# Unnecessarily high recording granularity in AWS Config Canonical: https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/unnecessarily-high-recording-granularity-in-aws-config Organizations frequently inherit continuous recording by default (e.g., through landing zones) without validating the business need for per-change... By: Tom Cross Updated: 2026-09-28 [Cloud Efficiency Hub](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) # Unnecessarily High Recording Granularity in AWS Config The short version Organizations frequently inherit continuous recording by default (e.g., through landing zones) without validating the business need for per-change granularity across all resource types and environments. [Tom Cross](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tomcross/) FinOps Lead @ Aer Lingus AWS service [AWS Config](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/cloud-services/aws-config) Category [Other](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/service-category/other) Reference CER-0137 Type Excessive Ingestion or Processing ## Explanation Why the waste happens and who it affects. In change-heavy accounts (ephemeral resources, CI/CD churn, autoscaling), continuous mode drives very high CIR volumes with limited additional operational value. Selecting daily recording for lower-risk resource types and/or non-production environments can maintain necessary visibility while reducing CIR volume and cost. Recorder settings are account/region scoped, so you can apply continuous in production where required and daily elsewhere. ## Billing model The pricing dimensions that drive this cost. Configuration Item Recorded (CIR)-based pricing: charges accrue for each configuration item that AWS Config records. Continuous recording records a configuration item for every change, while daily recording (the only periodic option) records at most one configuration item per resource per 24-hour period, and only if the resource changed. A daily configuration item costs four times as much as a continuous one ($0.012 vs. $0.003 per the AWS Config pricing page), so daily recording lowers cost only for resources that change more than about four times a day. Note: AWS Config also has other pricing dimensions (e.g., rule and conformance pack evaluations). This entry focuses specifically on the CIR component. ## How to detect 5 checks to find it in your estate. - Identify accounts where AWS Config spend is dominated by configuration items recorded relative to overall cloud spend and risk profile. - Confirm whether continuous recording is enabled broadly by default versus selectively by resource type/environment. - Determine which resource categories experience frequent state changes and contribute disproportionately to recorded items. - Validate with Security/Compliance/SRE whether per-change visibility is truly required for those categories. - Assess whether observed recording volume aligns with actual investigative or audit needs. ## How to fix 4 ways to remove the waste. - Shift suitable resource types and/or non-production environments from continuous to daily recording where real-time change tracking isn't required. - Scope recording frequency by environment: continuous for production or high-risk resources; daily for development/test or low-risk resources. - Document the rationale and ownership (e.g., security vs. platform) to ensure shared expectations on visibility vs. cost. - Monitor post-change configuration-item volume and spend to confirm expected reductions and adjust coverage as needed. ## Documentation Vendor references for pricing and configuration. - [How AWS Config Works docs.aws.amazon.com](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/config/latest/developerguide/how-does-config-work.html) - [Recording AWS Resources with AWS Config docs.aws.amazon.com](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/config/latest/developerguide/select-resources.html#select-resources-recording-frequency) - [AWS Config Pricing aws.amazon.com](https://aws.amazon.com/config/pricing/) ## Related inefficiencies [Browse the library](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub) - AWS Config CER-0228 ### [Excessive AWS Config Costs from Spot Instances](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/excessive-aws-config-costs-from-spot-instances) Spot Instances are designed to be short-lived, with frequent interruptions and replacements. When AWS Config continuously records every lifecycle change for these instances, it produces a large number of CIRs. This drives costs... Other - AWS Config CER-0201 ### [Continuous AWS Config Recording in Non-Production Environments](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/continuous-aws-config-recording-in-non-production-environments) By default, AWS Config is enabled in continuous recording mode. While this may be justified for production workloads where detailed auditability is critical, it is rarely necessary in non-production environments. Frequent changes in... Other - AWS Config CER-0135 ### [Unfiltered Recording of High-Churn Resource Types in AWS Config](https://www.pointfive.co/efficiency-hub/inefficiencies/unfiltered-recording-of-high-churn-resource-types-in-aws-config) By default, AWS Config can be set to record changes across all supported resource types, including those that change frequently, such as security group rules, IAM role policies, route tables, or network interfaces frequent ephemeral... Other --- Source: the public page above. Product screenshots and illustrative interfaces are examples, not live customer data.