AWS bill line item
Requests-Tier1
Per-request API charges, billed per thousand requests: Tier1 covers PUT, COPY, POST, and LIST calls; a separate Tier2 line covers GET and most other read requests.
S3 request charges (PUT/COPY/POST/LIST and GET)
Verified against official AWS documentation last checked
Why it shows up
The GET-request tier in particular blindsides teams: high-traffic static sites, CDN cache misses falling through to S3, or an application re-fetching objects in a loop can generate tens of millions of GET requests a month for what looks like a small bucket.
The write-request tier usually spikes from write-heavy patterns (one PUT per event or log line instead of batching), which multiplies request costs even while total bytes stored stay small.
How to cut it
- Front S3 with a CDN and tune cache TTLs to cut repeated GETs at the origin.
- Batch small writes into fewer, larger objects instead of one PUT per record.
- Investigate and fix runaway polling, retry loops, or misconfigured sync jobs generating excess LIST/GET calls.
- Use an inventory report instead of repeated LIST calls to audit bucket contents.
How to read a usage type
Requests-Tier1 carries no region or direction token, so there's nothing to break down here.
Source
Source: AWS docs →Found Requests-Tier1 on your own bill?
Drop your Cost Explorer CSV into the AWS Bill Analyzer. It'll flag line items like this one on your own bill and link straight back to the fix.
Analyze your own bill →The meter you don't watch still grows.
Waste rarely hides in the service you check every week. CostMon watches every meter on your stack, including the ones you forgot were running.