# Underutilized compute instance | Cloud Efficiency Hub Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/underutilized-compute-instance OCI Compute instances incur cost based on provisioned CPU and memory, even when the instance is lightly loaded. By: PointFive Updated: 2026-09-28 [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) # Underutilized Compute Instance The short version OCI Compute instances incur cost based on provisioned CPU and memory, even when the instance is lightly loaded. PointFive Research Cloud cost research at PointFive OCI service [OCI Compute Instances](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/oci-compute-instances) Category [Compute](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/compute) Reference CER-0046 Type Overprovisioned Resource ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. Instances that show consistently low usage across time, such as those used only for occasional tasks, test environments, or forgotten workloads, may be overprovisioned relative to their actual needs. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. Charged per OCPU-hour and per GB-hour of memory provisioned, billed per second of usage (one-minute minimum for VMs, one-hour minimum for bare metal), regardless of utilization. Stopping an instance pauses billing for Standard shapes, but Dense I/O shapes continue to bill while stopped. ## How to detect 5 checks to find it in your estate. - Review instance-level CPU and memory utilization over a representative period - Identify instances with consistently low activity relative to their allocated resources - Evaluate whether the instance supports critical workloads or is part of a dev/test environment - Assess whether rightsizing (smaller shape) or scheduled shutdown is feasible - Check for seasonal or workload-specific spikes that might justify current size ## How to fix 4 ways to remove the waste. - Rightsize the instance to a smaller shape that matches workload requirements - Replace with burstable or flexible instance types where applicable - Implement scheduled start/stop automation for predictable idle periods - Decommission if no longer in use ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [Cloud Price List - Compute oracle.com](https://www.oracle.com/cloud/price-list/#pricing-compute) - [Compute Instance Metrics docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Compute/References/computemetrics.htm) - [Resource Billing for Stopped Instances docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/Content/Compute/Tasks/resource-billing-stopped-instances.htm) - [Per-second billing for Compute instances docs.oracle.com](https://docs.oracle.com/en-us/iaas/releasenotes/changes/20facdce-34bf-4648-a0a7-de5db73657ce/) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - OCI Compute Instances CER-0546 ### [Idle OCI Compute Instances](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/idle-oci-compute-instances) OCI compute instances keep billing for their OCPUs and memory for as long as they are running, whether or not they do any work. Instances are left running after a proof of concept ends, a test cycle finishes, a workload is migrated... Compute - OCI Compute Instances CER-0547 ### [Low-Utilization OCI Instances Not Using a Burstable Baseline](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/low-utilization-oci-instances-not-using-burstable-baseline) Some OCI virtual machines are idle most of the day and only need full CPU for short spikes, the workloads Oracle lists for burstable instances: development and test servers, CI/CD runners, monitoring systems, small microservices and static... Compute - OCI Compute Instances CER-0548 ### [Instances on Previous-Generation OCI Compute Shapes](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/instances-on-previous-generation-oci-compute-shapes) Older OCI tenancies often still run VMs on shapes that Oracle lists as previous generation, orderable only until 2020 to 2022 for most series, such as VM.Standard1, VM.Standard.B1, VM.Standard2, VM.Standard.E2, VM.Standard.E3 and... Compute --- Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.