AWS Optimizer Targets Unused NAT Gateways for Cost Savings

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TL;DR

AWS Compute Optimizer now helps identify unused NAT Gateways to boost cost savings by analyzing traffic activity and route table associations.

Key Points

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AWS Compute Optimizer now provides recommendations for identifying unused NAT Gateways, which can help reduce costs by detecting idle resources.

The tool analyzes CloudWatch metrics over a 32-day period to determine if a NAT Gateway is unused.

It checks for no active connections, no incoming packets from the source, and no incoming packets from the destination to identify unused NAT Gateways.

The tool considers route table associations to avoid removing critical backup resources, ensuring that high-availability and disaster recovery setups are not disrupted.

This feature is available in all AWS Regions except AWS GovCloud (US) and China Regions.

AWS is introducing a new feature in its Compute Optimizer, aimed at helping users identify and eliminate unused NAT Gateways. It's focused on saving money by targeting resources that might be quietly adding to your bill. The tool operates by analyzing CloudWatch metrics over a 32-day period, searching for NAT Gateways that aren't showing any traffic. It examines metrics like active connection counts and incoming packets, both from the source and destination. It also takes into account route table associations to avoid disrupting any critical backup resources. After all, nobody wants to interfere with high-availability or disaster recovery setups.

These recommendations are available across all AWS Regions, except for AWS GovCloud (US) and China Regions. The aim is to help users reduce network costs without compromising application reliability. The Compute Optimizer can distinguish between resources that are genuinely unused and those that are just maintained for disaster recovery purposes. It does this by considering the architectural context, like those route table associations mentioned earlier.

Users can explore these recommendations through the Compute Optimizer console, where they’ll find estimated monthly savings and detailed utilization metrics. Plus, these recommendations are linked to the AWS Cost Optimization Hub, giving users a comprehensive view of optimization opportunities across their organization. This integration is useful, as it helps avoid double-counting savings across overlapping recommendations, providing a clearer picture of total potential savings.

To get started, users need to opt into Compute Optimizer. Once that's done, they’ll start receiving unused NAT Gateway recommendations within 24 hours. And for those who prefer a programmatic approach, these recommendations can also be accessed via the Compute Optimizer API.

Key Numbers

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32 days

The period over which CloudWatch metrics are analyzed to identify unused NAT Gateways.

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Organizations

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AWS Cloud Service Provider

AWS introduced a new feature in Compute Optimizer to help identify unused NAT Gateways for cost savings.

Tools

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AWS Compute Optimizer Cloud Optimization Tool

AWS Compute Optimizer now includes a feature to recommend the identification of unused NAT Gateways.

Timeline of Events

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Nov 26, 2025 AWS Compute Optimizer update announced

AWS announced that AWS Compute Optimizer now supports idle resource recommendations for NAT Gateways, allowing users to identify unused NAT Gateways for cost savings.