How do Standard and Express workflow pricing differ?

Standard workflows charge $0.025 per 1,000 state transitions regardless of duration (up to 1 year). Express workflows charge per execution based on number of requests, duration, and memory consumed, similar to Lambda pricing. Express is cheaper for high-volume, short-lived workflows (under 5 minutes).

What is a state transition?

A state transition occurs each time Step Functions moves from one state to the next in a Standard workflow. This includes Task, Choice, Parallel, Map, Wait, Pass, and Succeed/Fail states. A workflow with 10 states running 1,000 times generates approximately 10,000 state transitions (actual count depends on Choice branches and Map iterations).

Is there a free tier for Step Functions?

Yes. AWS offers 4,000 Standard workflow state transitions per month free, permanently. Express workflows include 1,000 free requests, 1,000 free GB-seconds, and the first 100 milliseconds of each execution free. This free tier is sufficient for development and low-volume production workloads.

Step Functions Cost Estimator

ServerlessAWS

Estimate AWS Step Functions costs for Standard and Express workflows.

Step Functions Configuration

Workflow Type

Priced per state transition. Best for long-running, auditable workflows.

State Transitions per Execution

Number of state transitions in a single workflow execution.

Executions per Month

Include AWS Free Tier (4,000 state transitions/month)

Raw Output

Output will appear here...

About This Tool

The Step Functions Cost Estimator calculates monthly costs for AWS Step Functions Standard and Express workflows. Standard workflows charge per state transition while Express workflows charge per execution, duration, and memory. The tool compares both workflow types side-by-side and helps you choose the right one based on execution volume, duration, and orchestration requirements.

When to Use This Tool

•Estimating monthly costs for a Standard workflow orchestrating a multi-step order processing pipeline.
•Comparing Standard vs. Express workflow pricing for high-volume, short-duration state machines.
•Calculating the break-even point where Express workflows become cheaper than Standard for specific workloads.
•Modeling the cost impact of adding retry states and parallel branches to existing workflow definitions.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do Standard and Express workflow pricing differ?: Standard workflows charge $0.025 per 1,000 state transitions regardless of duration (up to 1 year). Express workflows charge per execution based on number of requests, duration, and memory consumed, similar to Lambda pricing. Express is cheaper for high-volume, short-lived workflows (under 5 minutes).
What is a state transition?: A state transition occurs each time Step Functions moves from one state to the next in a Standard workflow. This includes Task, Choice, Parallel, Map, Wait, Pass, and Succeed/Fail states. A workflow with 10 states running 1,000 times generates approximately 10,000 state transitions (actual count depends on Choice branches and Map iterations).
Is there a free tier for Step Functions?: Yes. AWS offers 4,000 Standard workflow state transitions per month free, permanently. Express workflows include 1,000 free requests, 1,000 free GB-seconds, and the first 100 milliseconds of each execution free. This free tier is sufficient for development and low-volume production workloads.

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Disclaimer: This tool runs entirely in your browser. No data is sent to our servers. Always verify outputs before using them in production. AWS, Azure, and GCP are trademarks of their respective owners.