AWS r8gd.12xlargevsAWS r8gd.metal-48xl

r8gd.12xlarge pairs 48 vCPUs with 384GB of RAM at $3.5270/hr On-Demand (about $2539/mo at 24×7). r8gd.metal-48xl pairs 192 vCPUs with 1536GB at $14.1082/hr (~$10158/mo). r8gd.12xlarge is 300% cheaper per hour than r8gd.metal-48xl ($10.5811/hr gap).

Because both instances are in the **r8gd family**, the only thing that changes between them is sizing — same silicon, same architecture (AWS Graviton (ARM64)), same burstable/sustained behavior. The choice is purely about how much capacity you actually need: r8gd.12xlarge gives you 48 vCPUs and 384GB of RAM, r8gd.metal-48xl gives you 192 vCPUs and 1536GB. 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 3331/159724 for r8gd.12xlarge and pending for r8gd.metal-48xl. 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 r8gd.12xlarge when your workload is closer to memory-optimized (memory-bound work — in-memory databases, real-time analytics, large caches). Pick r8gd.metal-48xl when it's closer to memory-optimized (memory-bound work — in-memory databases, real-time analytics, large caches). 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.