless.com/blog/dynamodb-on-demand-serverless) indicates that there is a baseline cost in Provisioned mode. Choose one of your empty tables in the AWS console and look at the Capacity tab to find the estimated charge for Provisioned: $2.91/month with current settings.

To fix this you can modify parameters; and you also have the option to switch to _OnDemand_.