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Uptime Scheduler

Introduction

Uptime Scheduler automatically starts and stops your AWS resources on a schedule, so you only pay for compute when you need it.

How it works

Uptime Scheduler uses AWS tags to define when resources should run. Tag a resource with uptime:schedule and Uptime Scheduler handles the rest — no scripts, no cron jobs, no maintenance.

uptime:schedule = 9-17 mon-fri

Under the hood, a lightweight CloudFormation stack in your AWS account listens for tag changes via CloudTrail and creates EventBridge Scheduler rules. When a schedule fires, a Lambda function starts or stops the resource directly in your account. Your data never leaves your AWS account.

What you can schedule

ResourceAction
EC2 InstancesStart / Stop
RDS InstancesStart / Stop
NAT GatewaysDelete / Recreate (with EIP and route preservation)
ECS ServicesScale to zero / Restore desired count

Typical savings

Running a set of dev/staging resources 9 AM–6 PM Monday–Friday instead of 24/7 reduces their uptime from 744 hours/month to roughly 180 hours — a 73% reduction in compute cost for those resources.

Next steps