AWS c6a.2xlargevsAWS c6a.metal

c6a.2xlarge pairs 8 vCPUs with 16GB of RAM at $0.3060/hr On-Demand (about $220/mo at 24×7). c6a.metal pairs 192 vCPUs with 384GB at $7.3440/hr (~$5288/mo). c6a.2xlarge is 2300% cheaper per hour than c6a.metal ($7.0380/hr gap).

Because both instances are in the **c6a family**, the only thing that changes between them is sizing — same silicon, same architecture (AMD EPYC (x86_64)), same burstable/sustained behavior. The choice is purely about how much capacity you actually need: c6a.2xlarge gives you 8 vCPUs and 16GB of RAM, c6a.metal gives you 192 vCPUs and 384GB. AWS scales pricing close to linearly within a family, so picking the right size is mostly about right-sizing your workload, not getting a better deal per vCPU.

Benchmark data for at least one of these instances is still being collected, so a direct performance-per-dollar comparison isn't possible yet. Sysbench scores are 4073/18112 for c6a.2xlarge and pending for c6a.metal. Check back as the benchmark queue completes — newer-generation instances typically score 10–30% higher on single-thread and 15–50% higher on multi-core vs the previous generation in the same series.

In practice, pick c6a.2xlarge when your workload is closer to compute-optimized (CPU-bound work — batch processing, web servers under sustained load, game servers). Pick c6a.metal 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.