Explanation
Why the waste happens and who it affects.
Organisations often enable it during an optimization initiative but fail to turn it off afterwards. When no active storage efficiency efforts are underway, these advanced metrics can become an unnecessary expense, especially at large scale across many buckets.
Advanced metrics include things like:
Cost optimization recommendations
Data retrieval patterns
Encryption and access control analytics
Historical trends beyond the 14-day query window of free metrics (up to 15 months)
Because the configuration is global or account-level, it's easy to forget that these additional metrics are enabled and quietly incurring cost. This inefficiency often surfaces in organizations that over-invest in observability tooling without aligning it to an ongoing operational workflow.
Billing model
The pricing dimensions that drive this cost.
S3 Storage Lens Advanced is billed based on:
The number of objects monitored - advanced metrics and recommendations are priced per million objects monitored per month
Dashboard scope - charges apply to each dashboard with advanced metrics enabled, and scale with the objects in the accounts, Regions and buckets it covers
The 15-month query history of advanced metrics is included in the tier and is not billed separately
Pricing is tiered, with the per-object rate falling as object count grows, and is additive to standard S3 storage costs
Costs scale with the number of objects monitored by each dashboard with advanced metrics enabled, rather than with bucket count or storage volume
Charges apply per AWS account or organization, depending on the configuration scope
Billing continues as long as Storage Lens Advanced is enabled, even if the data is not actively reviewed or used.
How to detect
7 checks to find it in your estate.
- Check if S3 Storage Lens Advanced is enabled in the AWS account or organization
- Review whether the advanced metrics are actively used or being surfaced in optimization reviews
- Evaluate if there is an ongoing effort that requires advanced visibility into S3 usage and activity
- Assess whether the retention duration and granularity provided by the advanced tier are necessary for current goals
- Determine the number of buckets being monitored and whether all of them need advanced analytics
- Check CloudTrail logs for recent S3 Storage Lens dashboard access to gauge actual usage
- Review whether alternative tools (AWS Cost Explorer, third-party solutions) provide sufficient S3 insights
How to fix
6 ways to remove the waste.
- Disable S3 Storage Lens Advanced when not actively needed
- Use the free tier for basic visibility and re-enable Advanced only during optimization cycles
- Set a periodic review of observability tools to ensure paid features still deliver value
- Scope S3 Storage Lens Advanced to only necessary accounts or buckets if partial usage is possible
- Export historical data before disabling if needed for compliance or analysis
- Consider using AWS Config rules or Cost Anomaly Detection as lighter-weight alternatives for basic monitoring
Documentation
Vendor references for pricing and configuration.