AWS i3.8xlargevsAWS i3.metal

i3.8xlarge pairs 32 vCPUs with 244GB of RAM at $2.4960/hr On-Demand (about $1797/mo at 24×7). i3.metal pairs 64 vCPUs with 488GB at $4.9920/hr (~$3594/mo). i3.8xlarge is 100% cheaper per hour than i3.metal ($2.4960/hr gap).

Because both instances are in the **i3 family**, the only thing that changes between them is sizing — same silicon, same architecture (Intel Xeon (x86_64)), same burstable/sustained behavior. The choice is purely about how much capacity you actually need: i3.8xlarge gives you 32 vCPUs and 244GB of RAM, i3.metal gives you 64 vCPUs and 488GB. 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 888/21323 for i3.8xlarge and pending for i3.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 i3.8xlarge when your workload is closer to storage-optimized (NVMe SSD) (I/O-bound work needing low-latency NVMe local storage — NoSQL, search). Pick i3.metal when it's closer to storage-optimized (NVMe SSD) (I/O-bound work needing low-latency NVMe local storage — NoSQL, search). 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.