AWS c5n.4xlargevsAWS c7gd.4xlarge

c5n.4xlarge pairs 16 vCPUs with 42GB of RAM at $0.8640/hr On-Demand (about $622/mo at 24×7). c7gd.4xlarge pairs 16 vCPUs with 32GB at $0.7258/hr (~$523/mo). c7gd.4xlarge is 16% cheaper per hour than c5n.4xlarge ($0.1382/hr gap).

These are different generations of the same series. **c7gd.4xlarge** is the newer generation, and AWS's pattern across generations is fairly consistent: ~10–15% better single-thread, 15–30% better multi-core, and similar or modestly higher per-hour pricing — so the price/performance per dollar usually improves with each generation. **c5n.4xlarge** is still available and still works (AWS doesn't retire instance types quickly), but for new workloads the newer generation is typically the better default unless you have a specific reason to pin to the older AMI or there's a meaningful regional pricing advantage today.

On raw price-per-performance, the two are c7gd.4xlarge delivers ~209% more single-thread Sysbench score per dollar (1344 vs 4157 points per $1/hr). That's the cleanest signal we have for "which one runs your workload faster per dollar," but it only matters if your workload is single-thread-bound; for parallel workloads the multi-core scores (14271 vs 48033) are what to weigh. Spot pricing flips many of these comparisons — when c5n.4xlarge drops to $0.3738/hr and c7gd.4xlarge drops to $0.2242/hr, the cheap-per-hour winner can swing meaningfully.

In practice, pick c5n.4xlarge when your workload is closer to compute-optimized (CPU-bound work — batch processing, web servers under sustained load, game servers). Pick c7gd.4xlarge when it's closer to compute-optimized (CPU-bound work — batch processing, web servers under sustained load, game servers). When neither side is obviously right, the cheaper hourly rate usually wins for fault-tolerant batch workloads, while the higher single-core score usually wins for latency-sensitive web traffic. The regional pricing tables linked from each instance page below show where each is currently cheapest — sometimes a >20% regional gap flips the comparison entirely.