Technical article
Dynasight5 min readUpdated 2026-06-09

DynamoDB provisioned vs on-demand cost: what teams should review

Compare DynamoDB provisioned and on-demand cost considerations and how Dynasight helps identify tables that deserve capacity review.

Short answer

Provisioned and on-demand DynamoDB capacity modes fit different traffic patterns. Dynasight helps teams identify tables whose capacity mode or provisioned settings may no longer match real workload behavior.

  • Find provisioned capacity drift.
  • Review traffic predictability before changing modes.
  • Prioritize capacity conversations with table context.

Provisioned capacity can drift

A table can be provisioned for a launch, migration, or traffic spike and keep that headroom after the workload normalizes.

On-demand is not automatically cheaper

On-demand capacity can be operationally simple, but cost depends on workload shape, predictability, and traffic volume.

How Dynasight helps

Dynasight surfaces tables that deserve capacity-mode review and right-sizing discussions.

FAQ

Common questions

Should every DynamoDB table use on-demand?

No. The right choice depends on traffic predictability, cost goals, and operational preference.

What is overprovisioned capacity?

Provisioned read or write capacity that exceeds what the workload needs over a meaningful period.

Can Dynasight switch capacity modes?

No. Dynasight identifies candidates for review; your team controls changes.

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