Overview

As organizations scale, managing cloud costs becomes a strategic priority. AWS Savings Plans help by offering lower prices in exchange for consistent usage commitments. But the real question is: should you manage these plans at the payer account (organization level) or at each linked account (individual level)?

The difference comes down to visibility and potential savings.

When viewed from the payer account, AWS combines all On-Demand usage across your organization. This allows patterns to balance out—for example, one account using resources heavily during the day and another at night. Together, this creates steadier usage and unlocks greater savings potential.

Discover more with Renova Cloud: contacting us & get technical support.

By contrast, the linked account view only considers individual usage. This narrower scope often results in more conservative recommendations and missed opportunities for cost optimization.

What’s the best approach?

  • Centralized management via the payer account: Recommended by AWS, this method maximizes savings, adapts more flexibly to workload shifts, and simplifies administration.
  • Decentralized management by linked accounts: Useful for organizations that require strict autonomy, but usually less cost-effective overall.
  • Some businesses use a hybrid model, combining centralized and decentralized approaches, though this requires careful governance to avoid inefficiencies.

At the end of the day, the key takeaway is clear: the payer account provides a broader perspective and greater savings potential.

Take a look closer to your saving plans with our solution: Renovisor

Conclusion

  • Payer account gives a broader view and unlocks better savings across all accounts.
  • Linked accounts only see their own usage, which can lead to missed opportunities.

AWS recommends a centralized approach—purchase from the Payer account to save more and simplify management.

Discover more details here: Understanding AWS Savings Plan Recommendations: Payer vs. Linked Account Views