AWS bill line item
AmazonEKS-Hours:perCluster
A flat hourly fee charged per EKS cluster for the managed Kubernetes control plane, independent of how many nodes or pods run underneath it.
EKS cluster control-plane fee
Verified against official AWS documentation last checked
Why it shows up
Multiplies when teams spin up many small clusters (per-environment, per-team, or per-feature-branch) instead of sharing namespaces on fewer clusters; each cluster bills this fee around the clock even while completely idle.
Jumps sharply under a separate extended-support usage type if a cluster's Kubernetes version ages past the standard-support window and isn't upgraded.
How to cut it
- Consolidate short-lived or low-traffic environments onto shared clusters with namespace isolation instead of one cluster per team or branch.
- Automate teardown for ephemeral/preview clusters instead of letting them idle.
- Stay current on Kubernetes version upgrades to avoid the extended-support surcharge.
How to read a usage type
The colon in AmazonEKS-Hours:perCluster doesn't introduce an instance type the way it does in a code like BoxUsage:m5.large. This code carries no region or direction token either, so there's nothing to break down here.
Source
Source: AWS docs →Found AmazonEKS-Hours:perCluster on your own bill?
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